My first post/ southern states winter gill tactics?

[Christian Stepanuk]

Hey guys i would first like to introduce myself, my name is Christian and grew up fishing so cal lakes but now live in bullhead city AZ and i fish mohave, havasu ect. I have heard alot about this website and decided to give it a try.

Now to the important stuff. Like i said i live in AZ and its gets to about the 20's and 30's at coldest out here since it gets a lot colder out here than California i fear i will have no idea what I'm doing this winter. Back in Cali they used to move very deep and weren't accessible from shore then would move closer in the spring. Is it the same out here? I'm sure anyone from the southern u.s. can answer my question.

Thanks,
Christian

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Im gonna say that, yes, when the water temp turns cold (below 50), bluegill and other lepomii go to deep water. Along with that, their metabolic rates slow down and a languid, even dainty presentation is called for.

I'm certain this applies universally, regardless of geographical area. So start tracking the water temps for your fishing grounds and plan for the shift. 

[Christian Stepanuk]

thanks will do

[JBplusThuy]

Welcome to BBG, Christian. I'm just about to move back from NorCal to SoCal, looking forward to the spring/summer BG season already :-)

I've seen some video and pics of some monster BG and redear in Havasu, I think you'll do well there.  I'd enjoy those places in summer, but yeah, AZ is a lot colder in winter than I'd really care for, so I'd pay the price if I lived there :-)

How are the BG in Lake Mohave? Do you also fish the river?

Jonathan

[Christian Stepanuk]

I usually get a lot of numbers at mohave but the big ones lay on top of underwater mounds and hills but i dont have my boat yet so you know how that goes. Not many gills in the river because of the fast moving water but if you find some backwaters you are good to go, as for other fish i usually kill the cats... i got 2 15 lbers the first week i was out here. There is an old marina called laughlin bay where a marina dredged out a small bay and they got shut down buy the bank so there are some weeds growing in now and its great for BG and bass. There is this girl that goes in there with a kyak and pulls out stringers of 3lbers If you want to see what im talking about look up "laughlin bay marina" on google maps

Thanks, 

Christian