This is the time of year we all wait for: ice-out! After spending all winter organizing tackle or staring through a 6-inch hole in the ice, we finally get to stretch our wings and cast! For some anglers, this can be one of the toughest times to get a bite, but for others, it results in some of the biggest bass of the year, especially largemouth.
Truth be told, this is a favorite time to be on the water for me and my friends. In New York, the ice-out period brings some of the biggest bass in the lake, heading shallow in search of warmer water and bright sunshine.
You may not get a lot of bites, but the ones you do get, you’d better keep them pinned, because they could be your biggest bass of the season. Here are some of our favorite tips and techniques that every early ice-out angler can use across the colder regions of the country.
Ice-Out Bass Temp: Low and Slow
As you can probably guess, the bass are extremely lethargic this time of year. They don’t need to feed every day and instead rely more on one bigger meal. With that in mind, Mr. Bigmouth isn’t going to chase a bait like he would in the summer. They’ll think about eating a bit longer and swim very slowly to grab your bait.
When it comes to bait selection, my top three are a black hair jig, a large single swimbait, and a black skirted jig — specifically black. Not only is this a color in which I have a lot of confidence, but it’s also one that bass can pick out from a long distance and that looks larger in a smaller profile.
As mentioned in a previous article about hair jigs, you want a bait that has enough movement on its own without you even moving the rod. That’s where high-quality synthetic craft fur comes into play; it has just the right amount of movement — not too little, but not too much. The same goes for skirted jigs.
For me, a 1/2-ounce Keitech Model 1 Casting Jig is hard to beat. It has excellent movement in cold water when slowly creeping along the bottom, especially when paired with the right trailer. Despite the variety of plastic trailers on the market, I still swear by the old-school Uncle Josh Pork Frog trailer during ice-out. Something about pork-style baits gives them a unique flow and scent that drives early-season bass crazy.
For swimbaits, it’s tough to beat a Keitech Fat Swing Impact in either the 4.3- or 4.8-inch size. Paired on the right jighead between 1/8- and 1/4-ounce with the appropriate hook, these baits slowly dragged along the bottom can be amazing for big ice-out bass. The slow, dragging bottom presentation imitates a bluegill or perch.
The Fat Swing Impact is large enough to draw bass in with its realistic action and scent, especially in that size of swimbait. For color, it’s hard to beat Bluegill Flash, Ayu, Pro Blue Red Pearl, or Silver Flash Minnow.
Go Red to Trigger Strikes from Ice-Out Bass
I’ll never understand what it is about the color red during the ice-out period, but it drives bass nuts! Both species tend to gravitate toward red baits because crayfish are emerging from hibernation in a bright reddish-brown color. During the rest of the year, personally, I’m not a big fan of red, but you can bet every moving bait on my boat during that time will be some form of red.
While Bassmaster Elite Series live coverage over the years has highlighted some red baits, like the Evergreen Jack Hammer Chatterbait in Fire Craw or the Rapala DT6 in Demon, many other red baits also work well. Some of my go-to’s are balsa wood crankbaits and lipless crankbaits, specifically, a Rapala Shad Rap in size 5 or 7, and a Rapala Rippin’ Rap in the 1/2-ounce size.
They are on opposite ends of the spectrum: one being a balsa crankbait and the other a sinking lipless, but their tight wobbling action and sound in the water drive big largemouth crazy. You may not think a Shad Rap has much sound, being a balsa wood bait, but its tight-wobbling action creates enough rattling from the hooks and split rings to make a difference.
Making a long cast and retrieving fast while digging the bill into the bottom makes all the difference. I also like to reel fast into the bottom and occasionally let the bait rise a few inches before continuing to reel. For a bass following the bait, it gives them enough time to strike without having to chase it. A lipless, on the other hand, is pretty self-explanatory with a straightforward retrieve, but occasionally varying the retrieve with a bit of “yo-yo” action can yield a few extra bites.
All in the Cadence
I think just about everyone knows where I’m going with this — you guessed it: jerkbaits! But there’s also another bait that requires a specific cadence early in the spring: the glide bait. Both styles can be killers during the ice-out season, however, without the right cadence, they can result in no bites or, even worse, bite-offs from toothy critters.
For a jerkbait, you’ll want something with excellent suspension, like the new Rapala Maverick 110 jerkbait. Its excellent darting action with fixed tungsten BBs in the bait cavity make it one of the best jerkbaits for cold water. When working the bait, you can stick with the standard “twitch, twitch—pause” cadence, but it only works so well. When it’s cold, longer pauses, shorter twitches, and less action are what will trigger more strikes.
I’ve spent a lot of time with forward-facing sonar watching jerkbaits as I reel them back to the boat, and observing the fish’s reaction helps me determine the best cadence. Every day is different, so keep varying your technique.
Cadence is extremely important for glide baits, as well, and if you don’t get it right, you’ll miss bites.
Most glide baits are slow to sink, making it hard to achieve a “suspending” action, but there’s still plenty you can do to change the cadence. Usually, every twitch of the rod tip causes the bait to glide 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Many anglers just use a steady twitching action, but the key is varying the retrieve speed and letting the fish tell you what they want.
Often, you’ll be fishing a glide in very shallow water, so you can see the bait’s action and watch as fish approach it. Using a bright-colored bait, like bone white, helps with visibility. My go-to glide baits are the River2Sea S-Waver and the Spro Chad Shad. Both of those baits come closest to suspension while still being slow sinking.
Pay Attention to the Conditions
All of these baits and techniques have their time and place, but the conditions when you’re fishing will dictate which bait you should throw. Always check the weather and, more importantly, the barometric pressure before heading out for ice-out bass. Even on cold days, falling pressure can signal great fishing ahead. Whether it’s cold, windy, rainy, or even snowy, a big largemouth will bite if the feeding window aligns — and it could be magical.
