Hi gents!
Been lurking here for a while and getting some really good tips and advise.
I have been fighting the ice and cold weather here in a private 49 acre lake in far west KC metro area. I tried slow, slow retrieved jig and pigs and Carolina rigged worms with little luck. I have to bank fish so I bought one of those Humminbird Smart Cast portable sonars and located fish in 17-22 feet of water along some steep bluffs ( the fish were showing just right off the bottom). I rigged up a slip bobber set-up and put a small minnow down to around 15-18 feet and tried to keep my hands warm. One hour later I had caught 4 bass from 1 to 2.25 pounds. I usually fish plastics, but I am sold on this rig. It is kind of a pain to cast and deal with, but I caught more bass in one hour than I had in 6 previous attempts combined.
The weather is going to warm up into the high 50's by the end of the week and I am looking forward to tangling with a big cold water bass. I also would not mind coming across a big winter crappie also. This fall I caught one that was a little over 1.7 pounds with a length of a tad over 16".
Good luck fishing,
AC