smallmouth bass, ice fishing?

[TheBeav]

Starting to get excited, for the 2018 ice fishing season on Lake Mille Lacs. I have had a sleeper shack, out of Fishermans Wharf, for 25+ years. I’m an “ice time” only, angler on the big pond. I have lake property an hour north of Mille Lacs, that I spend my summers on.

Does anyone actually “ice fish” for smallmouth bass? I would love to try that. Does a guy, fish the rock piles? Or, am I just way off on this?

"Head shaker, Ma?"

[nofishfisherman]

Smallmouth bass usually congregate in deep water in the winter. They can be hard to find but when you do you’ll likely find a lot of them as they’ll group up pretty tight.

I know in most of the state smallmouth are catch and release in the winter months. You may want to look into the Mille Lacs regs to see if they are catch and release or if you can keep any, I’m not sure what the rules are there. Keep in mind though that if you find them in some deep holes some of the fish may not survive the round trip.

[Oldstar]

You can’t target them in winter. They simply don’t bite. Like a carp or bullhead or something. I have caught one in 40 years of ice fishing. And the only 2 places I had a perm was the St.Croix and Mille Lacs. Probably the 2 best smallie fisheries.

[Bandersnatch]

Oldstar wrote:
You can’t target them in winter. They simply don’t bite. Like a carp or bullhead or something. I have caught one in 40 years of ice fishing. And the only 2 places I had a perm was the St.Croix and Mille Lacs. Probably the 2 best smallie fisheries.

Must be hold’n up a Ghost (chuckle)

http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/ice-fishing-for-bass/

[TheBeav]

Good info. Thank you.

"Head shaker, Ma?"

[Oldstar]

Bandersnatch wrote:

Oldstar wrote:
You can’t target them in winter. They simply don’t bite. Like a carp or bullhead or something. I have caught one in 40 years of ice fishing. And the only 2 places I had a perm was the St.Croix and Mille Lacs. Probably the 2 best smallie fisheries.

Must be hold’n up a Ghost (chuckle)

http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/ice-fishing-for-bass/

So Genz caught one 30 years ago, so did I. Saying you can target smallies in winter is hogwash. How many winter pics of smallies have you seen? Largemouth of course are a different story. They need to catch attention to make money with these articles.

[chris63]

Z im with you.Ive fished for over 50 years on Millelacs and never caught a small or large mouth through the ice(on millelacs).Im not saying impossible but not too probable.Maybe there is some “secret smallmouth society spot”that everyone else knows about exept us.I think the jumbo perch have their secret spot hiding too!!!!c63 ” title=”” class=”bbcode_smiley” />

[Basspastor]

Smallies bite in the winter if you can find them, same goes for largemouth.

AKA The B.P., "Banned" Pastor, Bass Poacher, Bass Putz, Bass Pundit, Bow(fin) Pro.

[JJ]

Oldstar wrote:
[
So Genz caught one 30 years ago, so did I. Saying you can target smallies in winter is hogwash. How many winter pics of smallies have you seen? Largemouth of course are a different story. They need to catch attention to make money with these articles.

i guess i can’t speak to fishing them through the ice, but i spend a lot of time in the winter fishing them on the ‘sippi. It’s not uncommon to catch as many fish as your sucker budget will allow.

Let’s be honest, they have to eat, so they are out there somewhere feeding. Your best bet would be to take a look at winter tactics for winter smallmouth in Southern reservoirs. i suspect on ML you would need to target deep rocks, and use baits that simulate crayfish, as these are the most prevalent food sources of ML smallmouth.

Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus

[Feathers]

So they hibernate or what? Winter is long in smallmouth country. How in the world could the spawn in the spring without eating all winter?

I’ll just leave this here. Weibe is the man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBp5MQMkkkw

If you find them let us know. Smallies through the ice would be a blast. I know some guys target them on Chequamegon.

[MasterGopherHunter]

That is a great video, Feathers. I was just thinking of that one when I was reading this thread.

I have successfully targeted smallmouth through the ice on two different lakes (not Mille Lacs) in the last couple of years, and hope to do more this year. They are very finicky and seem to be very particular on their locations. On the two lakes that I’ve had success on, they were on deep rocks. I too would love to get into them on ML, but I have never heard of a single instance of someone catching one there through the ice, which is odd.

[nofishfisherman]

Catching them isn’t the problem. The problem is finding them. They bunch up into very small groups and don’t roam real far for food. It can be the needle in the haystack issue. I think if you can find them on Mille lacs you’d probably have some luck catching them but finding them is a big if.

[MWNN]

I used to fish Mille lacs first ice religiously. Walked out to the Shoreline breaks from wigwam to wealthwood. One season 10-12 yrs ago I had my spot picked and plan in place. Only to get to access before daylight and see a three foot break between me and the spot I wanted to fish. Target 21’ only in 9’. Rocks like bowling balls. Decided to drill a few holes and wait for light. Another angler walked out saw break and left. After light i didn’t feel comfortable crossing break. Started jigging with no expectations. Missed a nice bite. Surprised me. Jigged a couple More minutes and moved. Dropped jig and bite right away. Thought northern. But ended up being a very nice smallmouth. Fished those 5 holes and caught 3 more in next half hour. Wind picked up. Break started closing. So I hopped it and set up in 21’ and had one of the best days catching walleye and perch. Was off by 11 with limit of both. Plus throwback. Limit was 4 one over 20 then. Fish were still biting when I left. And bite was hot for a week. Accidental but they were a blast to catch.

[zachd]

Not possible

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Oldstar]

You can stumble into them sometimes, like I said. As you see that is all different guys and I know Jim is on Chequamegon which is known for a viable place to get smallies through the ice.And one pic is from NY. The original post was about smallies on Mille Lacs through the ice. There are a few lakes that they bite, but not many and very hard to “target”. More of a fluke. I can search the web for Sasquatch pics too! ” title=”” class=”bbcode_smiley” />

[Author]

Posts