Fishing in cold, cold water.

[bwillis]

Hello BR!  I live in NH, and later this week, Temps will be in the 50s, and there's open water a few minutes down the road.  I was thinking of going and making a few casts for the hell of it.  I'll probably use a spinning rod with 6 or 8 lb test.  I'm thinking a Ned rig or a tube, worked slower than slow.  Any input from more experienced cold water guys?

[Bluebasser86]

I actually have much better success on suspending jerkbaits in that first ice out water than I do bottom dragging baits. This is probably largely because of the amount of junk on the bottom of our lakes that tends to clog up those bottom contact baits though. 

 

A small jerkbait like a 65 pointer fished very slowly, especially parallel to rocks warmed by the sun, is a good way to get bit. 

[Jigfishn10]

Hey bwillis! You have open water in NH in February? WOW!

[bwillis]

It's a river, and we just had a warm spell for about a week.  Most moving water is open, however I just did some ice fishing on 18" of ice about 30 minutes from home.

4 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I actually have much better success on suspending jerkbaits in that first ice out water than I do bottom dragging baits. This is probably largely because of the amount of junk on the bottom of our lakes that tends to clog up those bottom contact baits though. 

 

A small jerkbait like a 65 pointer fished very slowly, especially parallel to rocks warmed by the sun, is a good way to get bit. 

It's a river, with a fairly sandy, rocky bottom.  I'm not expecting to catch anything, but I've had the fishing itch for a couple weeks now, and I need to get out.

[LrgmouthShad]

Enjoy your time out there. We had a window here in NY with some relatively pleasant weather. A little hole in the ice. Didn't expect to catch anything and didn't but it was a great experience as always. The area I was fishing is covered in thick grass, I believe coontail. Could not buy a bite on a texas rig or jig but that reservoir is always tough.

 

All that to say, have fun! @Deleted account had luck fishing holes in the ice recently.

[TnRiver46]

Night crawler

[Born 2 fish]

A suspending jerkbait worked extremely painfully slow  I just saw it’s a river with moving water Jerkbait might still  work.

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

All that to say, have fun! @Deleted account had luck fishing holes in the ice recently.

 

On a squarebill no less...  We had 4 days of decent weather with highs in the 50s almost 60. 

I went to a really small, really shallow, kinda dingy spot, knowing that would warm up faster, then I threw the 3 things I have a lot of confidence in cold water, oh and half a century of experience. In NH, right now?, assuming I could find open water, other than a WWD, I'd be all like...

[KP Duty]

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I actually have much better success on suspending jerkbaits in that first ice out water than I do bottom dragging baits. This is probably largely because of the amount of junk on the bottom of our lakes that tends to clog up those bottom contact baits though. 

 

A small jerkbait like a 65 pointer fished very slowly, especially parallel to rocks warmed by the sun, is a good way to get bit. 

Must be why TW is all sold out of pointer 65's.  I grew up fishing in a bass club out of Joplin, and enjoyed the missouri jerkbait fishing.  

[The Bassman]

I'm looking forward to throwing my Rozantes at ice out. Only problem is that our forecast is calling for a lot of rain over the next few weeks so it'll probably be pretty dingy which would be a handicap.

[TriStateBassin106]

Suspending jerkbait fished slow would work best for you! Maybe even a flatsided crankbait? 

[bwillis]

I've got a couple jerkbaits, and some flat sided squarebills.  I'll bring them along and see what happens

[Bankbeater]

Jig and pig, or a jig and craw.

[papajoe222]

With temps in the 30's after ice-out, the bass here are either on the bottom, or high up in the water column. They rarely suspend, so my two best producers are a jerkbait and a hair jig/ trailer. I don't twitch the jerkbait to get that darting action, but work it like a C-rig with short, slow pulls and long pauses. The jig gets dead sticked after a short drag that keeps it in contact with the bottom.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Wow open water in Nh, that’s surprising.

 

I went last week in Ma, got 3 bass, 2 on real prey swimbaits, and 1 on a wake bait, Sherpa baits after dark. Biggest was 3.5. 

I’d fish a jerkbait, a ned rig or a small soft swimbait.  My plan for tomorrow is swimbaits! 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Little swimbait on the lightest head you can throw.  Awful hard to beat as far as numbers go and bigger fish have no issues eating them in cold water.