Severe Cold Shuts Down Winter Fishing

Prior to the cold shutting things down,
small swimmers were hot for winter
schoolies.  The 4 inch Rapala X-Rap was
especially effective.

This is one of the coldest early season spells I can ever remember.  It has put solid ice along some shorelines and moving sheets of ice in some of the places I fish for winter holdover stripers.  Because of that, the winter fishing has suddenly come to a grinding halt. I tried to fish some open pockets a couple of nights back, got no hits and was constantly getting hooked on floating ice sheets.
Rest assured the fish are still around, but are probably in a dormant state, just finning along the bottom in a large group in a deep spot.  I expect some of my fishing friends to tell me they have been hitting fish and snagging them on jigs. That happens in the severe cold.
Prior to the shutdown, the stripers were hitting small swimmers with regularity.  Jigs had lost a lot of their effectiveness as I was scoring best on 4 inch, Rapala X Raps in a blue color.  With a warm-up coming this weekend, I expect the winter fishing to get back on track.