Yes bass will bite year around, they must eat something to survive as they do not hibernate. Being a cold blooded animal bass are affected by the cold water temperatures and slow down their metabolism and eat less in cold water. Cold water being below 45 F, above the Mason-Dixon line.

IMO; lakes that freeze over you shouldn't target the bass, leave them be until the ice is gone. Fish for trout through the ice.

If you insist on bass fishing during iced over or partially iced over water, use smaller lures like 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigs with a small trailer like a UJ 101 spin frog.

The issue with frozen water is very high DO levels in water colder than 39.4 F. Water gets heavier as it gets colder until it reaches 39.4 F, then water changes and becomes lighter and floats on top of the slightly warmer water until it freezes at 32 F. To survive bass must find warmer water with good DO levels, this is usually deep water or spring water.

WRB

question... How long can a bass go before it must feed again during winter? Can we get an approximation for every 5 degrees from 30 to 50 degrees with the size of the fish?

Mottfia

Gee I don't know , what do you think? I didn't catch this, they ice fish here, with no damage to the population

Bass still do go shallow under the ice too maybe not as much but i have seen it. Most people dont target them in the winter around here more walleye, pike, panfish. but i have seen some nice ones through the ice usually on very small bait

I have caught many bass through ice, most have been in shallow water. This year we fished bank when there was still ice on a lot of the water. 1/16 to 1/8 jigs fished under a bobber, casting parralel [mp] to shore and working it back very slowly. IMHO as soon as the ice starts to melt some bass will be active in very shallow water, though ussualy they aren't the biggest in the lake. I have caught them with air temp around 35 and sleeting. Amazing what a long bout of cabin fever will get you to do.

Most fishermen ice fish for food and winter recreation. Harvesting bass during the frozen lake time isn't any different than harvesting bass during any other time. Bass under ice are not thriving , they are surviving the winter and one reason the further north you go, the smaller the bass become until you reach the limit of under ice time they can withstand.

How long can a bass go without food? The younger the bass is the less chance it can survive without food and the smaller bass become part of the food chain with no place to hide.

WRB

thanks for posting this, it answers my question i had in the other thread...

Bass do bite through the ice , all you need is live bait, a hook, and a tip-up and you are set up to catch some fatties.  I have caught fish from under a pound to 5 pounds here in connecticut through the ice.  Me my dad and my brother also take a yearly trip to my dad's buddys house in maine, he lives right on a pond where we will catch 60 bass in a weekend through the ice, the biggest there also around 5 pounds, but almost all others under 2.  Bass bite though the ice, just dont get your hopes up if you got a rod and reel, 6 tip-ups in the water will produce much more and be a lot more fun.

thanks for posting this, it answers my question i had in the other thread...

Thanks, that is why it was posted.

Yes they feed all year. I do quite a bit of ice fishing up here in the winter months and set tip-ups for pike but I have had days where I couldn't keep the dang bass off the hooks. Biggest thru the ice was a tad over 6. She was fatter than me.

Ken Cook says the digestive time for a minnow:

40*      8 days

60*          7

70*      24 hours

80*+      18 hours

70* to 75* most efficient metabolism