Got any? Loved the two little days I spent ice fishing it, but got the itch for panfish…
I went a couple weeks before the ice formed, but struck out..
So, in the cold, open water, what kind of panfish chasing could a guy do from either a tube or shore? Do the marinas still hold the most fish? Will they hit something similar to traditional ice offerings? Sonar lures and roadrunners still effective?
Long slip bobber and a stop? Do the white bass move more or less when the water opens up?
Thanks, guys.. Maybe the storm will make this all moot…
Bluegills and crappies seem to like it inside the harbors during the cold months whether there is ice cover or not. Still good to fish them next to docks or close to shore wherever there is a bit of depth…like around the edges of Lindon. You sometimes have to keep moving until you find them but once you do they usually stay put long enough for some fishing.
**If you are in a tube, use your sonar to move slowly around to find the fish. They will be there but only in small areas. Again, fishing around the docks is a good idea. **
There is not likely to be any concentrated white bass fishing again until spring. They scatter into the main lake when the ice cap comes off the harbors and they are constantly on the roam looking for food. Two of the best places for tubing is in the deeper waters off the Knolls and also off Lincoln Beach. Also good spots for winter catfish.
**Best approach for fishing open water inside the harbors is to fish it just like ice fishing…vertical…with a small bobber, small jig and waxworm or crawler bits. The bite is usually very light so you have to have your depth set right and watch the bobber closely. It might not go down, or even wiggle much. Sometimes it just moves sideways an inch…or just turns around in place, even when there is no breeze. Lift your rod at any change in the FORCE. Hooksets are free and you will miss a lot of fish if you wait for the bobber to go under the water. **
Big active lures like Sonars don’t work nearly as well after the first big surge of white bass into the newly frozen harbors. At those times they are actively feeding and very competitive in large schools. When they scatter you will do better with small jigs or even just a worm baited hook.
In years past, when Utah Lake either failed to freeze or opened back up early…like this year…I have had some decent action just outside the harbors at both American Fork and Lindon…from my tube. A good tactic is to drag a minnow or crawler on one rod while moving slowly and casting or bottom bouncing a tandem jig rig…two small tubes of different colors…tipped with crawler. Carry a marker buoy and if you catch a fish toss over the marker buoy and fish the area thoroughly. The fish probably won’t be in big schools but they do tend to hang out in a general area if there is food or some other attractant…like slightly warmer water.
Pretty generalized, but a place to start. I am sure others will chime in with their findings.
Right now I would hit American Fork Harbor from shore. We hit it yesterday in the Alum boat and did ok for White Bass. Casting and retreving standard curly tails. Most of the areas we caught in were reachable from shore. The harbor is 1/2 open and the main lake looks almost all open. I bet also that the gills n crappies will be around the docks still after oen water happens (could be soon).
Happy fishing
There is not likely to be any concentrated white bass fishing again until spring. They scatter into the main lake when the ice cap comes off the harbors.
Point of interest: the harbors freeze, bass head into harbors. Harbors thaw early, bass scatter into main lake. Harbors freeze over again, so are you saying the whities likely won’t head BACK into the harbors on the second freeze? Any idea why not?
****Big active lures like Sonars don’t work nearly as well after the first big surge of white bass into the newly frozen harbors. At those times they are actively feeding and very competitive in large schools. When they scatter you will do better with small jigs or even just a worm baited hook.
Interesting. I had this backwards. The Vietnamese guys were killing me the other day using sonars (on about the last of the good ice, last week). Fishing was pretty slow over all, but I was fishing 5 feet away getting NOTHING on small and med. colorful ice jigs (kept changing colors)and castmaster/crippled herring attractor Nice sunny day. I assumed that to the Sonar was calling in fish from at least a short distance away. When a guy lent me a Sonar, I caught several fish…but on my WB tipped jig, 6" above the Sonar. The hit would come after a few lifts, with the heavy Sonar resting on the bottom, line snug. I figured that the bass was feeling/hearing strong vibration, heading over and finding a nice bite of fish meat and color.
I went back to my spoons and nothing, but when I added several plastic beads to the line above the spoon and bounced it gently, I caught a few, again with the spoon resting on bottom.
Isolated incident, probably just the day…
Pretty generalized, but a place to start. I am sure others will chime in with their findings.
That is a great place to start. Thanks for taking the time.
“so are you saying the whities likely won’t head BACK into the harbors on the second freeze? Any idea why not?”
There will almost always be SOME white bass in the harbors…but seldom in the concentrations of the first week or so after iceup. I do not have a definitive reason for this but I suspect it is a combination of food and cover. Hordes of baby carp, white bass, crappies, bluegill, perch or other forage species gather in the protected harbors and the whities form pillaging gangs that plunder the resources. They also like the ice cover both for the shelter it provides and the fact that it clears the water and makes sight feeding easier. White bass are primarily sight feeders so they do much better in clear water.
The whities boogie out of the harbors when there is a combination of heavy fishing activity, reduced food resources and ice cover on the main lake that clears the open lake water and allows them to roam freely and sight feed better. White bass are not territorial, like other species. They keep moving to find food or comfort.
**HEAVY METAL (Sonars): No disputing that using lures with noisy vibrating blades will bring in a lot of fish when the whities are active. When they mass up it becomes very competitive and the fish have to strike first and sort out “edibility” afterwards. Anything that gets their attention gets bit. If nothing else, it attracts their attention and brings them into the vacinity. **
Sonar lures are popular with a lot of the “regulars” during the early whitie blitz. But the truth is that almost anything with a blade will work equally as well. I make and use a variety of “Roadrunner” type spinner jigs…with spinner blades as part of the lure. Lots of guys will verify that those things hammer white bass all year. But they are especially good when vertically jigged with a lot of action under the ice. Heck, even a Panther Martin spinner will get lots of whities.
When the hot and heavy spoon action subsides, it is sometimes effective to have two holes drilled close together and drop down a bait-tipped jig on one rod…and then jig a blade bait a couple of feet away to bring in the fish. I have had days doing this that produce lots of fish on the “dead stick” jig while getting relative few on the active lure.
Adding beads and rattles can also help, as you discovered. There are a variety of ice lures…like the “Buckshot” spoons…that also produce well.
As always, you have to first find the fish and then figure out what mode they are in. Then vary your lures and presentations until you find the pattern for the day…or the hour. There are some generalities you can usually count on with whities but definitely no absolutes. As easy as they are to catch…most of the time…they can also get lockjaw and drive you wacko at times.