Fishing ponds just after ice out?

[Huntnfish]

I am fishing in northern illinois in a lot of residential ponds, most of which have just lost their ice, some even have a little bit left in certain areas of the water. I went out today and boy was it nice to get out finally, but no fish to show for it. Anyone have any tips for such a scenario? Thanks!!

[DeanFishesNY]

What were you throwing? When it's immediately after ice out I usually catch most of my fish with blade baits(kastmaster, phoebes, inline spinners), beetle spin or small spinnerbaits, jerkbaits(depending on pond, some ponds it's killer), red eye shad and jigs.

[K.Fox]

Lipless cranks, jigs and suspending jerkbaits (pause for at least 7 seconds before twitching.)

[Locked]

I'm in northern Illinois and I was fishing a pond today that still has some ice on it. I caught a couple decent fish on a red eye shad worked pretty quickly. I tried catching them on a senko and didn't have any luck with it. I even tried dead sticking it in areas I had hits on the red eye... nothing. I would say go for the reaction bite like a lipless crank or spinnerbait.

[Getfished]

I've never tried the reaction bite before when the water is that cold. I'll try it tomorrow in my pond. I've got a red eye shad and I live in northeast Kansas and I'll give it a try. I think I would fish a suspending jerkbait. You might have to try different depth sizes depending on the pond. On my pond for instance i would be able to fish a slender pointer 78 but a pointer 100 might go a little too deep and give me problems.

[dman]

I am fishing in northern illinois in a lot of residential ponds, most of which have just lost their ice, some even have a little bit left in certain areas of the water. I went out today and boy was it nice to get out finally, but no fish to show for it. Anyone have any tips for such a scenario? Thanks!!

WTH!  i thought it was cold in a place like Illinois?!  I'm in northern PA and our lakes and ponds are still completely froze around here!  i mean froze solid right to the banks,  its not even starting to thaw away from shore! i just need to get out and at least cast for a while   

[Intrepid]

i have had no luck on plastics since my pond thawed out. but suspending jerkbaits and shallow diving cranks rolled slow have worked well for me...

[B A S S E R]

I also do a lot of fishing on residential ponds in North east Illinois. The main one I usually fish is about half way open. I'll be burning and yo-yoing red eye shads. If that doesn't work I'll slow roll white or chartreuse spinner baits. And during all this I'll be slowing it down with 1/4 oz t-rigs, beavers on spot removers, and jigs.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

I am fishing in northern illinois in a lot of residential ponds, most of which have just lost their ice, some even have a little bit left in certain areas of the water. I went out today and boy was it nice to get out finally, but no fish to show for it. Anyone have any tips for such a scenario? Thanks!!

WTH! i thought it was cold in a place like Illinois?! I'm in northern PA and our lakes and ponds are still completely froze around here! i mean froze solid right to the banks, its not even starting to thaw away from shore! i just need to get out and at least cast for a while

Im in the WTH department too on this. Im in Rockford IL and there is a 26 acre lake 2 miles from me. I checked it yesterday at 3:30pn and its still iced over.

[J Francho]

Geothermal heating....current....who knows.  I've got 3/4 open water on bays off the big lake.  Not sure what the Finger Lakes are doing.

[ChiCityBasser]

I'm in the Chicago area in the southern suburbs and the small residential and reservoir lakes are either thawed completely or partially thawed. I drive past three small area lakes on my way into work and will get out this weekend to try some new rods and reels. Got a Prodigy Micro guide rod and wanting to see how it feels, so it will be the first setup out this weekend.

[CSimon2]

I was out on Sunday and all of the ponds in my subdivison are open.  I was throwing a grub on 1/8 oz jighead, micro crankbait, and a BPS flick'n shimmy worm.  I did not have any luck.  I am going to try and get out tomorrow during lunch.  I am going to try using a beetle spin and maybe slow roll a spinnerbait.

[Nice_Bass]

I am fishing in northern illinois in a lot of residential ponds, most of which have just lost their ice, some even have a little bit left in certain areas of the water. I went out today and boy was it nice to get out finally, but no fish to show for it. Anyone have any tips for such a scenario? Thanks!!

WTH! i thought it was cold in a place like Illinois?! I'm in northern PA and our lakes and ponds are still completely froze around here! i mean froze solid right to the banks, its not even starting to thaw away from shore! i just need to get out and at least cast for a while

Im in the WTH department too on this. Im in Rockford IL and there is a 26 acre lake 2 miles from me. I checked it yesterday at 3:30pn and its still iced over.

In Bloomington IL.  All lakes have been clear the past couple of weeks!!   

[Huntnfish]

Thanks for all the input everyone! I was throwing some swim jigs and bouncing them along the bottom as well as a jerkbait for quite a while too. Then I decided I'd go to BPS and spend some money  ;D I'm headed out right now though, excited to use everyones advice! Hopefully post pics later!

[Bass_Akwards]

Was just reading some stuff from Steve Kennedy.  He was saying "It really depends on the fishery but there's always one thing that resonates no matter where you are in the country, from Alabama to California."

And that's how the fish funnel up and into a tributary to their final stop at the spawning areas, he believes.

"The last deep bank in a given tributary is where you'll find the biggest concentrations of big bass," Kennedy notes. "They want that deep water and after they are committed to the spawn they will look for any breaks they can find in the backend of a creek."

"From there, the fish will scatter out onto the spawning flats," he adds. "But if you can find that one, last deep spot in a tributary you normally find the biggest concentration of big bass."

Gerald Swindle, a fellow Alabama Elite Series pro who finished 4th at the Golden State Shootout, believes that warm nights are a catalyst. His final day was capped by a 10-6 largemouth, one of several double-digit bass caught during the competition.

"I'm not a biologist by any means, but we see this time and time again," he observes. "And what we see are these big bass showing up in shallow water early in the morning, making it obvious they are nocturnal, moving up at night. It was just amazing at Clear Lake."

According to Swindle, the fish make their textbook migrations in early prespawn from deep water to mainlake points, and then move on to the secondary points within a tributary.

"They go point to point, just like following a route on the interstate," he says. "The points are like rest areas where they can rest and feed."

He continues, "thermal warmth during daytime is a given. It's the nighttime consistency the fish need to keep them moving inward."

"If there is a cold night where the temperature takes a big dip then it slows the movement," he adds. "A lot of anglers don't think about the nighttime movement and activity of prespawn bass, but I believe it's a key to their migration."

With the fish constantly on the move, another question requires an answer. And that is, where can an angler intercept these nomadic fish as they make sometimes unpredictable moves into the shallows?

Swindle and his peers key on points all the way to the headwaters of a tributary. Additionally, the fish will funnel into ditches, cuts and channels as the tributary narrows in size and depth becomes more defined.

"The good thing is the fish become more concentrated as they move shallower, making the strike zone smaller and easier to find," says Swindle.

"Watching the daytime weather forecast is a give for anglers and especially during springtime when the weather changes all the time," he says. "But it's equally as important to follow the nighttime lows, when the fish are making their final move to the spawning flats."

Good luck.

[STL BassMan]

Here in central Missouri, I've caught my few bass on a chatterbait and a beetlespin (while trying to catch crappie). No luck on soft plastics yet. 

[aceman387]

It looks like none of us boys from Illinois are catching any fish yet.I have been out a few times the past two weeks and haven't caught anything either, actually i am still waiting for my first hit.I have tried grubs,shakey head worm,flukes,wacky rigged zoom finesse worms,bitsy bug jigs, and a 1/4oz lipless crank bait all to no avail.Come on spring!

[Locked]

Caught these guys yesterday...

this one went almost 4lbs

I also lost 2 more... and foul hooked a couple carp.

[CSimon2]

Nice catches Locked!  I hope we all start having your luck soon.

[Huntnfish]

Well, my buddy today got one on a scrounger. I had a really nice hit slow rolling a spinnerbait, not sure what happened, but never got to see it  :-/ Not quiting though! Gotta catch one before I had back to school

[TourPT]

Where you guys at in Northern IL with open water? Here in the Dekalb area where still under Ice. Checked a few ponds yesterday and at most there was a foot of water out from shore and the rest is ice.

I am dying to get out there. Hopefully the next couple of days in the high 50's to 60's will finally thaw some of this ice.

[CSimon2]

I live in Plainfield, and all of our ponds in the area have been open for a while.  There was a point during the thaw that one pond would be open and the pond right across the street was still frozen.

[CSimon2]

Kicked the skunk today during my lunchbreak in a subdivision pond.  I was using a Rat-L-Trap in the bleeding shad color.  Here is my first fish of 2011:

[Huntnfish]

WOW! Good looking fish, I too was throwing the rattle baits today, nothing to show for it though. I'm fishin mostly St. Charles and there are only a few ponds that have skim ice in certain corners of the pond. Otherwise all open water!

[Locked]

That's a nice fish CSimon.  I went today and only caught one little guy on the same 1/2oz red eye shad in chartreuse bait color.  I thought for sure with the warmer weather today the fishing would be better.