Vintage Ice Smallmouth
So I heard you can fish smallmouth thru the ice.
It started in 2003
Well the whole thing started with a colleague of mine saying he targeted smallies through the ice. I saw, I listened and I went smallie fishing thru the ice.
It really was so simple. We target smallies in good smallie lakes on the same structure we’d target them in mid-summer. And with some of the same lures. Not to say some live bait wasn’t used but I’ve caught more smallies thru the ice on an 1/8th ounce jig and a 3 inch Kalin’s Grub than all the other methods combined.
I’v e targeted smallmouth bass thru the ice in Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Now to be fair all of my ice fishing for smallies has happened in December. So maybe that gave me an advantage? You see I’ve often thought, as many anglers do, that smallies group up in deeper water in late fall so naturally they should still be there on first ice. And they are.
I’ll give a bit of detail. In a northern Minnesota lake near Orr we targeted smallies just off the edges of mid-lake humps. It took some work but we found and caught smallmouth in what I’d say is the basin area just off the humps in 20-25 feet. The areas that harbored smallmouth bass were soft bottom in 20-25 feet of water and the same was true in Wisconsin and South Dakota. Also true was when we found 1 smallie we we found many. Most spots produced multiple fish.
As is my normal procedure we drilled lots of holes and moved often. Find no fish in 10 minutes and drill or move. It’s easier to do in December typically. If you have a hankering to try your skill on smallies thru the ice give it a try. It’s a riot!
This is so interesting! I never thought about fishing for smallmouth through the ice. I’ll definitely give it a try next winter.