Can it be done with any success? :exclamation

If so what are some good lures to use?

Thanks

yes it can be done i ice fish for them every year, some lures i use are just some of the same lures i use for ice fishing trout, small tube jigs tipped with a piece of crawler, or jigging rapalas. the key is to move around alot till you find the fish, then when the bite turns off move around some more.

I caught one last year at about 13 inches. A friend of mine caught 2 about a month ago at 15 plus. I read an article about it and the auther said the trick is to find them. When I caught mine I was using a red northland forage minnow spoon with wax worms on, it not sure what my friend used but I know he does use waxies too. I was hoping to catch one this year but none yet, just bluegill, crappie and catfish.

Paul

I've only caught a couple and they were both by accident.

If I were going to target bass under the ice the first thing I would try to find is a lake map that shows the contours and depth changes. This way you'll have some starting points instead of having to drill holes at random.

As for lures can't help you there. I've never really gone ice fishing specifically for bass.

What's the point?

If you are C&R, pulling a bass through an ice hole doesn't sound very interesting to me.

I thought ice fishing was just an excuse to get out of the house, drink and maybe catch dinner.

:

i've always just used shiners when ice fishing for bass.

RW, you're kinda right about ice fishing. as much as i enjoy catching fish, standing around on the ice freezing my arse off waiting for a little orange flag to go up just doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as standing in a boat or on a bank casting around.

The tip ups that we put out on a local lake for pike will end up catching about half largemouth.  Most of them are 3+ and hit whatever minnow we have rigged up on it.  

I do it all the time up here (seeing as how we have a longer ice season than we do openwater), never keep any though.  Jigging them up is the best. Biggest this year is 24" LMB, nice fish.  We normally use vexilars and aquaveiws to find them, when you do you normally find a bunch (seem to be on bottom or up to 2 ft off).  Small jigs seem to work really good, by small I mean crappie and bluegill stuff. Small minnow or 2 or 3 waxies on the jig.  Best time is after a couple days of nice warm weather, or right before the ice is out.  Yeah you can always catch them on tip ups with big minnows, but that just aint fun.  But any ice fishing is a good excuse to get out and have a couple of beers.

When I lived in Jersey I've done a lot of ice-fishing with my dad, which was basically a day of ice-skating flavored by fishing.

We never thought about bass though, because bass in Jersey are quite dormant after ice-up.

Our catch was always a mix of chain pickerel and yellow perch, but no bass. Nevertheless, a few bass are reportedly taken every year

through the ice, and they're usually big bass (big fish = cold-tolerant).

Roger

Too hard to cast and hit that little hole!!!!!!!! :'( :-/ :-? ;D