Most of my local lakes have now frozen over however, several lakes still have some open areas that are ice-free (for now).

QUESTION for experienced cold-weather anglers - do fish have any tendency to hold under or adjacent to the open water areas - better oxygenation there or something? Or does the open water have no relation to fish position. I'm just wondering if it would do any good to toss a lipless crank or perhaps a spoon into those open water areas that I can reach from the bank....

There was a small lake that I fished every year that half of it was covered in ice early and late in the season. Most of the fish I caught where up against the bank to about 15' out from the bank. They where either up feeding or out on the first break. All of the fish where hanging on some sort of cover or structure and not really suspending but close to the bottom. Fish that where caught out in the lake where suspending at a set depth which changed depending on the day and the amount of sunlight or wind. Other lakes I fished sometimes I had to break up some of the ice with my boat which can get interesting to to fish but can be productive. The key in both situations was the cover and structure if the area has some fish it. If your just gunning after fish that might be suspended in the open area if you have a strong population of suspended bait fish you might do well. I have not found bass to use ice as overhead cover to hide around not to say it doesn't happen. I know when the flipping spin was being field tested Denny pitched it into a small opening in the ice and let it fall and caught a bass on the first pitch. 

Thanks for the info. It's becoming a moot point now anyway as I went out today and the open patch of water that I had in one lake was starting to shrink down to swimming pool size ;D Still, I made about 15-20 casts until the line guides iced up and my fingers went numb - then I called it a day!

It can be very challenging, I've done it before, you're better of waiting for spring time.

It can be very challenging, I've done it before, you're better of waiting for spring time.

I'm not quite beaten yet ... but the time is coming soon!  Then the long wait until spring...

Goose, you should get the diehard award of the year.  Most of the guys I know simply spend that time of year getting our ice fishing gear ready.

A couple of questions though.  Who do you get the bass up out of the water and onto the ice?  I assume you then just need to skid them along it until they reach you.  But how do you release them?

Try to find moving water...I fished a local tail water the other day and caught 2 LMB's (1 and 2.5 pounds)...most of the water was not frozen but there were parts that were solid. Both of the ones I caught were right on the ice line (may very well have been hanging right under the ice). Ambient temp was 17 when I went out and 12 when I finally gave it up (ran out of daylight).

A couple of questions though. Who do you get the bass up out of the water and onto the ice? I assume you then just need to skid them along it until they reach you. But how do you release them?

I wish I had that problem since I haven't caught anything since the water starting getting hard. Anyway, I've been fishing little spots of open water that extend to the bank so if I had a fish on I could land them easy enough. However, some of these ice-free areas are irregularaly shaped and I was thinking about what I was going to do if I DID get a fish on an he made a run back into a little "bay" where my line would be extending over the ice. Guess I figured I would worry about that when the time came.

I'm just about done anyway - I was fishing one of the last remaining open areas yesterday and was watching the water freeze near the shoreline right where I was fishing...

This cold front coming through Tennessee will be moving out in about a week and we have some mid-40s weather coming up - maybe the thin spots in the ice will melt and I can reach the water again...

Try to find moving water...I fished a local tail water the other day and caught 2 LMB's (1 and 2.5 pounds)...most of the water was not frozen but there were parts that were solid. Both of the ones I caught were right on the ice line (may very well have been hanging right under the ice). Ambient temp was 17 when I went out and 12 when I finally gave it up (ran out of daylight).

Wow - details please! What bait, depth, etc.

ALSO - how do you keep your hands warm enough to work the reel? It was in the 20s when I went out fishing and I had on latex gloves, with UnderArmour glove liners over them, and thin wool gloves over that, with a chemical handwarmer between the glove layers... and still had the fingers go numb.

Wow - details please! What bait, depth, etc.

ALSO - how do you keep your hands warm enough to work the reel? It was in the 20s when I went out fishing and I had on latex gloves, with UnderArmour glove liners over them, and thin wool gloves over that, with a chemical handwarmer between the glove layers... and still had the fingers go numb.

The smaller one was on a pop-eye tipped with a live minnow (trying to find crappie). He was about 4 feet down and 15 feet off the shore but right against a bunch of ice that had formed in an eddy.

The other was caught on a jig, with a cut down Rage Tail Lobster, that I was actually reeling in to re-cast (so I guess it would count as swimming it)...he came up from between some shallow (1-2 feet) rocks, right off the shore and again right along the ice. Surprisingly he hit it like a freight train!

As for staying warm...I'm kinda thick skinned when it comes to it, worked almost 10 years third shift outside...I think the warmer you keep your body the warmer your hands will be overall but a good pair of bibs that have hand slits are great. When your hands get too cold, take a break, take off your gloves and get your hands close to your body and out of the cold. I hate wearing gloves and even the other day I only had a thin pair of fleece ones that I wore less than half the time.

You would probably be better to keep the latex gloves as a middle or outer layer...whenever I put them on they make my hands sweat and that is a recipe for disaster when it is that cold...I'd put on the UnderArmour, then the hand warmers, then the wool and top it off with the latex. Seems like the latex works best when you just use it to keep the others dry and to keep the wind out...

Good tips on the hands - thanks.

I wish I had moving water here. I fish small man-made lakes - 4 acres to 204 acres. I'm fishing off the earthen dams and there is no cover, and very little structure. Then I have a small ice-free area to toss baits into without being able to target any cover/structure. My only hope is some fish MIGHT be suspended there... but logic says they're probably somewhere else. I did have 2 very nice rainbows follow my spinner back to the bank the other day but they didn't hit and I haven't seen any sign of a bass here in over a month.

How much longer until spring ? :-/

How much longer until spring ? :-/

WAY TOO LONG!!!

71 days, 12 hours and 47 minutes.

71 days, 12 hours and 47 minutes.

Not that you're counting ...  ;D