Andrew Ragas splits time between the Chicago area and Wisconsin's Northwoods. Based in Minocqua, WI, he specializes in trophy bass fishing and offers guided trips from May thru October. While big bass is the passion, he dabbles in multi-species as well. He may be visited online at www.northwoodsbass.com
Since my last report and newsletter from second week of October, the lakes were quickly finishing up with turnover then. That’s been long done, and now the bass are wintering. Whatever fish you catch from now to first ice will be in deep water and associating to some type of contour and bottom structure.
Wintering holes are sites where a significant portion of the range-wide population of one or more species overwinter annually. In attempting to research the definition for “wintering site”, you might not find much out there as it relates to specific freshwater fish. There is no concrete, precise definition or description that I’ve found as
Guides and the most serious late season anglers rely on live bait almost exclusively. Across most fisheries, live minnows work. Folks can fish with only a single rod with live bait rig in-hand, or under a multi-rod, two-pronged approach like I do while continuing to cast and jig with artificials. Two lines in the
