Page 66 - ODUNovAndDec2018

The cold-water period is by far the longest

period of the year for lakes in the Ice Belt. It is
the only part of the year that extends to both
open water and hard water, lasting about six
months in many parts of the North Country.

Water is the densest at 39 point something
degrees and water is least dense when it
freezes at 32 degrees. It’s a good thing too. If

water was most dense at 32 degrees, the
lakes would freeze solid all the way to the
bottom during the winter and almost
everything in the lakes would die.

When the very top inch or two of the water

column gets colder than 39 degrees, it begins
to float on top of the 39 degree water and
eventually freezes and turns to ice.

October fishing is great for me because my
guiding season is winding down and I have
more time to do some scouting before the ice
fishing season arrives.

An ideal day for me during October would be
grouse hunting in the morning and fishing in
the afternoon. I really enjoy cruising around
the lakes with my Humminbird Helix 12 (picture below) with Mega Side-Imaging looking for interesting
spots to check out and mark on my GPS to fish during the winter.

The cold-water period is all about finding the “spot on the spot”. Fish don’t move around nearly as
much during the cold-water period
like the do during the heat of
summer. When it gets cold, most
fish want to be located in an area
that supplies all of their needs in a
more confined location.

The things I look for depend on
what species I am trying to pattern
and what type of lake I am fishing
(deep or shallow).