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Weekend anglers hate it. Even guides and pro bassers dread it.

Cold, muddy water.

It’s bass fishing’s one-two punch -- the toughest conditions bass anglers are likely to encounter.

And it’s coming to a lake or river near you this season.

This Internet publication is based firmly in reality. We’re here to bring you the facts, not sugar-coat the truth. We want you to know that cold, muddy water is no picnic -- but neither is it the end of the world. You can catch bass from it. Good ones, too.

Veteran Goodlettsville, Tenn., bass guide Jack Christian fishes for both largemouths and smallmouths year-round. He books trips as much as a year in advance, so he’s learned to cope with what the elements dish out. And when cold, muddy water is on the menu, there are few bass anglers with more savvy than Jack. We asked the guide to share with us how he copes with frigid, murky water. His responses can help you score in these same tough conditions.

Basics to Remember

“To understand why fishing gets tough in cold, muddy water requires that you first understand a few basics about the bass as a living creature,” Christian begins.  “As a cold-blooded animal, the body temperature of the bass is the same as that of the water in which it lives. Every bass fishermen knows bass are most active in warm water. But as the water gets colder, bass get sluggish. They sit and hold more and prowl around less. Digestion takes much longer in cold water, too, so bass feed far less often than they do in warm water.”

Besides being cold-blooded, the bass is primarily a sight feeder, Christian continues. “Even though it has a lateral line containing sensory organs, it mainly uses its keen sense of sight when feeding. In clear water, the bass can see a considerable distance and will forage along weedlines, points, ledges, the bottom, the shoreline and other structures, looking for a meal. It feels comfortable in its surroundings. But in muddy water, the bass can’t see nearly as well and won’t wander far from a home base -- usually an object like a stump or log.”

When the two conditions are combined, look for the bite to be painfully slow, Christian warns. “In cold, muddy water, the bass is not only sluggish, its visibility is highly restricted. It may be able to distinguish objects only a few inches from its nose.”

Therefore, expect bass under these conditions to exhibit the following behaviors, Christian explains:

    * They won’t be actively feeding. “This will become more apparent the colder the water gets. As its metabolism slows down, its need for food diminishes considerably. Even an experienced bass angler might get only one or two bites a day in extremely cold water.”

    *They’ll be very tight to cover. “Biologists believe that when their visibility is restricted, bass ‘park and hold’ tight to submerged objects because these objects serve as a reference point in their low-visibility world. When they can see only a few inches, they probably feel some sense of comfort when hunkering up to a stump, log or rock, just as you’d feel more comfortable sitting in a chair in a totally darkened room than trying to walk and feel your way around in the blackness.”