Can You Ice Fish for Bass? Best Winter Locations, Gear & Tips

Don’t let a frozen lake keep you from being a bass fisherman this winter!

The author shows off a chunky largemouth bass caught through the ice using downsized lures. / Joe Shead

Do Bass Feed in Winter? Understanding Their Behavior Under the Ice

While many anglers assume bass become uncatchable once the ice sets in, America’s most popular game fish is still active—if you know where to find them and how to make them bite. While it's true these warm water-loving fish have greatly reduced metabolisms during the winter months, bass do still feed and can be caught through the ice. In this guide, we’ll explore the best winter bass fishing locations, essential gear, and ice fishing techniques to help you catch both largemouth and smallmouth bass, all winter long. 

Where to Find Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass in Winter

Once water temperatures drop and lakes and rivers cap over with ice, a bass's metabolism slows greatly. Bass feed less and largely hunker down, trying to find the warmest water to ride out the winter. Water is most dense at 39 degrees, so the water on the lake's bottom is generally warmer than just below the ice. Both largemouths and smallmouths often move to deep basins in search of warm water. Prey species, such as zooplankton, aquatic insects and panfish often make similar moves. 

Look for largemouths to lurk at the edge of these deep water basins, where they have quick access to deep weed edges. Underwater points or humps jutting into or up from these basins can be especially attractive for bass, although fish found here may not be feeding. When it's time to feed, largemouths usually slide up into nearby weedbeds. Use an underwater camera to find green weeds and you'll usually find both bluegills and largemouth bass.

A fat largemouth bass caught with a tiny jig and soft plastic trailer, proving downsized baits work wonders in winter. / Joe Shead

Smallies often go deep and stay deep. Depending on the water, they may be in as little as 20 feet, or they could be at lake trout depth of 50 to 80 feet. But please be aware that fish pulled out of water more than 30 feet deep are subject to barotrauma and shouldn't be pursued.

Smallmouths wile away the winter on deep rock bars or humps, often congregating in large schools. They can be hard to locate, but once you find the mother lode, you can probably pluck several fish from the school and reliably find bass in the same winter location year after year.

Ice Fishing Techniques for Largemouth Bass: Lures, Baits and Gear

It’s hard to believe that fish with such giant mouths often favor such tiny baits in winter. Bass are sluggish and you need to downsize greatly from your summer presentations. Often, the best largemouth bait is the same thing you'd use to catch bluegills: a 1/32-ounce ice jig tipped with a waxworm or maggot. Indeed, many panfish anglers have been surprised to find good-sized bass inhale such tiny offerings. Small spoons of 1/16 oz. tipped with similar live bait may produce as well, but keep it small and subtle. 

Essential gear for winter bass fishing: a light-action rod, reel, and a tackle box with small ice jigs ready for action. / Joe Shead

If you can, watch down the hole or use an underwater camera to observe how bass react to your presentation. Keep it moving slow and steady. Make it look alive, but not so active that it can get away from a lethargic bass. Eventually, a bass may suck in the tiny offering. 

These small lures should be paired with equally light rods and reels: a 28- to 32-inch medium-action ice rod with a fast tip, paired with a spinning or inline reel with 2- or 4-pound ice line is the ticket. The light line allows the lure to swim freely and doesn't spook fish while the long rod acts as a shock absorber to keep the line from breaking.

Alternatively, tip-ups baited with live golden shiners or suckers in the 3- to 5-inch range fished in weedbeds can produce as well. Use a short leader of 8-pound line paired with a No. 8 treble hook and anchor the minnow with split shot a foot above the hook to keep the bait from moving too freely. Despite bass's preference for light ice jigs, tip-ups with live minnows are very effective at times, although you're likely to tangle with northern pike as well.

Rigging for success: A closeup of an angler setting up a tip-up with a lively minnow to target bass under the ice. / Joe Shead

Smallmouth Bass Ice Fishing Tips: Lures, Baits and Gear

You may need to upsize your tackle a bit for smallies, simply because they inhabit deeper water. Therefore, you'll need a heavier lure and a rod with a little more backbone for setting the hook in deep water. Swimbaits or tube jigs in the 1/16- to 1/8-oz. range can be just the ticket for vertically jigging over deep rock piles. You can fish plastics alone or tip your jig with a minnow head or a couple maggots. 

Use a 28- to 32-inch medium-action rod paired with a spinning reel with 6-pound line. Braided line with a fluoro leader will deliver strikes reliably from deep water. Select a rod with a tip that is forgiving enough to cushion the shock of a big fish on light line, but heavy enough to drive home a hook in 25 feet of water. 

Jeff Ekstrand proudly displays a solid smallmouth bass caught through the ice on a deep rock bar. / Craig Mazurek

Tip-ups fished with 2- to 3-inch fatheads scattered around the top of the rock bar may add to your catch as well.

Seasonal Changes: Early Ice vs. Midwinter vs. Late Ice Bass Fishing

Shallow, weedy bays in lakes may produce at early ice, but weedy river backwaters really shine at that time. However, after a few weeks, as the ice becomes thicker and weeds die off, largemouths become more difficult to locate. The midwinter bite for most fish species is tough, as thick ice reduces light penetration, preventing photosynthesis, and as a result, oxygen levels sag. But you'll usually see a resurgence in fish activity at late ice, and bass are no exception. When the snow melts and trickles through the ice and the days grow longer, the bite turns back on.

Prime Conditions for Winter Bass Fishing

In addition to being sluggish in winter, bass are extra moody as well. Relatively warm winter temperatures paired with stable weather patterns are the best times to fish for bass. If the mercury plummets or it's excessively windy, bass are more likely to shut down.

Use These Tips to Catch Bass All Winter Long

Although bass aren't nearly as popular once lakes freeze over, savvy anglers can still catch them through the ice. Downsize your presentation and select lures designed more for bass prey than for bass themselves and you might need to remove your gloves to lip a lethargic lunker.

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