The dreaded "Leo Nguyen Syndrome" has hit me

[Timbaux65]

I went out today to the spillway first aiming at gills and sacalait, then switching over to bass.

 

Same as last time, I caught NOTHING. I dont think the fish are even down there, really. I dont know what else to try. There were three others out there, got there before i did, and one of them who goes out there almost daily (he works two weeks, off one week) was out there and didnt catch anything. He lives right down the road and probably knows the place better than anyone else.

 

So, I am like Leo, I have finally come to the point where I think fishing is over, at least for a short time. I might not be able to stay away from the water, but I'd be terribly surprised if I caught something next time I went.

 

Its a sad thing to admit, and it begs the question, "when do I start fishing again".

 

It was 74 degrees today. Its gonna get cold in about two or three weeks. man I hate the cold weather.

[Tony Livingston]

I don't know the location you were fishing at, and I don't know how you were fishing, (method). But I am reasonably certain of this... there are still fish down there somewhere.

The locations you fish from, as well as the methods you are using will probably be different from what you are used to in warmer water.  It is a totally different mindset.

Don't go to the place where you caught fish during the warmer months. Instead, find a weedline and determine how far, and deep it runs out. Look for the calmest water you can find, that still contains standing weeds AND drops into deeper water. Say 10-15'. Start in the weeds, drifting a tiny jig or hook tipped with 2-3 live maggots suspended below the smallest, but properly weighted float you can get by with. Work your way out deeper, trying different depths, and see if you can hook up with some gills.

Experiment, don't get stuck using the same methods that produced fish during the warmer months.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

74 degrees?......surface temps must be above 52 deg....and the fish are definitely biting somewhere!

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

How do pronounce the word Sacalait?.....sock-a lot?....sack-a-late?

[Tony Livingston]

Oh man I am watching for the answer to this.... never could bring myself to ask.... thanks Bill!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I believe it's pronounced, "sock-a-lay," Bill.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I'll second that........

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Spoken like a true Cajun!

[Leo Nguyen]

ROFL! Welcome to the world of down time. Don't think of the down time as an agonizing time. I'm testing, prepping, and ready my arsenal for the upcoming months. Just another month to a month and a half away. Done with my glue bait samples. Also, asking my coworkers to give me large grubs found in their compost piles to induce into my compost piles and get more beetles during early spring, while increasing my worm's population with different gardening approaches. Beside, I'm also modifying my inflatable pontoon to the max.  Plenty of fun things to do to ready yourself for the new season ;)

[wag]

 sac-a-lait    (sack --- a --- lay) 

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

YEP I KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO FISHING , AND NOW ISN'T IT FOR ME . I'm looking out my window as I type this at a fresh 5" of snow. It's called the TOOTY WHITE OUT SYNDROME HERE!
  When the buds are on the trees here I know it's time for early season gills and crappies here in Illinois which is late April early May. Rest of the winter is spent making bugs getting ready for Soft water.

  TOOTY

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Great point here, David.

Nature rests in winter. She revives and prepares for the coming seasons - it's something we, too, should take as an example.

[Tony Livingston]

"To every thing there is a season"

I believe this has merit, and I see nothing wrong with a fisherman making the winter months his "off" season, if in fact he does so at his/her own choosing. However, if that philosophy is arrived at by way of a few winter outings with nothing to show for it, then I would suspect that the decision to suspend angling activity was made not by choice, but by way of a mistaken notion that explains the lack of success by proclaiming that the fish don't feed during the colder months.

This is simply not true. I catch Bluegill 12 months a year, and have for a long time now. The only conditions that stop me from fishing is when the ice is too thin to walk on, but too thick to cast through.....today being a perfect example. All other conditions, and all other temperatures will yield fish. Maybe not in the quantity, or with the ease encountered during the Spring pre-spawn, but catchable fish nonetheless. Certainly there are days when the bite is slow, and/or the outside conditions are nearly inhospitable, but having to work for it makes it all the more rewarding, at least to me.

Those fish are still down there, waiting for the right day, the right bait, and the right presentation. Get those three things right and you'll catch Bluegills, winter or not.