Finally got a good largemouth through the ice

[Reel Northern Bass]

First time I ever went ice fishing was January 2018, and I pulled up a 4 lb 2 oz smallmouth that day. Since then, I've been dying to pull up a good largemouth through the ice. Got a good one finally last sunday, 3 lbs 3 oz. Not a giant, but still my biggest largemouth through the ice. Best guess on my previous ice PB was about 2.5 lbs, and that's being generous to myself.

The idea was to hit up a pond I knew really well from open water fishing, and see if that info could help put us onto some bass after we swung and missed on them the last 3 trips out. Had two tip-ups that caught all of our fish. One was setup shallow off of a steep bank on the northern side, have had a ton of success fishing that spot right after ice out, so figured it would be good on a day like today with it being warmer than usual and lots of bright sunshine. That's where the 3-03 came from. The rest came on our deepest tip-up setup in the deepest part of the lake, at a meager 23 feet.

For those that want to just see the bigger bass, skip to 8:00 to just see that.

[OdingyNBugs]

[Bob G.]

Nice!

[PaRiverRat]

Nice

[SC Bullet]

[Bronzefly]

Congrats!!

[Casslaw]

While I’m 90% sure I will never go ice fishing...that’s pretty cool!

[pabasshawk]

[BP in ME]

I usually don't specifically target bass through the ice, I just catch a few when targeting perch and pickerel. Ironically, LM seem to be much more active than SM under the ice. I think of SM as being more of a northern fish than LM. SM tend to be bunched-up in deeper water which can be really productive if you set-up over a school. LM will roam all over. Often catch them in shallow weedy coves mixed in with pickerel. Sometimes they're in the deeper water. Even if you don't find them, it's better than sitting around the house whining about the winter on BBC.

[Reel Northern Bass]

While I’m 90% sure I will never go ice fishing...that’s pretty cool!

If you're ever up in the northeast and can get out with a group of guys, I recommend it. I'm 34, first time I ever went ice fishing was last year. Went out with 4 friends, we maxed out our tip-ups, and did a round robin style approach. Everyone took a turn on who got to run down a flag. It was a lot of fun doing it that way, so that's what I still do. Everyone gets a fair shake at it, and when you're on them, it's crazy fun running back and forth.

Mind you, the running part gets a bit harder as the day goes on, and the pain lasts longer than I care to admit. But I still keep going back.

I usually don't specifically target bass through the ice, I just catch a few when targeting perch and pickerel. Ironically, LM seem to be much more active than SM under the ice. I think of SM as being more of a northern fish than LM. SM tend to be bunched-up in deeper water which can be really productive if you set-up over a school. LM will roam all over. Often catch them in shallow weedy coves mixed in with pickerel. Sometimes they're in the deeper water. Even if you don't find them, it's better than sitting around the house whining about the winter on BBC.

Yea a few of my experienced ice fishing friends have said the same thing for largies vs smallies. The very first time I went ice fishing was in a spot that's great for both largies and smallies, but we got setup on a good rock pile and the smallies were stacked up on it. Since then, I've tried two lakes that have good numbers of smallies, but they we couldn't find them or get them to bite. We're hoping to hit a really good pond this weekend that is loaded with smallies and brown trout though, so hopefully we can find the smallies.

[BP in ME]

We're hoping to hit a really good pond this weekend that is loaded with smallies and brown trout though, so hopefully we can find the smallies.

Are you gonna fish for both? Most trout and salmon are caught in open water just under the ice so it's hard to target both at the same time, esp if you have a two trap limit. I prefer to target just the warmwater species for more flags.

Do you guys take good eats and have a cook-out? Sometimes that's the best part. A bowl of chili or venison stew mixed with a liberal dose of fresh air and sunshine is hard to beat. Good luck and have fun!

[Reel Northern Bass]

Are you gonna fish for both? Most trout and salmon are caught in open water just under the ice so it's hard to target both at the same time, esp if you have a two trap limit. I prefer to target just the warmwater species for more flags.

Do you guys take good eats and have a cook-out? Sometimes that's the best part. A bowl of chili or venison stew mixed with a liberal dose of fresh air and sunshine is hard to beat. Good luck and have fun!

Yea I think so, there's going to be 5 of us and the place we're going to hit is pretty small, about 65 acres. There's good spots for both not far from each other, so we'll spread out a bit and see which ones are more active, then likely shift everything toward that.

And we haven't done any cooking on the ice yet, but will likely be doing it this weekend. Haven't been able to go with the two guys that have a grill, but they're both coming along this time, so hopefully I can convince one of them to bring a grill.

[250bassFL]

[cubswin]

We used to catch them swimming the bigger rapalas while fishing for gills.

[PsuHntr]

pretty cool, nice fish

[bassinman215]

Great fish!

I used to do a ton of ice fishing for largemouth when I lived up north. Had some great days (10-20 fish) but bigger fish (3+) were few and far between.

Targeted whatever vegetation was around and I kept moving. If I didn't get a flag by the time I set up my fifth tip-up, I'd move. Got a lot of exercise and caught a lot of fish.

[Jim R]

Nice hoodie. Got one just like it....

[Reel Northern Bass]

Nice hoodie. Got one just like it....

This hoodie is old enough to drive.