Another "lake in my backyard vs. winter" question.

[Banor]

Alright, I've got this lake that I've never fished in the winter and actually never fished a lake of it's type during the winter, come to think of it.

Here's the skinny on it: 600 acre lake about 4 to 5 foot deep throughout the entire lake weed choked and stumps as far as the eye can see. The lake is pretty clear. This particular lake is connected to 7 other small lakes by channels but the closest lake to it is seperated by about a mile of channel that is 100 yards wide with lots of bends and has 25 yards plus of lilly pads on either side of the boat lane. The channel is 3 to 4 foot deep at best. The depth of the other lakes are like a salad bowl with gradual banks to 20 feet of water in the middle. On the main lake that is about 4 foot max nearly the entire lake there is about 1 acre down in the SW area of the lake that goes to 17 foot and that is the only deep water on the main lake.

This is the first year I've fished this lake so I've fished it pretty thoroughly in the spring, summer and fall seasons but not winter. This lake is just a great fishery. I've caught my personal best here and on any given day I can put a good limit in the boat - I know it very very well.

Here's my question: Where do these quality bass go that I'm pulling off of stumps and weeds in 4 foot of water when the water gets cold and eventually freezes over? Do they travel the mile plus to get to deeper water on the other end of the channels? Do they all congregate in the small 1 acre of 17 foot of water? Or do they just sit and tough it out in the freezing 4 foot water?

I've fished shallow lakes right up until ice over before but they had some type of deeper water close by even if it was only 10 to 14 foot. 4 foot of water over 95% of the lake is pretty extreme.

B

[Catt]

I'll leave this one to our Yankee friends since all I know to do with ice is put it in my tea  8-)

[ring fry]

I would have to vote 'no' on the bass traveling through the canal to the other lakes. There are always some bass in shallow water at any time of the year. If there are any creeks, depressions, or humps I would concentrate on them. Even if the depth change is only one foot, it can make a difference. If not, then I would probably go to the edge of the one acre of deep water and work from top to bottom. S-l-o-o-o-w presentation is the key. Use small, natural colored plastics and jigs. If that doesn't work, north bank, out of the wind, in the sun!

When I lived in Nebraska for four years, one lifetime, we would catch bass through the ice in as little as two feet of water. Where I live now, we have hundreds of old coal mining strip pits. Two of my favorite ones, in the winter, are only 2 to 8 foot deep. One in particular, has about 4 or 5 acres of 8 ' or less water and joins another one with about 40 acres by a small cut that has 40 foot water in it. I catch more bass in the shallow part of the pit in the winter than I do in the deeper part.

[Banor]

Thanks for the input Ring.  I have all the presentations pretty well covered.  I've fished plenty of winter bass.  I guess I'm just more curious what the bass would do in this situation.  I fully intend to milk the stumps for all they are worth right up until ice over.  I just dont see any place for the bass to go and it amazes me how good of a fishery this is for being so shallow in Michigan where it can really ice over hard core.

So I guess I was just curious if anyone had opinions as to what the bass would do in this type of lake as far as migration during the winter.

Thanks again for the input Ring.  

B