Ok, now I thought I would give this post a little Winter bass fishing flavor with some tips and tricks...and whatever!..lol! Nothing to deep but just to get something going with ice fishing picking up lately. First thing I did with respect to the guidelines I've blur the product name in one of the following pics. It s not my intention on this site or this post to sell anything from any company..I do this elsewhere. I just want this post to be fun to read or not...LOL!
Now, I was on ice recently(like real recently) bassin in Quebec...yep Quebec Zone 10..not 25 (it's closed)....not Ontario either...it's shut down till June for the love of God!! wasup!!....Ontario has trout fishing in the Winter and Quebec..not!..cute!...Very different minding on both sides with laws...and of course fisherman alike..let's not forget though! If there is one thing I really want to stress about bass fishing on ice no matter if you are for bass fishing in the Winter or not.....fish for them when the temperature is around 0 degree Celsius and warmer. If you have a heated Pop up shelter for colder conditions...that's perfect!..Bass don't manage well extreme cold conditions out of the water folks. So be aware of this at all time!
When it comes to lures...go micro...go soft plastics...you can't beat that day in day out and stick with it with confidence!!!!!!!.....unlike some might think!..LOL!....not that easy to get Largies on ice or even finding them people..so you know. I might even say that some lakes that have a very good population of largies just go on a nearly total shut down in the Winter...the bite is just not the same as Summer and that's a fact!....But again, pushing hard with the micro soft plastics will pay off eventually if you are at the right place and the right time. Unlike the Summer and early Fall period you wanna go light...you wanna go small..you wanna go stealth...4 pounds test....crappie style for those big old bass!...Go for the challenge....it is rewarding after all! In recent years I have ditched all spinning reels and went with inline reels which are just like fly fishing reels..they are very efficient for delicate presentations and fast drops to the bottom..a must on ice PERIOD!....and of course you will need a Flasher...can't fish without this if you want to be successful on ice chasing Giants guys...noooo way!!. I don't need to name any products or company here but invest in quality!...you will be looking at this thing for countless hours....what I have to say about flashers??...get one that will be comfortable for your eyes folks...or you
will have to spent some money on Tylenol..LLOL! One other thing...on ice you will have to be patient...sometimes you will have to wait...you will have to be focus and alert so invest in a shelter and a good seat when you expect to be jigging for 5-6 hours. Your concentration will be at it's best..you will be able to react a lot better when fish shows up on screen too.
In the following pics we have a real nice largie that came to my 8 inch hole....when it got there it didn't want to turn vertical..it's huge head was just bumping below the surface on the bottom edge of the fishing hole....no panic..no pulling...just a little slack...fish went backward a bit ..had a clear shot at the head over the center of the hole....little pressure on the pull...bass head came right up...Bingo!
