Catching Warm Water Fish When the Water is Cold

[MD_Gene]

After we put our two dogs down last fall my wife and I wanted to escape an empty house. We traded in the travel trailer for a 30' fifth wheel. On January 19 we left PA. We went to MD, WV, VA, TN, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ. Three weeks in AZ. We got home mid-March.

Here’s my question. We were in San Antonio in late January. A creek with bass, blue gills, and catfish ran through the campground. The temperatures we’re getting below freezing every night. i tried fishing some bugs and streamers but zippo. I didn’t check the water temperature but I have to assume it was cold. Is it even possible to catch warm water species when the water is so cold?

Thanks.

 

[JerryC]

It's slow fishing. An example, many years ago, I was fishing a local creek in late October/early November. It had been a cold fall, I was younger then and determined to keep on fly fishing, I was using a large PT nymph. I was at the end of my drift, and the fish warden stopped to check my license. I just left the line in, showed him my license and talked a minute or two. I decided to call it quits and as started to strip my line, i thought I had snagged something. Turned out to be a large bluegill. No movement to the nymph it was just sitting in the current. Fish are cold blooded. As the water cools their metabolism slows down, they don't feed as often, and they don't expend energy chasing food. If you're fishing large nymphs, drift them and very slowly retrieve them. A streamer is a big meal, but unless you put it in front of a fish and move it slowly, the fish aren't going to chase it, and it would be a subtle take if they do. It's slow fishing. Which is one of the reasons, I hang up my warm water gear when the water temperatures get in low 50's. I'm not a patient man.

 

[Dave_W]

We were in San Antonio in late January. A creek with bass, blue gills, and catfish ran through the campground. The temperatures we’re getting below freezing every night. i tried fishing some bugs and streamers but zippo. I didn’t check the water temperature but I have to assume it was cold. Is it even possible to catch warm water species when the water is so cold?

Thanks.

Condolences over the loss of your dog Gene.

In the situation you describe above, I would attribute the poor fishing to the (very cold) weather.

This is assuming that the species you were targeting were even present in the creek you were fishing. Were you able to see sunfish? Here in PA, most warm water species vacate small creeks almost completely during the winter. That may also have played a role.