Ice fishing for Smallies

[bassrods]

Well I hit a lake here in Utah that has smallies, its ice capped I was fishing for perch but got one smalle 14" long and fat as a toad the ice was 4" to 5 1/2" and air temps was 7 at noon when I left at 5:00 it was 4 and getting colder...
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[Jaackrabbit]

I've never caught a bass through the ice b4..... what did you catch it on?
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[tubeN2]

Nice job Bassrods. This is where dropshotting was invented as well as vertical jigging.[cool]
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[bendopolo]

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...but worth it! Smallies are great but dumb. Sometimes they whack themselves on the bottom of the icepack when they try to jump. Stupid Bass. Largemouth never do this. Probably 'cause they're dead. Its freezing out there.
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[davetclown]

[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6360/size/big/cat/553"][/url][/center][center]This 17 inch smallie was pulled up from 35 feet down last ice south east in the mittin.[/center] [center][/center] [center]fishing on the bottom looking for walleye this guy never tried to jump, but he did put up a pretty good tug-a-war.[/center] [center][/center] [center]He was also released emediatly after the photo.[/center]
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[bassrods]

I was using a Mojo drop shot weight with a Gulp minnow 3" they work great on the smallies around here....

We get a lot more large mouth threw the ice then we do smallies.....
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[bassrods]

I don't know who started drop shoting first but I used it when I was a little kid for trout back in the 50's....

But for bass I think you could be right....
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[davetclown]

well, some one gave it a name, but I doubt any one ever made it a known pratice, I too remember using drop shot method with no one ever showing me how to do it...

If ya think about it, the principle is pretty much a natural or common sence way to set up a rig... especialy on a river...
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[bendopolo]

I used to get Sablefish on my dropshot rig...W/ a twelve oz. Chrome Torpedo Sinker and two 6/0 9674 Mustads with Squids pinned on....Bendo!
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[davetclown]

drop shotting works so well that the state of michigan has put limitations on it,

you can no longer use dropshotting in waters with moving currents... (well Duh! I say, that was why we used it [angelic])

how ever they will allow drop shotting on moving waters if the lead your hook is on is longer than the lead of your sinker... Its a snagging thing they are woried about I guess...
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[bendopolo]

Foolishness prevails in an intelligent society? Another case of the Ignorance over fishing. Just the kind of Headline I don't want to read.
If you use a Circle Hook while Dropshotting, then they can't say you're trying to snag fish. I know all the explanations of how those hooks work, but its all black magic to me. What they should pass into law is the requirement of Circle Hooks to snag fish. Then all the snaggers would keel over of exhaustion. They are deadly because they hook fish you don't even know have bit. And as a fellow DropShotter you know that happy event as your line just sliding sideways. I used to miss a lot of those bites. Still don't get them all. Great bite yesterday. Hooked 80% of the tug tuggers on a middle of the day bite. All on a middle of the lake Highspot...[]
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[bassrods]

Some of the so-called power fisherman say its sissy fishing, I call it just good fishing or catching and who cares how you catch fish as long as you are catching them Isn't that why you go fishing....
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[tubeN2]

Snagging is sissy fishing, if you want to call it fishing.

Circle hooks are top notch and drop shotting is a finesse technique that many of the power fishermen could never understand nor grasp the concept of.

I love dropshotting. There are so many plastics that were designed just for that. Finesse, Optix, Goggle eye, Trix, Strike Kings, Manns hard nose series, Gamblers and many others.

If the other guys only knew what they were missing out on.[cool]
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[bassrods]

We don't want them to know what they are missing so we can have all the fun...[][cool]

The weather is starting to clear so the roads should clear as well I hate getting all the salt on my boat when I head for up Jordanelle and catch some more bass in 38 deg water on the sissy baits....[sly]
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[tubeN2]

Good on ya with the sissy baits. By the way, did you see the new Sissy baits that Berkley Gulp came out with??? I have been testing them and really like them.



Check em out![cool]
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[bassrods]

Yep seen them...and been testing too. Not shabby...
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[straight6pwr]

picked up a pack of those gulp white and yellow sissy baits this last fall, tipped them on a jig and hopped them like a tube and absolutely hammered the largemouth on them!

no bass through the ice over here though.
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[tubeN2]

Way to go bro. Nice hammering action.

I think we should have a separate boad just for us Sissy Bass anglers.

I'm glad to hear that the Sissy baits get 1 more point for the winter season.[cool]
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[bassrods]

Those baits don't work at all so don't use them....[crazy]
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[tubeN2]

I remember getting advice like that.

"You'll never catch anything like that with the........" Thummmmmmp. "Lucky Catch there" lol
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