Many people relegate their pursuit of largemouth bass to fishing strictly shallow water, and using sight fishing, when 95% of the time the largest bass in any body of water are in much deeper water [35-55 ft or more]. here is the proof of that claim…in spades. Stone’s Throw Adventures staff guide Russell Woods sent me a picture of a whopper bucketmouth caught in the dead of winter from Lake Chilowee in East Tennessee…vertical jigging on a silver buddy. Alot of folks use these baits in the winter time for smallmouth and walleye, but you don’t hear of many folks going that deep and using vertical jigging to pursue largemouth…but after seeing this photo…maybe they should. Never limit yourself to in tactic or knowledge…if you’re not catching fish…they gotta be in the deep water, in the shallow water, or somewhere in between…

For those of you wondering, the fish weighed almost 8 pounds. Wonder how much weight she’ll have when she gets to her trimester…

The big browns are moving and now is the time to book. They’re just off the post-spawn afterglow and are ready to get up from the couch and go to the fridge…in two days myself and fishing cohort Yee have taken fish between 24-27″ and seen and hooked several more in that size range. Both big jerkbaits and big streamers will hook BIG fish…browns don’t eat midges and hatches…they live 2 notches up the food chain.

The muskies have also taken the cue and fattened up for the winter, producing fish to 30 pounds for guide DwayneHickey  since Xmas [that 30 pounder was only 43" long...Fattie McFat-fat]. Winter fishing for both these species as well as smallmouth is only getting better. So brave the cold and get out there into the adventure…