I know the anglers up north are moving into hard water season and will soon need to cut a hole in the ice. The anglers in the far south are still casting. My question is where does the normal line cross the US between casting and not casting in the winter. I am sure storms my move that line some, but just normal winter temps? If you can still fish does the cold in some areas still keep you off the water? Warm thoughts to all.

I am in SW Missouri.  Most winters we can fish, but sometimes the lakes freeze over.  Right now we are having 20-40 mph winds so I am not going.

I seem to recall pat brown talking about this in another thread and that NC where he is normally fishes in the winter but they were getting ice last year.  I can tell you that NJ is certainly north of the line most years, but a mild winter with some sun and wind will keep the lakes open. So far 2/5 have been semi-open water winters since we’ve lived here.  

I live just south of Boston.  Waters here have only frozen over enough for ice fishing once in the last six years.  They sometimes freeze over enough to keep lures bouncing, but not enough to be safe.

 

Plymouth and Cape Cod usually don't freeze over.  Cape Cod water temps get to the high 30's in January to early March.

I fish mainly in North West VA and WV and our lakes already have ice on the edges but we've been unseasonably cold.

For the most part I'd consider VA/WV above the line for winter bass fishing.

1 hour ago, rboat said:

I know the anglers up north are moving into hard water season and will soon need to cut a hole in the ice. The anglers in the far south are still casting. My question is where does the normal line cross the US between casting and not casting in the winter. I am sure storms my move that line some, but just normal winter temps? If you can still fish does the cold in some areas still keep you off the water? Warm thoughts to all.

Mason-Dixon Line in general terms.

Tom

Here in Middle Ga. some of our small ponds will get thin ice every four or five years. No excuse not to fish our lakes year round.

I am close to the VA-NC border.  Ice kept me off the lake for, I think, less than a week last year.  When I lived in northern VA, I would typically lose 3 or 4 weeks a year due to ice.  I used to push out through skim ice if it was going to warm above freezing during the day, but I think I am over that.

You can fish the rivers all Winter long, extremely far North... They will largely stay ice free, some of the best steelhead fishing of the year, Walleye fishing can be stellar too... I rarely fish them in the Winter, but Bass will situate into the deeper holes and if you truly want to, blades will usually catch one, steelhead are much more fun when it's this cold though...

 

I often ice fish and river fish in the same day... even here in Northern Michigan...

 

When it's warmer out, I love Bass fishing, maybe more than anything, as long as they aren't on beds, but the colder months are the best time of year to put some fish in the freezer for fish fries throughout the year. They simply taste much better caught in the cold. 

 

I imagine which lakes freeze and where that line you speak of is, has much to do with their elevation and if they are part of a flowage or not... I remember many Winters when I lived in SW Michigan where the inland lakes hardly froze, was sunny and warm on Christmas and New Years even, a rarity, but it happens, the rivers certainly stay relatively ice free in the Winter... You also have to keep in mind, for some of us, the Great Lakes impacts this a great deal, for example, lakes close to Lake Michigan typically freeze much later than lakes in the center of the state, etc... the big lake keeps the areas around it, warmer, longer. Lot of variables... Michigan rivers are spring fed to such a high degree though, our rivers remain ice free more so than many other states as far North as we are...

 

If you stay close to the Pacific Ocean, you will stay quite warm all Winter long too, so you can go quite far North and remain ice free, as long as you stick to the coast...

 

Few I pulled through a hole in the ice yesterday... Nothing quite like a first ice dinner sampler, fresh from the lake... LOL

Most winters we get hit with a cold spell that will freeze the lakes over for maybe a month.  The rest of the winter you can fish if you can take the temps and the wind.  

I made a cast one time that bounced on the water. Live on the Gulf coast so we don't have hard water, only once or twice have I seen our water with a sheet of ice over it. So fortunate that I can fish year round.

On the way to the lake I fill my cooler up with ice.