1 hour ago, slonezp said:

Cheating.....I'm headed to a cooling lake in the morning. 

A cooling lake is the only thing that keeps me sane January and February.

fortunately the cold water lakes are now open here. Planning my first non power plant lake excursion of the year on Monday.

Snow is gone here except for the last remnants of piles from road and walkway removal.  River is wide open and running high, lots of flooded woodland. Neighborhood ponds I'm seeing are all still iced over though, except right at the shore in a few places.

19 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Snow is gone here except for the last remnants of piles from road and walkway removal.  River is wide open and running high, lots of flooded woodland. Neighborhood ponds I'm seeing are all still iced over though, except right at the shore in a few places.

I’ve seen 5 ice anglers on 4 different lakes in my travels this week. 

 

I’m so desperate to get out I’ve eyed the Grand River to get out on. I never would at the level it’s at but I want on the water. Lol

Replaced the cranking battery in the boat yesterday and i'm headed out Tuesday.  Spring is a little late but it's here.

1 minute ago, Columbia Craw said:

Replaced the cranking battery in the boat yesterday and i'm headed out Tuesday.  Spring is a little late but it's here.

There ya go ~ 

Best of luck my friend.

A-Jay

Thanks A-jay.  You'll be right behind me.  It's largemouth only for now.  Small mouth is still a few weeks away. Launches are still high and dry.  You've got some sick Megabass crankbaits to throw.

All open water in my part of Illinois. Problem is everything is terribly flooded.

77 degrees here today. 

There's a little band of water along the edges of the lake - at least Emerald and Cook's Bay. Melting should speed up at this point.

 

Hoping for open water by mid-April.

We've got open water.  Not sure where I want to go this weekend.

Trees are budding. Still flooded. Went to a LMB/SMB quarry and where there is usually 15 yards of gravel to travel down to launch or fish from has turned to a few feet of gravel. River that averages 2-4 ft is roaring like the mighty Mississippi.

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

We've got open water.  Not sure where I want to go this weekend.

That's a nice problem to have ~ 

Good Luck with where ever you go.

A-Jay

The edges of my lake are starting to open. Friday is forecasting storms, rain, and 50’s I’m hoping that’s the knock out punch for this ice! 

Is the purpose of this thread to say that if the ice is gone, I can catch bass? Because the ice is gone here already, but I don’t think I can catch anything.

46 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

Is the purpose of this thread to say that if the ice is gone, I can catch bass? Because the ice is gone here already, but I don’t think I can catch anything.

 

While I've not ever actually defined what the 'purpose' of this thread is - 

The general 'theme' if you will, revolves around my open water prediction date and my overall impatience waiting for it whenever it comes. 

As for catching bass immediately after ice out, I've had some success there.

In fact, the first two weeks of open water often account for some of the largest brown bass I'll catch all year.  

EVen put a few very respectable bass in the net while there was still ice on the lake.

So that certainly adds a level of anticipation to the whole deal. 

I'd encourage you to 'try' fishing now if you can do it safely.  

A lippless rattle bait & a jerk bait are both great early season presentations.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

Is the purpose of this thread to say that if the ice is gone, I can catch bass? Because the ice is gone here already, but I don’t think I can catch anything.

If it’s open then you can for sure catch bass! Jerkbaits with longer pauses. Finesse jigs , lipless cranks!

11 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

As for catching bass immediately after ice out, I've had some success there

Doesn't matter how early ice-out is. Here we can't target bass (or lake-dwelling rainbows) until May 11. So from ice-out until then, I'm limited to panfish...by law. Accidental catches of the others (and walleye and pike) HAVE to be tossed back, even if they're eatin' size. Can't even keep the bass until May 25.

9 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Doesn't matter how early ice-out is. Here we can't target bass (or lake-dwelling rainbows) until May 11. So from ice-out until then, I'm limited to panfish...by law. Accidental catches of the others (and walleye and pike) HAVE to be tossed back, even if they're eatin' size. Can't even keep the bass until May 25.

 

 

It was like that here in MI up until two seasons ago - 

Now it's C&R bass all year - I like that. 

 Walleye, pike & trout have to go back until the 3rd week of April I think - 

I'll know when the time comes.

I can't get myself to take a fillet knife to a big trout - too purty.

But I'll take the sides off a walleye in a heartbeat - then it's "Cue the Hot Fat !"

A-Jay

Just now, A-Jay said:

It was like that here in MI up until two seasons ago

Up till a few years ago, you couldn't even target bass until the bass opener on Memorial Weekend. They added C&R starting when walleye/pike season opened due to demand. So for 2 weeks it's C&R only...THEN I can start adding eatin' size bass to the freezer.

4 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Doesn't matter how early ice-out is. Here we can't target bass (or lake-dwelling rainbows) until May 11. So from ice-out until then, I'm limited to panfish...by law. Accidental catches of the others (and walleye and pike) HAVE to be tossed back, even if they're eatin' size. Can't even keep the bass until May 25.

"Sorry officer, I thought for sure a crappie was going to eat my 1/2oz jig n craw, not this darn largemouth. I'll for sure toss it back." 

 

4 hours ago, Glaucus said:

"Sorry officer, I thought for sure a crappie was going to eat my 1/2oz jig n craw, not this darn largemouth. I'll for sure toss it back." 

 

It's all fun & games until they whip out that polygraph . . .

A-Jay

Spring browns are delicious!

 

30 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Spring browns are delicious!

 

Wow that is a fat brown trout. Around here the state stocks a few of them that big but they usually don't survive the stocking. They go belly up as soon as they are dumped into the water. 

That's a little one.

 

Open water! Just a hike through slush, snow and ice to get there.

 

 

It was a beautiful day Sunday. Air temps in the 50's, water temps... let me put it this way, I saw ice floes drifting downriver. It was nice to cast a line again.