Shoreline Fishing for Ice Out Bass

Here in northern New England, “Old Man Winter” finally starts to lose his grip as longer days and warmer temperatures sometime in March mean receding ice on our local bass haunts!

Though it seemed like may never get here, the first open water bass fishing opportunity of the new season is always welcome when it starts to present itself 

Once the ice withers back from the shoreline and yields more than a cast length’s distance to it’s edge, it’s time to head out and take full advantage of this late winter bass angling bonanza …

Take a few minutes and watch as Kim Stricker of the Hook n' Look YouTube channel identifies some of the shallow water features that ice out Bass gravitate to...

Being a good scout, I’ve already renewed the license, prepped  some rod and reel combos and assembled a small tackle pack with lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, some stick baits and jigs.

That’s right, I’m all set to hit the water’s edge on a moment’s notice!

How about you?

I look forward to seeing you out on the water's edge soon…

Finding Ice Out Bass

Do you live in the north country and anxiously await the ice to leave our lakes and ponds plus the chance to get in our boats and on the water?

Ever wonder where the best places to start the search for bass migrating from deeper wintering areas and back to the shallows?

Take a few minutes and watch as the guys from Hook n Look discuss where to find ice out bass...

I know hitting the dark bottom flats works for me each spring immediately after ice out!

Fishing for Ice Out Smallmouth Bass

After a long north country winter, cabin fevered smallmouth bass anglers itch for the day the ice leaves and we can hit the water to connect with then ole brown fish.

Armed with our favorite ice-out baits like:

• hair jigs
• suspending crankbaits
• thin, flat-sided crankbaits (like shad raps)
• Small spoons or jigging minnows

we head out to find transition areas between their deep water wintering homes and the shallow feeding flats and spawning bays and probe those areas with our traditional ice-out lure arsenal.

There is one bait and presentation we sometimes overlooked shortly after the ice cover departs... using a yo-yo retrieve with a lipless crankbait. 

It can be a smallie killer under the right conditions as Doug Stange from InFiseherman demos in the following video...

I often use yo-yo retrieves with lipless cranks for ice-out largies with great success, time to try it on smallies as well!