Winter Bass Fishing on Good Panfish Lakes

November 30, 2017
By Jim Edlund

In response to angler surveys, the largemouth bass is America’s favorite freshwater fish. No completely different species comes shut, till you lump all panfish species collectively. So why don’t additional anglers purpose bass via the ice?  First, favor it or not, ice anglers generally chase irrespective of chew ensures a barbecue, generally walleyes and panfish. Bass? Not rather a lot.

Nonetheless might specific lakes all via the Ice Belt revenue from additional selective harvest of largemouth bass in winter? Considering the bag, possession, and slot limits which could be based mostly totally on fishery evaluation, the reply is bound.

“There’s plenty of science behind our bass legal guidelines,” says Minnesota DNR  fisheries specialist Howard Fullhart, primarily based in Fergus Falls. “The big issue is we’re seeing a improvement of earlier springs and later falls, which equates to larger native climate and circumstances for centrarchids (bass and panfish), so we’re getting additional common recruitment and seeing greater numbers present. Secondly, as catch and launch has taken preserve, harvesting bass any time of the 12 months has flip into unusual. Gone are the occasions of resort households retaining their prohibit of every species. Not lower than in our space, additional harvest of 15-inch and smaller bass might have a optimistic have an effect on.”

One other excuse largemouths pale in ice recognition is they’re typically troublesome to hunt out. However, what variety of cases have you ever ever caught largemouths fishing panfish in weeds or dunking shiners for walleyes? Heaps, probably. The underside line is to review high-probability areas whereas retaining your head on a swivel when fishing completely different species. That begins with choosing the right lake.

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Brainerd, Minnesota-based Mike Hehner is an avid angler with a fishery background. “My experience is that largemouths will likely be pretty energetic in winter, no matter primary slowing of their metabolism. The trick will not be getting them to eat, it’s discovering the place they’re at. 9 cases out of ten, that’s with panfish inside the vegetation, so I purpose bass on good panfish lakes,” he says.

Vegetation & Snow

So, uncover a lake with inexperienced vegetation and panfish, and chances are high excessive good you might uncover winter bass fishing. Cabbage and coontail excessive the itemizing, nonetheless bulrushes, pencil reeds, and completely different vegetation varieties can preserve bass, too.

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Former U.S. Nationwide Ice Fishing Champion Steve Pennaz says his 4 favorite winter bass lakes share some similarities. “All have inexperienced cabbage and coontail; deeper, 20- to 30-foot water near weedlines; and a combination of laborious and mushy bottom,” he says. “In summer season season, water visibility might solely be 2 toes with loads of pondweed and milfoil, nonetheless in winter they clear up with 5 toes of visibility or additional. I seek for saddles, components, and inside turns with vegetation.”

Iowa’s Walt Matan chases bass on ice from Illinois farm ponds to Mississippi River backwaters to tannin-stained waters of northern Minnesota. “Whatever the place I fish, the proper ambush components are weededges the place you will have acquired plenty of panfish,” he says. “Bass cruise the sting and determine off young-of-year sunfish,”  he says.

Peoria, Illinois-based bass expert Todd Kent has the identical program. “I seek for breaklines and bottom transitions inside the 15- to 20-foot fluctuate that come as a lot as a 10- to 15-foot weedflat,” he says. “Bass could also be on the break or up on excessive, nonetheless they’re spherical panfish almost 100% of the time.”

Ice fishing pioneer Dave Genz suggests wanting “terribly shallow,” specializing in inside fairly than exterior weededges. “I like inside weededges the place you can see bottom, notably areas the place there’s a little bit bit snow on excessive, notably all through early and late ice,” he says.

Snow patches function similar to a dock platform or weedmat does all through open water, providing shade from the winter photo voltaic and an ambush location for bass to intercept meals. Kent seems for comparable areas. “My success is on a regular basis larger with snow safety, which is unusual in Illinois. We would have 4 inches of snow on the underside nonetheless the ice is bare, so I on a regular basis go the place the snow is. On the clear waters of this space’s coal strip-pit lakes, snow cowl can entice fish.”

Bass Motels

Some states allow anglers to plant artificial building like brush, Christmas tree piles, and cribs that could be magnets for minnows, panfish, and bass. Some fishery companies place artificial building, making maps on the market to most people.

“Artificial building is the necessary factor to catching bass on our smaller farm ponds,” Matan says. “Uncover brushpiles and PVC buildings located near deeper water and likewise you are in enterprise. These spots prepare like bass motels.”

Kent concurs. “Nonetheless as quickly because the ice varieties, it’s strong to hunt out just a few of those buildings. Conserving waypoints helps. Nonetheless must you drill a bunch of holes, drop your transducer inside the 10- to 20-foot zone, and see a robust pink line on the flasher that doesn’t switch after awhile, chances are high excessive you will have found a tree or brushpile. You might lose plenty of jigs nonetheless that’s the price of admission.”

“New College” Sight-Fishing

One of many essential environment friendly strategies to catch winter bass is by sight-fishing, each with an underwater digital digital camera or by darkening the inside of a shelter. A videographer, Hehner is a fan of the transportable Aqua-Vu Micro underwater digital digital camera. “It’s my number-one instrument for finding bass. It’s surprising how briskly I can scout 400 yards of a weedflat for bass.”

He’s made attention-grabbing findings over quite a few hours watching winter fish habits on an LCD show, like how bass technique, look at, and strike a bait. “I’ve put the digital digital camera down and it’s insane. Bass sit on a bait perpetually. They really come up and bump the jig with their lower jaw, then inch away, and swiftly open up and vacuum it in. For that trigger, I hardly switch the lure as soon as I see a bass on the digital digital camera or my electronics. I preserve it nonetheless and do nothing.”

Genz, then once more, retains irrespective of jig cadence going that drew the bass to research. “Maintain that movement going they often suck it in and likewise you catch them inside the coronary heart of the lip, correct on excessive. Their first run will most likely be pretty prolonged, so that you simply’d larger have a spinning reel with an amazing drag, essential a part of the reel on account of bass take plenty of line. Some guys back-reel, too.”

By the years, Genz has used his in depth underwater viewing to refine jigging cadences and piece collectively data that’s upped his catch fees. “As soon as I started using my Vexilar digital digital camera, which has a temperature sensor, I started noticing water temperature variations. I noticed that bass switch to the warmest water in a lake, which is commonly spherical 39°F. Numerous cases, that means shallow water.”

In-Fisherman Space Editor Matt Straw has written extensively on water temperature as a result of it pertains to ice fishing—what he calls “The Ghost Problem”—nonetheless to shortly re-cap, the warmest, heaviest and most dense water reaches about 39.2°F and is commonly found near bottom all through winter. Water cools in the direction of the ground; 32°F near the ground.

Savvy anglers have begun using temperature gauges on underwater cameras and temperature/depth probes identical to the FishHawk to look at temperature as a result of it pertains to fish habits. Shared experience components to fish searching for out most likely probably the most regular, warmth water, the place all of the meals web is commonly most energetic. Bass should not any exception. Nonetheless the place the warmest water was last week is probably not the equivalent at the moment. Seasonality, air temperature, ice thickness, snow cowl, and currents all affect thermal stratification.

“On aerated lakes, you’d assume fish would preserve tight to the aerator on account of that house’s most likely probably the most oxygenated,” Genz says. “Nonetheless these areas are moreover the coldest, in order that they produce the fewest bites. In the case of the warmest water, don’t be afraid to maneuver shallow or into lifeless vegetation and darkish, soft-bottom areas, notably in the direction of the tip of the ice season. That’s the place life kicks off first and also you uncover roaming bass in these areas properly ahead of ice-out.

“old style” Sight-Fishing

Comparable in principle to a spearing darkhouse, many bass anglers sight-fish from a conveyable shelter. “In shallow, clear waters, I shut window coverings in my Frabill Citadel SideStep to darken it, which combined with the within black fabric, offers me an amazing view down the opening,” Pennaz says. “Nonetheless on this case of sight-fishing, the opening is certainly a sequence of augured holes trimmed with an ice observed or chisel proper right into a cloverleaf pattern or prolonged rectangle for additional viewing house.”

Shows: North to South

Panfish jigs are commonplace fare for winter bass fishing, although there are exceptions like early and late ice when upsizing can produce fish, or the tried-and-true shiner or sucker dangled under a tip-up or deadstick.

When jigging bass in Minnesota, Hehner turns to a quite a few panfish-size tungstens: the Fiskas N31 Stability, Custom-made Jigs & Spins Chekai, and Northland Hearth Eye. “Principally, horizontal jigs have labored biggest for me, generally fished with one or two maggots, a single waxy, or Wedgee plastic. I keep on with black, brown, and reds to emulate bloodworms. Nonetheless the smallest Demon spoon with a waxy can work properly, too.” His jig rods embrace 28- to 32-inch medium-light St. Croix Mojo Ice and Legends with straight-line reels that forestall jig twist, which is a turn-off to bass.” His go-to line is 4-pound mono.

Like Hehner, Genz matches the hatch. Nonetheless as an alternative of bloodworms, he mimics tiny panfish (or “flats”). “Fillet small bass and usually you uncover their stomachs stuffed with ‘flats,’ these dime- to quarter-size sunfish,” Genz says. “The roundish Clam Caviar Drop rigged sideways with a Jamei XL plastic has merely the suitable profile to mimic them. It has been environment friendly for bass and walleyes in shallow water.”

Genz’ completely different go-to bait is a #10 Clam Dropkick in pink glow with 5 or 6 Eurolarvae threaded like a “waving hand.” He says the trick is rotating the knot throughout the doorway of the eyelet to supply a fragile rocking of the bait’s once more end. “Don’t over jig. You don’t want any horizontal or vertical movement, merely the jig rocking in place, the larvae waving on the bass.”

Inside the southern part of the Ice Belt, Matan makes use of a a lot greater jig. “We did testing last winter with the 7-mm Magnum Chekai and outcomes have been good. We caught plenty of bass on that jig tipped with a Wedgee or a bunch of waxworms. At virtually 1/8-ounce, it fishes deep and penetrates dense vegetation, kind of a hardwater punchbait. It can get correct into the channels of the premise applications the place we see plenty of bass on the digital digital camera. On weededges and bottom transitions, I pound bottom with a Custom-made Jigs & Spins Rattlin’ RPM, which has a rattle chamber inside the tail half. That draws fish when jigs don’t. Sometimes they hammer it, completely different cases I’ve to grab a rod rigged with a Demon with a Ratso, a one-two punch,” Matan says.

Near Peoria, Illinois, “Chef” Kent will depend on aggressive strategies whether or not or not he’s fishing the Herman Brothers’ Massive Goose Ranch, a 1,000-acre facility with 52 lakes or Mississippi River backwaters. “Down proper right here it’s a plastics recreation,” he says. “Put a plastic on the once more of a jig and likewise you enhance your bass capabilities by 100%. I fish Chekai Tungsten jigs, Diamond Jigs, and Gill Capsules with Wedgee or Nuclear Ant microplastics. The latest Skilled Grade tungsten jigs from Acme look attention-grabbing for this season, too. Black, gold, firetiger, and pink jigs and black and pink plastics. I try and imitate bloodworms, a staple in loads of our space. I pound the underside, then slowly elevate and micro-jiggle.”

He fishes an assortment of 28-inch Adam Bricker and ACE Custom-made Rods split-grips and 500 Sequence Shimano Sahara reels he says “are strong to beat.”

And when he’s fishing the Mississippi River backwaters inside the Fort Byron-Savanna-Galena, Illinois, space, Kent goes “old style.” “I started fishing shallow river backwaters with Skoolie reels and rods. I nonetheless use the longer 28-inch rod with an amazing spring tip with a Custom-made Jigs & Spins Lil’ Cecil and waxworm or Wedgee. I let my physique movement merely barely switch the jig, whereas I try to carry it nonetheless.”

Tip-Up Methods

Now combine jigging with a tip-up and your odds bear the roof. “Notably for groups of children, inserting out tip-ups along with jig rods will likely be environment friendly,” Pennaz says. “Twenty to 30 flags a day on good bass lakes should not be uncommon. Ideally, you’ve got received 3 to 4 people and unfold out the tip-ups shallow to deep over vegetation. When a bass hits a tip-up you perceive how aggressive they’re typically in winter. They will spool you sooner than you get to the opening.”

Hehner’s one different tip-up advocate. “They appear to be a no brainer,” he says. “Put a 3- to 4-inch shiner under a flag and bass can’t resist.” Nonetheless on account of livebait attracts huge bass, there are some tweaks required to cease gut-hooking. To that end, he fishes 1/0 to 2/0 Kahle-style hooks, which rotate upon hook-sets to penetrate the roof or aspect of the mouth. For the same trigger, he recommends setting the hook immediately after the flag goes up, reverse to the “let ’em take it” tip-up playbook for walleyes. “Whether or not or not the bass has taken a foot of line or 20, it has the minnow in its mouth.”

His commonplace tip-rig consists of a Frabill Skilled Thermal tip-up to cease hole freeze, 30-pound Dacron tip-up line, a 2-foot a part of 15-pound Seaguar AbrazX fluoro attached with a barrel swivel, and an unlimited split-shot 6 to eight inches above the hook to take care of the minnow pinned in a slim strike window. In pike waters, take into consideration stepping as a lot as 25-pound fluorocarbon.

Genz offers that tip-ups are notably environment friendly in shallow water. “As soon as I am fishing shallow spots in 3 to 5 toes, it’s laborious to beat a tip-up with a keep shiner or sucker. Nonetheless you need to be quiet—bass are spooky,” he says.

Whether or not or not you’re jigging, setting tip-ups, or a working a combo, have satisfying rising your on-ice selections this winter with bass. Fullhart sums it up. “Bass don’t eat as rather a lot in winter as they do the rest of the 12 months, nonetheless set the dinner desk correct in entrance of them and they’re going to eat.”

Once more to the taboo of consuming bass, you might be shocked by the amount of meat you get from small bass and easily how good they fashion pulled from chilly waters…and you may pat your self on the once more for releasing these bigger ‘gills and crappies.

*Jim Edlund, Becker, Minnesota, is an avid multispecies angler and hardwater junkie. He contributes to many In-Fisherman publications.