Ice Bass

[bobbymalone]

Never caught one under the ice, but I haven't really targeted them before. It seems that they aren't targeted/caught very often in the winter.

Tactics?

Do they school up? Where in the lake?

[mrfish1991]

I have only seen people catch them. They were caught on tipups with suckers using the same presentation as you would pike fish with tipups

[ikeslayer]

i refuse to participate in anything ice related - i am in wintercoming denial

[Cecil]

Diddo!!

[EBass]

LOL - I haven't caught many but shiners on tipups in the weeds should produce some bass and pike. They will also hit jigging spoons. All of them have been on the weedline or up in the weeds.

[Fever]

Salmo Chubby Darters. Largemouth Love them. Last winter I must have iced a dozen or so. Nothing huge but a 16-18 inch bass through the ice is a nice surpirse fight when your targeting Crappies in the 10-11 inch range.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Early ice and late ice are your best shots at getting into some decent ice bass action. When mid winter hits they get pretty lethargic. Id say start off on a lake that has a good population to begin with, think bass regs. The chisago area lakes all seem to put out lots of ice bass. As for targetting them tipups with shiners or fatheads and smaller panfish presentations usually get them. If you caught them late fall start their early ice otherwise any place you catch a fair amount of bluegills bass usually are using the same area.

[Quetico]

I seem to find at least a few every year. On one of MfFish's favorite winter holes, I have nailed bass over 4lbs.

You can easily tell when they hit a tip-up. You go check your flag and you see the spool is racing off non-stop. I usually get them on large suckers. I catch a few here and there on jig/minnow combo. I've also found that most over the bass I get are over 2 lbs.

Mrfish- I will happily meet you on your lake and show you my bass spot.

[gritsnham]

TurnUp made a good point because I dont think I have ever caught a bass midwinter through the ice but used to catch them alot early ice. I would say you best bet is targeting lakes were bass are the top predator as soon as you can get out on the ice. Tipups with fatheads and smaller octopus hooks worked well. Anyone know why bass are so rare midwinter???What are they eating at that time?

[TurnUpTheFishing]

They really are not eating much of anything. Largemouth are more suited to warmer water and we are towards the northern end of their range. When the water cools so does their metabolism and their need to eat significantly drops. By the time midwinter rolls around they are doing as little as possible to conserve energy and make it through the winter. If you have a camera down often midwinter youll see big bass cruise through maybe look at your jig but often show no interest. When late ice arrives the extended sun and fresh warm water trickling in wakes them up again but you cant specificly target them this time of year...

[gritsnham]

The water temp is staying more or less constant during the season when ice is actually covering the lake and they still got to eat! I just cant think of ever catching one during midwinter and I hit the ice a decent amount

[Fever]

I don't like to dissagree but last early feb I was drilling through 20 plus inches of Ice and hooking into largemouth on a fairly regular basis. I remember one day while hole hopping I couldn't catch a stinkin crappie because the bass kept nailing my chubby Darter baby perch pattern. Therefore no. The bass don't simply shut down and if you are on the right lake with the right presentation at the right time you can catch them. I am far from an expert but I do know that you can catch bass year round. You just have to change your presentation and your expectations. Getting comfortable with jigging raps is a step in the right direction.

[Cecil]

If you wanted to, you could target bass all winter and could catch them every day. Many times when going for panfish I have run across them...

[TurnUpTheFishing]

The water temp is staying more or less constant during the season when ice is actually covering the lake and they still got to eat! I just cant think of ever catching one during midwinter and I hit the ice a decent amount

I never said anything along the lines that they dont eat or that they hibernate I just said they are not nearly as active. Its science, bass/fish are cold blooded as they water they live in cools so does their metabolism which in turn slows their need to eat. Its one of the reasons bass grow smaller and live longer in the north. In the cooler months they eat/expend just enough energy to survive down south bass have more months that water is at the optimal temp for them to eat and grow.

I too have caught them midwinter, ice fish long enough and your bound to catch them. Im simply saying if you wanted to target them youre better off doing it early ice when they are at their most active still. I dont think that since you occasionaly get into bonus bass midwinter while targeting other species means they always are on the feed and you can always catch them...

[TonkaBass]

The bass bite good on the river during winter Ice fishing is for gravel carp and crappies! lol

[jwhjr]

I've only caught them through the ice a couple of times (it was early February) and I definitely wasn't targeting them. Interestingly enough, my favorite lake for ice fishing is full of bass, and last winter was the first time in the 10 years I've been fishing it that someone pulled bass out of it through the ice. If I remember correctly he pulled 2 out the same day.