Winter Fishing For... Topwater Bass?

[@skydiver6711]

There are not enough words in the English language for me to tell you how much I enjoy your fishing videos. When thing are tough and I"m tied up in knots, I just tell my wife I'm going to go watch NDYakAngler and relax for a while. An hour later, I'm all better. Thanks.

[@huskergator9479]

Amen! Cannot believe Matt is topwatering it in Jan anywhere, let alone ND.

[@canyonrunner]

Here are some words to possibly describe watching Matt fish: It is the quintessential form of all life in the universe. More enjoyable than attending a local baseball game and arriving early enough to watch the grounds keepers prepare the field. A warm summer day with the smell of freshly mowed grass and freshly popped popcorn. These things, while enjoyable, do not compare to the sounds of nature, paddle strokes and fish splashes that Matt captures in his videos. And his casting? A true sniper is the best I can describe it.

[@Tracy-Inches]

Amen! I know the feeling!

[@Kltpzyxm17]

"A little short" Puts it 6 inches from the bank...

[@jacksonyon5276]

What’s short for him is a perfect cast for me 😂

[@Archenhaust]

If 6 inches is considered short then I'm in trouble...

[@chip6954]

@Archenhaust nah, it's how you wiggle it 🤣

[@sealedsecure3754]

😂😂 a little short of absolute perfection?

[@mbb-pr4zc]

@@Archenhaustwith your casting accuracy?

[@C_K_Williams]

You must be the Bob Ross of kayak fishing!

[@matthewotis3594]

He is

[@MaxMortis]

You nailed it.

[@jmakc3541]

I was raised on a farm with a 3.5 acre lake that was dammed up in the 50's for cattle water supply. You could sit in the middle of that lake, dead of winter (in KY), with a Berkely power finesse worm in 20 feet of water and catch more 2-3lb bass in a day than you could all summer long. They'd pile-up on an old well pump house made of cinder block. Like candy from a baby, but only in winter. I miss those days.

[@Madisonrvr]

GREAT story. Thanks for sharing.

[@jonholland6067]

Awesome stuff brother

[@gslang3489]

We call that a pond brother. I'm headed to my family's pond in a couple hours. It's been 4 feet low since May, now its flooded from snow and rain over last 2 weeks.

[@jmakc3541]

@@gslang3489 I guess. I think of a "pond" as a dirty, shallow, stagnant body of water with no input or output flow. This is a dammed valley on an existing river (Tradewater). Over 20feet deep with a functioning mouth, spillway, creek offshoots and a floodgate. Water always moving. We have "ponds", too, but those are for the cattle to wade and poop in.

[@randallburgess46]

Finally! Can you tell that your fans like me have missed you? It’s to be expected in the winter when it’s so cold 🥶. Glad you got a chance to go out and enjoy getting a few bass. Thanks as usual for taking me along. Love the Rat!

[@AvocatDude]

Gotta love those radioactive bass.. hittin in January

[@smelltheglove2038]

Yes!!!! Thank goodness for some NDYak angler! Can’t wait for spring!

[@jbhuts]

warm water discharge lake... outstanding!

[@mikest4786]

Watching this again a year later and really loved it! Thanks for what you do for our mental health in these dark days of winter

[@cxucxsixn]

@NDYakAngler , I’d love to see you use the “Zman HellRaizer” sometime this spring. i think you’d catch a lot of smallies on it. the top water blowups would be phenomenal.

[@casewojo6186]

Sniff* I can smell spring. Good to see you upload again.

[@88mikemoody]

Ah yes, been there myself but not for years. My son fishes there often from the bank. Glad to see you getting out during the unseasonably warm winter.

[@chadsmith5146]

Got excited when I seen the video posted haven't seen you in a while

[@adammead8197]

All ear to ear smiles from us. Cheers

[@htuckey]

Whew! You ARE still among the present and accounted for! And topwater in January? Great stuff! It's been unseasonably warm here in upstate NY as well, but we're still mostly all frozen over. Well, that's my "Matt fix" for the week, back to the reruns. Cheers!

[@Brohteinshake]

Excited for another video after the break

[@markg1490]

That hit the spot for a Winter day. Thank you for sharing. Love your videos.

[@badlyniceness2315]

Im slipping. Been checking night and day,then suddenly? Bam..a strike.Thanks for loving fishing so much. The way you handle them so carefully ,not twisting them around by the jaw. That’s what brings me back..

[@docholliday4546]

Oh brother...😊

[@Wott786]

@@docholliday4546what?

[@BillWeaver-i6x]

Thanks for the mid winter break. My bass water has about 4 inches of ice. A little irony in being able to fish at least partly due to a warm western winter - with the coal fired power plant on the shore.

[@russ3022]

Might have been a little slow for you today, but just one is infinitely better than zero. And thanks for leaving in the clip where you were going for the tree bass. Seems like that's where I spend about half my time. Really enjoy watching you fish.

[@ndyakangler]

It’s a tough lake to fish with basic electronics like I have, pretty much just down facing sonar and gps. If I had side scan I could probably find a half dozen more spots in a day just like that one I caught most of the fish from on this trip. I just got lucky and found that spot by feeling some rocks with my jig and I marked it on my fish finder.

[@jonnyhuffa198]

I'm glad to see a new video. I was having withdrawls!!

[@brianathern9154]

That's a great warm up for this Chicago area guy. Spent the late morning until dinner pulling down and putting away all the Christmas lights. Snow finally melted, the weather was good and the water dried up. This was a nice after dinner treat brother.

[@SirensOfSEWI]

Great to see open water in January! Cheers to 2024! Hope you and your family have been well.

[@DanielBoone337]

Man I've caught some giants on wakebaits like the rat during the dead of winter down here in the south... Great video as always keepem coming brother!!!

[@Ok-dm1ck]

Always makes my day, can't wait for summer to get back on topwater. Nice post bro

[@labtrainer09]

What a treat! I'm sitting here in my living room in Maine, having just bundled up against the 20-knot northerly wind to spread de-icing pellets on the frozen driveway. Fishing open water with you, albeit vicariously, is MUCH more fun. I completely understand your driving 3 1/2 hours to try the Spro Rat on some bass. As always, Matt, thanks for taking us along. Best, Chris

[@Ccunning]

You're back!! My Saturday mornings just got a whole lot better sir, thanks again!

[@Checkmate1954]

Yaking again, thanks for bringing me along.

[@bobrich1950]

This is absolutely nuckin' futs !! You da man Matt. Like others here, this was a much needed video in many ways. Thanks !!!

[@JeffR.-ne4zg]

Been a while since you posted. I figured you were just frozen solid up there. Crazy to see open water and top water fishing! Thanks again for taking us along

[@the2060ish]

Boy its great to see you back Fish whisper. Great catch 👍🐟🐟🐟

[@christinerogers5331]

WOW, Matt, that's just what I needed, a huge shot of top water action at the end of January, it just doesn't get any better than that! Take care and be safe!

[@bmwstan1]

Okay Matt, you have encouraged me try my BB1 next week here in Arkansas. Keep putting out the great videos man.

[@christopherstoner5903]

Wow!! Absolutely did not expect a topwater bite; especially late January in ND!! Having lived in Minot at one time; fishing typically ended for me in mid-Oct and didn't resume until late May.

[@robertbutcher4201]

Top water action is the best, get so excited when they hit and you land them. Great to see you out and about, awesome action as always!!!

[@Chewie_0007]

We love when there's a new upload‼️💪💪

[@markstott6689]

What an unexpected pleasure to see you catching bass in midwinter. I bet it felt good being out in the kayak again at the end of January. I guess in theory, it's only about 7-8 weeks to the vernal equinox and the first day of spring. I suppose that the weather gods may throw some more unpleasantness before April is out. I hope that we get to see you again before then. 😊❤❤❤❤😊

[@gslang3489]

This is the best time to fish till end of spawn..

[@bramvanderheijden899]

Beautiful day! Have a good one! Fish in NL (pike/perch) is becoming a bit more active as well as temperatures start rising!

[@BMW7series251]

Many thanks for this great video from a dreary, cold, damp UK. Cheered me up so much. Keep them coming please, cheers, John.

[@greggdsciotto8952]

What a great way to start my Saturday morning! Topwater in January, Wow!🎉 Thx.

[@BoogalooBeet]

Reminds me of the Fox River (Northern IL) catching smallmouth bass the first week of Feb on a buzz bait. Memories.

[@universalist144]

I've been fishing MN and ND for a minute. This is the first winter top water action I've ever seen. I'm omw.

[@ForemanMade]

Those are some fat little bass in that pond! You're not the only one crazy enough to fish topwater in winter. I had a largemouth slap at a popper 3 times before I hooked up.

[@ndyakangler]

There are some giant bass in that lake!State record of about 8.5lbs was caught there and lots of 5lb+ fish. It’s a tough lake to fish with basic electronics like I have though. I wish I had side scan so I could paddle around and find more of those little isolated rock patches. The one I found I just got lucky and hit some rocks with my jig and ended up getting bit there.

[@darrellsanbornjr2088]

Gotta love it when you catch bass on a top water in the middle of winter.

[@jzimby]

Great to see you back out there! Bought one of your long sleeve shirts for Christmas and it’s really comfortable! Thanks for continuing to post your vids!

[@cly93degd]

Haha, so hot this winter 😂. Wish I had a few rivers near me.

[@NorthWoodsWes]

Yup, crazy warm too here in northern Mn. 30s-40s All December & January. Luvin it!!

[@paulbunyun3663]

wow, you didn't get a week of -5F?

[@NorthWoodsWes]

@@paulbunyun3663 Nope. Only at night for a day or 2. Record highs. Crazy weather. I think there was like one week of 6 inches of ice for fishing.

[@jr-gw3si]

Howdy NDYakAngler. I sure missed your new videos!

[@doster59]

Amazing and inspiring as always. Have some open water to fish tomorrow and now I'll take a couple topwater lures, nothing wrong with trying.

[@thecoloradoanglingexperience]

I absolutely Love your videos! I have learned from you and I have laughed with you! Your videos really calm me unlike a lot of other fishing videos. By far my favorite fishing channel! This video posted just in time for me too! Getting a little snow here in Colorado and really missing the BBZ Rat and top water in general!

[@Madisonrvr]

Man the cabin fever set in hard last week. Come on spring, hurry up and get here.

[@mikewimmer4614]

Nice work, Matt. That lake is so awesome!!!

[@bobchimpo8384]

Bob Ross of anglers. Love your content

[@scottkniss3760]

Yet another therapeutic video, my friend... LOVED IT...! That final few seconds when you pulled up to the dock was the icing on the cake. Beautiful, picturesque moment with the sunset, the mist on the water... that was 100% a screenshot of what fishing is all about. 😎🤘😎

[@TheVTRainMan]

I think I was jones'n for a video of you catching some topwater bass as much as you were to actually catch'um! Thanks for taking us a long with you. Good start to 2024!

[@timdonnelly8392]

Great videos as Always,Nice to watch when I'm not on the water fishing 😁

[@Elroy5150]

Yay! Another fantastic video!

[@GeoffWildehawkphoto]

I'm anxious to get back on the water. Props to you for finding open water and some warm weather to get out.

[@hakononken1306]

ND YakAngler really is the LockPickingLawyer of fishing

[@Loneace85]

Pretty much!! 😂

[@DanKoning777]

Looks like no ice fishing videos this winter considering the temps nation wide. Well, unless you want to use ice fishing's newly designed "floating shanty" 🤔 and ignore the fact that there isn't any ice; both under 😟 or around you-in January 😶 Either way it's all good. "Fish on!" Thanks Matt. God bless.

[@ndyakangler]

We have ice and I’d been out about a half dozen times the couple weeks before it warmed up again. I’m just not going to post videos of me sitting on the ice for 8 hours for one dinky little pike, that’s about the highlight of my ice fishing trips lately. I start to feel like I don’t know what I’m doing out there and it makes it tough to film videos when I’m doubting myself.

[@DanKoning777]

@@ndyakangler// I wouldn't worry about a string of trips with little to no success. When I fished tournaments and followed the bigger circuits in our area, everyone was reminded [with a bit of frequency], who was really in charge of the bite i.e., God who controls the weather as well as the fish who are subject to the weather, and everything related them. So regardless of who the person was, many had streaks of little to no success that they'd rather forget. You're fine.

[@antoniomora1255]

A marvellous fishing day, especially because of those three topwater largies and in winter too! Awesome!

[@oldschoolhawking8191]

What a coincidence, I looked up your channel to see where you've been, a few hours later this notification popped up. Booyah!😎🎥👍

[@willmallory9085]

4:02 fishing at noon during the week? I need your job, LOL

[@TheOutdoorConquest]

That’s when I fish too. That why I love afternoon shift. I always fish weekday mornings while the masses are at work

[@ribo451]

I try to schedule work Friday through Tuesday and I hunt and fish Wednesday and Thursday. One of the perks of working for myself.

[@danieltaylor9459]

From what I remember-he recently (I think within the last year) started doing full time youtube with the amount of prescribers he’s been getting. It’s well deserved.

[@mikey7046]

Glad to see you back on the water, this video is a nice bridge until the spring comes, hopefully you’ll get another day like this to get tuned up for the season.

[@spartanstu8495]

Open water in North Dakota in January. Crazy. Slayin bass on that open top water. Genius.

[@davidmullen2227]

Good to see you Matt nice bonus video Get into my net! Think you need to make t-shirts with that saying!!. Cheers Dave from ON, CAN Look forward to the next one!

[@mattdutra3389]

Brother. Good to see ya back at it again. Rat Bassin it.

[@davidhidalgo5662]

Got to love it whenever they will hit top water. That is awesome you are probably two months ahead of me as far as getting a top water fish but I will try here pretty soon.

[@chipseiler1766]

That's just nuts! I gotta say... I've never caught a topwater bass in January! I did notice some topwater panfish activity back in December and threw a crickhopper at them. I caught 2 or 3 that day fishing the crickhopper like a topwater. Twitching and pausing. That was fun. Not as cool as this, but fun for December none the less. Thanks for sharing!

[@Loneace85]

Must be a great feeling to just be able to go out and catch some awesome fish in the middle of winter, my son and I are going fishing tomorrow, so wish us luck!!!

[@kellymcclendon6601]

Have always loved ndyak angler. Loved the time when he caught some using his granddad's old lures. I live in northern part of south Carolina on a small river 15:03 damed into a lake. I Kayak and my passion is using a popping fly on a fly rod. Nothing in the world like top water action on light tackle. Even catching bream is fun.

[@catalystcorp]

Man, you talking about fishing in January with it being so warm, and the shot of those big towers billowing exhaust in the background was really poetic lol. Cheers, love your videos.

[@harrygrimley4352]

Thanks for sharing this with us. This was great. Wow. What a crazy winter 😅. Hope you and your family are doing well.

[@frnkrdz7454]

My guy I’ve been waiting for your vids so soothing and calming great content by the way . 👍

[@stevenkimbrell8796]

I always enjoy watching your videos I get a thrill out of the top water when you're using either the Whopper plopper or new lures like the rat lure. Was an awesome video congratulations thank you for sharing you keep filming I'll keep watching

[@mikepollock8295]

Awesome Video Matt! Look forward to the next 1 :)! Have a great weekend!

[@strangersound]

That was a beautiful day fishing. Thanks, Bass! We appreciate it. ;)

[@darrenpersicke5266]

Thank You El Niño. 😉🎣

[@FREDOGISFUUN]

Imagine you being in that same spot at this time of the year last year! But the winter is not over yet. Great to have you show us you where on the liquid even if you cheated a little lol

[@tmkayakfishing8236]

good to see you found some open water. I just started watching today iam sure i will enjoy..

[@thunderwang4832]

Happy New Year, Matt! Good to see you back on the water. Here's to a great year of fishing!

[@bobbyswain7049]

Oh yes....the much awaited topwater Jan bite.......love it

[@Phillysil41]

This is the only KZbinr I watch that I "Like" the video before I watch it.

[@Tracy-Inches]

You are a good fisherman, thanks for always sharing!

[@arthurkanellis500]

Glad to see your thumb healed well

[@joshuahamlin1361]

I’m in northern WI. Just casted a bit in the river and caught my first musky Feb 2. It was a 41.5 inch. Crazy year man!

[@jonathanmendez6782]

You’re the reason I’m saving up to buy a kayak this year love the peacefulness of your videos🙌

[@mikecollins2476]

I was wondering why i hadnt seen any ice fishing vids from you. Thats awesome ill take open water kyak fishing all day over cold ice shackin. We're in a warm up too 50 degrees friday love it.

[@stevenkimbrell8796]

I'll be glad when the top water bite comes back down here in the south

[@mhoude36]

That spot where you made your 4th cast in the video I pulled a 4lb bass out of with a wacky worm! That tree in the spring holds some big fish!

[@kidd2036]

This man is on the Discharge pond in Center ND! Only pond you’ll catch large mouth in the state. Open all year. There is also a spot on the Missouri in Bismarck. Hesket power plant? They also have a discharge that keeps the portion of river open all year round no matter the weather. Good video man! Good fishing in creeks up by Beulah, Hazen area as well. Good luck!

[@chip6954]

Dude, I can't count how many times I've done what I'm "not supposed to do" & made out like a bandit!! 😄👍

[@ebaker60]

Yaaaaaa new video to start my day!

[@kellymoore4517]

So glad you got out, here in Georgia that hard water is generally never an issue.

[@daveholte7658]

Great video Fishing Jan 31. I was there Tuesday Jan 30 Tenkara fishing off shore. I need to get a Fishing Kayak as being an Introvert fisher person and living in Bis Man area the least amount of people and hardly fished waters and bountiful nature possibilities are endless…in ND. Time to look for a 11’ super simple kayak. Don’t need all the gadgets. Have all the tackle already. Thanks for your outstanding videos

[@ndyakangler]

There’s a bunch of spots in that part of the state I’d like to explore in the kayak this summer!

[@jamesbingham586]

Waiting on break fishing nice thanks for sharing

[@frankjerardenno2678]

Welcome

[@UdontKnow8]

I’m soo glad that you finally uploaded something! I was getting concerned!!!!!! Now my life is back to its normalcy

[@MrXephonn]

Cool I was there that week! One of my favorite lakes to fish!! Specially in the winter months

[@yakbranson]

Water temperature was 60!😮 I'm gonna assume the warm water outlet from the plant is the reason for that.

[@zstevens7]

Thanks, I was feeling a bit dumb wondering how that was possible! 😂

[@jdretsch]

Yep... Nelson in ND

[@duckster313]

In mid-summer the entire lake will be about 84F, and up to 96F where the outlet channel finally hits the lake itself. Small lake, but good fun.

[@AndrewMorris-md6dw]

Topwater with 60 degree water in January in ND -- power plant keeping the warm water conditions and bite on!!! Tight lines.