My winter strategies depend on where I am fishing. I approach cold water fish differently in lakes than I do in rivers.
On Santee Cooper in the winter time I enjoy fishing shallow water flats in the area of deep channels. If you are familiar with Santee I am talking about areas like up in front of Harry’s camp around the trees; behind the channel berm before you get to the canal from blacks; and areas like behind the islands in front of Angel’s. The common characteristic is that the fish have deeper water to move in but shallow water to come out and feed in.
If fishing on the big rivers, I prefer to use a technique called bouncing down. Find a long ledge you want to work and anchor the farthest upstream on the ledge. Give the spot about 30 minutes. If they don’t bite in 30 minutes bounce on (move the boat) down that ledge about 50 yards and anchor again and give it about 30 minutes. Continue this routine until you find the fish. They are lethargic in cold water but they will eat if you find them.
