The twenty mile-per-hour wind pushed the twenty-degree air across the clear water lake of North Arkansas, making this one of the coldest days I have ever spent on the water. Because of the wind, it was difficult to keep the 3/8 ounce Arkie jighead in contact with the bottom. A #11 Uncle Josh pork trailer made this bait a mouthful and gave it the appearance of a crawfish (crawdad in Arkansas lingo). After each cast, Pro Angler Curt Evans and 
I would stick our graphite rods in the water to melt the ice which had formed in the rod eyes and on the front of the reel's line guide.
Curt had talked me into fishing this lake today as I had it in mind to fish the White River for walleye and smallmouth bass. We had already headed towards the White River when Curt said, "We will be missing a good opportunity to catch a really big bass today if we don't try this lake." Curt is one of the finest fishermen that I have ever had the privilege to fish with and I trusted his judgement. We launched the boat just after daylight and motored to a steep rocky bank that dropped to more than 30 feet of water. We would cast towards the steep bank, let the bait sink to the bottom and then as slowly as possible with the force of the wind, let the jig slowly drop towards deeper water down the rocky bank. This type of fishing is a patience-trying, agonizing lesson in persistence and consistency. Much the opposite of slinging a crankbait, buzzbait or spinnerbait in the late spring. Your bait MUST maintain contact with the bottom at all times or you will catch no fish.
My lure didn't feel just quite right. I was using an extremely sensitive graphite rod and I felt no tap on the line, no strike, no surge of the line....just nothing....but just not quite like the lure was making contact with the bottom. I set the hook hard and was rewarded with a tremendous, line stripping run in the deep water. I kept pressure on the fish as Curt began to give me instructions. "Back your drag off!!! That's a big fish!! Don't horse it! It will break your line!!!" He would say in an excited voice of an experienced fishermen who knew well what a giant largemouth is capable of. I listened to his instructions and stayed with the fish as it fought a half circle around the boat. Eventually, we saw the green, silvery side of an extremely big largemouth bass. I backed the drag off more because I know most of the really big fish are lost at the boat when they make a final surge. Curt was ready with the net, the big fish could easily strip drag each time it would head for the s
ecurity of the deep water and in a few minutes it turned up on its side. With one swoop of the net Curt boated the biggest largemouth bass I have ever seen. I guessed the bass to weigh eight pounds, but Curt said it was bigger. The fish was twenty five inches long and had a tremendous girth. Soon, the anticipation was more than we could stand and Curt and I loaded up the boat and headed to the closest certified scale to weigh the monster bass. The certified digital scale read 9.57 pounds or nine pounds, nine ounces!
Now is the time to hit the clearwater impoundments all across the country in pursuit of heavy weight largemouth bass. The fish can be found in deep water (thirty feet or more) and most of the time on a deep, fast sloping bank or long, deep, rock strewn points that drop off into deep water. A jig which resembles a crawdad is the most effective bait to use and most of the time a natural green, dark green, pumpkin seed or other similar color is the right shade for the clearwater impoundments. The fish will be in schools so if you catch one fish, you most likely will catch another. The trick is to fish the bait as slowly as possible and most of the time just shaking the bait lightly with the rod tip will cause the bait to stairstep its way down the steep banks, through, in and over the rocks, looking as natural as possible. It is imperative to use the most sensitive graphite or boron rod you can afford and most of the time a middle of the road graphite rod will not be sensitive enough. I use the Abu Garcia Morrum graphite rods and as sensitive as they are, sometimes I still will not feel a fish hit the lure. Most of the time I simply can't feel the bait on the bottom or I can't feel it "swim". The best thing that I know to do is to set the hook hard. It takes a while to get the hang of this deep water fishing, but the rewards can be the fish of a lifetime, like it was with me or catching an extremely heavy stringer of fish when most of the folks are sitting on the couch watching football.
Recently, on a fishing trip with the Curt Evans and Crowbar Russell, host and producer of the television series "Ozark Outdoors", Curt demonstrated the proper technique for catching these deep water. "Shaking the bait with the rod tip moves the bait very slowly, imitating a crawdad crawling slowly through the rocks," Curt says. "Holding the rod above the handle where your hand makes contact with the rod blank will give you more sensitivity and help you to better feel the extremely light fish contact with the bait."
This type fishing works best on days that are not windy. On windy days the fish will move up closer to shallow water and will be holding near the breaks, points, shelves, and other structure which break up the flow of the water being pushed with the wind. A crankbait in a subdued or natural crawfish color will produce fish and they may well be big fish. Come springtime, you can catch numbers of fish and some big fish as well, but if you want to have the opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime or catch an impressive stringer of fish, try cold weather bassin' in the deep, clearwater impoundments.
N O T E This cold weather fishing can be dangerous if you happen to fall in the water and it is imperative to dress warmly. When you take a 50 mph boat ride across the water when it is 10 degrees, it does not take long to chill out. I have found a Heater Body Suit to be one of the most useful pieces of equipment that a cold weather fisherman can own. I have used a Heater Body Suit for several years while deer hunting, taping television programs and fishing. The Heater Body Suit is built like a sleeping bag with legs so you can walk in it, no arms but with a harness system which allowes the hunter or fisherman to shoot or cast while keeping the HBS on, it is silent, soft, camoed, has a silent, strong zipper which can be operated from the inside and it's guaranteed to keep you warm down to -30 degrees. Because I video, hunt and fish in the coldest weather, the Heater Body Suit has been a tremendous asset to my days afield in the dead of winter. They do everything that they are said to do and more. Good Fishin'