Bass Week 2025: In-Fisherman Classics–Ice Fishing for Bass

In-Fisherman's Doug Stange targets largemouth bass through the ice. In this throw-back video, the guys talk about proven methods to be successful while finding and targeting bass during the winter months beneath hard water. It's easier than you might think.

Truncated transcript: 

00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:25.530: Now let's head north for a bit of ice action, which is always fitting in a winter seasonal fishing show in many lakes, and especially in reservoirs along the southern edge of the ice belt.

00:00:25.530 --> 00:00:45.390: Large mile pass or a target fish fall season long. Well, here are three top methods to catch them consistent. Oh, nice. Aren't they pretty? I love to catch bass through the ice like this. It's a lot of fun. Wow. And you know, beautifully marked, aren't they? That's a real nice, healthy back. That's a nice fish.

00:00:45.390 --> 00:01:00.630: I'm with Nathan Herman, Herman Brothers Pond Management, and Nathan management's hundreds and hundreds of ponds. We're in central Illinois, right on the edge of the ice belt, I guess you'd say. Yeah. You know, so, and no better place to come and experiment.

00:01:00.630 --> 00:01:14.460: This is a pond you've never actually fished before. We're in a creek arm back, back into this little pond. Yep, yep. We've never ice fished this pond before, but we know it's full of, of real nice bass. Just a handful. Back we go.

00:01:14.460 --> 00:01:32.040: So I've got a regular lead head jig here, and instead of hooking the mineral through the lips, which would be normal for jigging, I actually want the mineral hooked backwards like this. So he is gonna swim away and each time he swims away the jig head, the weight of it pulls him back down so he can't get away from the predatory fish.

00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:52.200: So I want this to be inserted, not under the dorsal fin, but right parallel to the dorsal fin. Just like this. Right. Right alongside it. Just barely under the skin. So when the mineral's swimming now he can't really get away, but he's still gonna be spooked by the fish coming in, but it's not gonna be able to pull it jig away…