OutdoorsWeekly.com Panfish Fishing Features

As late winter slowly becomes early spring, life in the Ice Belt is loaded with distractions. That can cause ice anglers to miss out on one of the greatest stretches of shallow water sight fishing, and an opportunity to take their skills to the next level.
“One of the big problems,” says ice fishing legend Dave Genz, “is that a lot of people don’t think of themselves as ice fishermen at this time of year. They’re too busy sitting in their garage, in their boat, getting it ready.”
So perhaps there is that, the identity crisis that causes ice anglers to give up on ice fishing too soon. This season, don’t let it happen to you. Remain an ice angler through the final weeks, and the rewards will be many.

Great Sight Fishing Awaits
Sight fishing, Genz is known for saying, is the best teacher there is. And while it’s possible to sight fish in open water, it’s far more possible through the ice.
“That’s because you have this stable platform (the ice) that doesn’t move,” says Genz. “You can see exactly what your bait looks like down there, and what it does as you use various presentations. You can see the fish come in at the bait, and how they react to what you’re doing. Basically, you keep doing what they like and stop doing what they don’t like.”
It’s at once both simple and profound, because it’s a glorious opportunity to glimpse the predator and prey relationship in real life. It’s as exciting as fishing gets, when you see a big fish nose in under your hole, pectoral fins pulsing, eyeing up your offering, and what you do determines whether the fish eats what you’re selling.
This is where the intersection of mild winter weather and your development as an angler is found. We all know, in theory, that details make a difference when it comes to catching fish consistently. But we don’t all know, from our own experiences, which details seem important to the fish we seek, and how to experiment wisely with location, bait, and presentation. In a few sunny afternoons on the late ice, your skills can leap forward, and the lessons learned will serve you well at any time of year, in any kind of fishing.
“When you get that picture in your mind of what your bait is doing, and what the fish looks like when it’s coming up to the bait,” says Genz, “that can stay with you. Then, when you’re fishing dirty water with a Vexilar, you can see the fish in your mind instead of the signal. You see it because you’ve experienced it.”

One Universal Rule
To help get you started in the right direction, Genz offers this advice for sight fishing success: keep doing what you were doing when a fish shows up.
“People tend to slow down their jigging motion, or stop completely, when a fish shows up,” says Dave. “When they’re fishing on a Vexilar, they tend to keep jigging and lifting the bait, trying to get the fish to chase it. But when they can see the fish, it seems to cause them to think they have to stop to make it easier for the fish to bite.”
In reality, he says, if you slow or stop the jigging motions, many fish lose interest and go away. You’ll have better success, in most situations, if you keep doing what you were doing that got the fish interested in the first place. But, Genz also says, watch closely what the fish’s reaction is to the bait. On some days, you might have to slow down at least a little to seal the deal. But, as often as not, you’ll score more if you keep jigging the same way you were before the fish showed up.
“The time to experiment with your jigging motion is before the fish comes in,” says Dave. “You’re trying to find out what it takes to get the fish’s attention. That can change from day to day, and from daytime to prime time. But once you get it figured out, you can usually keep using that presentation and do really well.”

You Gotta be able to See
One secret to sight fishing is being able to see down into the water well. That might sound obvious, but it brings up an important point many late ice anglers overlook. Once it becomes ‘nice’ outside, a lot of people trudge out to a known fish-holding spot with a bucket, a few rods, and an auger. They then try to see down the hole by hunching over and blocking the sun with their back, or by laying on the ice and using a hood to block light.
Rather than thinking of it as spare baggage, this is prime time to fish inside a Fish Trap, with its darkened interior. Keep using the Trap as a sled to haul your gear, then take full advantage of it when the fishing starts. You’ll see better, and the fish won’t be able to see you as well.

Shallows Come Alive
This is the time of year when the shallow water comes alive, as oxygen returns and water temperatures warm. Shallow spots that were inhospitable just a few weeks earlier can be teeming with life. It’s a playground waiting for you to explore, a classroom waiting to teach you the secrets of presentation, bite detection, and hooksetting.
Keep your ice fishing gear ready this year, as the last days arrive, and hit the ice with an open mind ready to receive the best teachers of all. Let the fish show you what they want and how they want it. What you learn will change you forever, no matter where you fish. The cover of ice is a gift not to be wasted, especially not sitting in your boat in the garage.
Note: Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution. For more fishing tips, go to www.davegenz.com.

Walleye anglers understand the obvious importance of how current and wind affect fish location during the open water months but for some reason or another, seem to underestimate the importance of wind and current on the ice. Perhaps both wind and current is harder to comprehend because we are staring at a huge piece of ice.
Probably the least understood influence on walleye location under the ice is wind. I never gave wind serious credit for altering patterns until I spent time fishing with a good friend and phenomenal angler from northeastern South Dakota names Dennis Kessube. Kessube believed wind had a huge influence on fish below the ice. “How?” was my initial reaction to his ideas and theories that seemed pretty far fetched at first glance. The more Kessube described his experiences and ideas, the more sense he made.
Wind pushing on a frozen lake does cause turbulence in the water which might create sediment disturbance that clouds the water. How strong does the wind have to be to create or change patterns? It seems like when the wind gets strong enough to move the water up and down in the hole, things can start to happen. Debris often accumulates like a film under the ice and when the ice flexes or moves, this debris often clouds the water slightly. This effect seems to vary greatly from lake to lake. On some lakes that are clear, this extra clouding might just extend the bite longer in the morning. Where we really see a dramatic impact at times is on shallow reefs and shorelines where the wind is blowing into these spots hard.
The flexing on the ice seems to suspend a lot more particles in the water, particularly where the ice meets the shoreline. I have now gotten into the habit of spending some time poking around shallow structure and shorelines that are getting hit by strong wind much like I would during the open water months and coincidently when I look back at my journals, some of my strongest shallow water bites often were… spots that were getting hit by strong wind. Often to, these spots changed or dried up when the wind quit or switched. Some of this might be coincidence but over time, it has happened enough that there is something to wind and walleye location, even under the ice. Just like during the open water, finding walleyes usually isn’t as simple as just following wind as there are always other factors at play but understanding that wind is a factor can make you much more aware of why some patterns develop and quit.
Anglers fishing on the Great Lakes and rivers have long understood the importance of current to walleye locations. Current however is also a factor on natural lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water. Natural lakes in particular that might not be connected to a flowage might seem stagnant but there is always current in a lake. A good example of this is that no matter where you fish, if you are using a float, all of the floats generally drift over to the same side of the hole. Often, the current is barely noticeable and might not be strong enough to really force fish location but there are situations however where even on a natural lake, structure can bottleneck or create current and current can be a huge factor. Situations where this becomes extremely noticeable are bottle necks or funnels. Structural elements, causeways, bridges or neck down areas that force a tiny amount of current through a smaller area, thus making the current strong enough to attract fish and dictate fish locations and movements. I personally believe most of this movement is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon much like the tides of the ocean, just on a much smaller scale. This current as a result often comes and goes with an almost predictable fashion. A good example would be a small trough that might run between a point and a sunken hump causing a bottle neck or funnel or perhaps a bridge on a causeway or neck down area. There are times when the current can momentarily become so strong, the line is at an angle below the hole or you might loose the lure on the Vexilar because the lure is getting swung out of the cone angle.
When the current kicks up like this on most natural lakes, it doesn’t last long… maybe fifteen minutes. When this current suddenly stops, however watch out. Boy do fish seem to come in eating when that current stops. Most of the time, in my experiences, this period of time where the current stops might last about half an hour or so. Then the current picks up again and the fishing quits. The current just seems to start and stop like water sloshing back and forth in a bucket. The larger the lake, the more of a factor this seems to be. On most natural lakes, there has to be some type of feature that concentrates this current enough to make it noticeable and productive. What is also interesting is that it seems like there will be about a four or five hour window where this becomes really strong and predictable like clockwork than the current disappears or becomes unpredictable. When you can find that rhythm where the current starts and stops in repetition for a few hours, you are going to see fish every time that current quits.
The influence of wind and current is not understood very well by most walleye anglers and anglers fishing natural lakes in particular often don’t recognize the impact of current. Both wind and current are variables that can dictate fish location and create strong patterns . These variables are as important to putting together patterns as weather, forage, bottom features and many of the other variables that anglers attempt to grasp when on the ice.

The author, Jason Mitchell is regarded as a legendary ice fishing guide on North Dakota's Devils Lake for the Perch Patrol Guide Service, www.perchpatrol.com Mitchell has also designed an extensive lineup of application specific rods that have revolutionized ice fishing, www.jasonmitchellrods.com.

Panfishing white knight Brian “Bro” Brosdahl has the foresight to carry both plastics and live bait at all times. There are moments when sophisticated plastics do the dirty work. Other times, live maggots, waxworms, or minnows prove far more productive.

To anglers who eat, sleep and breathe “humpback” panfish—ponderous bluegills, crappies, yellow perch—the early and late winter ice periods could just as well last all year. Shallow water, weeds, great sprawling flats and fish that like to bite—at least, if you can find them. Indeed, for many humpback hounds, finding fish on large flats remains a mystery. Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, confirmed leader of the panfish pack, calls these fish “bulls in a haystack,” and rightfully so. Particularly on large lakes or other waters hosting low density panfish populations (low density equals humpbacks), discovering their position can be a trick. Lacking a certain “fish finder” and a game plan to match, the task is certainly a daunting one.
On the North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC)—the ultimate test of panfishing skill—top anglers have over the years refined just such a game plan. For tournament aces like Joe Pikulski and Tony Boshold, use of a virtual fish finder—a panfish finder like a MarCum VS825C underwater viewing system—remains the heart of their respective tournament programs. “Anglers on the NAIFC are so talented across the board that winning requires a little something extra,” says Pikulski, who along with partner Myron Gilbert, won a fourth Team of the Year title in late winter 2009. Known as the “Ice Trollers,” Pikulski and Gilbert drill holes far and wide, viewing in each hole with a MarCum 825. Consequently, they’re typically the first team to sniff out fresh pockets of bluegills and crappies. Though the duo doesn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on who’s the tougher driller, Pikulski has the last word. “Usually, Myron ends up having all the fun with the camera, while I’m buzzing around drilling zillions of holes.”
A similar game of drill and conquer is carried out by Tony Boshold and Bob Horn, as well as Dave Young and partner Mike Boedeker—2nd place and 5th place teams, respectively. In Boshold and Horn’s case, the fish finding process goes two directions, covering separate areas of each lake. “During prefishing, Bob and I go our separate ways,” says Boshold. “We’ll look at a map first thing in the morning. Each of us picks three or four different unexplored areas of the lake, and then we zip off to check ‘em out. Sometimes, we won’t see each other again until dinner.”
Like Pikulski and Gilbert, Boshold and Horn rely foremost on their “panfish finder,” a color MarCum 825 camera. For the Ice Trollers, the deal goes something like this: A spacious weed flat is ‘mapped’ on the ice by walking off the outer perimeter of the flat, drilling additional holes every twenty feet or so—this is best accomplished using a handheld GPS loaded with a LakeMaster map chip. Following closely behind, the viewer (usually Gilbert, says Pikulski) submerges the MarCum camera, twisting the cable to rotate the lens for a full 360-degree view of the terrain. Once the outer edge has been drilled out and viewed, the drilling angler moves up onto the flat, making a parallel path of shallower holes. When the MarCum reveals the first several panfish, more holes are drilled in a circle pattern around the “fish” hole.
Concentric circles of holes widen around the fish hole until the main grouping of fish is discovered. In tournament competition, of course, too many holes aren’t always a good thing, which makes the MarCum camera even more valuable. “When we find a big school,” Pikulski continues, “eventually word gets out and company arrives on the scene. Open holes can become fair game for our competitors and a ton of extra holes are like an invitation to these guys.”
The rule is, on bigger lakes, the necessity of many holes often outweighs the need for secrecy. But on small lakes with spying anglers, the boys will often stop drilling once the camera has revealed the first few fish. “It’s amazing how on some lakes, you’ve got to be right on the money to get bit. Literally, we’ve seen where one guy will be hauling in big ‘gills or perch, hand-over-fist, while four feet away, another fisherman is drawing blanks. This used to be a mystery. If you drop that camera down there, the answer usually becomes obvious—a little thicker stand of vegetation, a clear spot, something different.”
In a similar vein, although he’s moved from full-time competition to NAIFC Tournament Director, Mike McNett still knows the game as well as anyone. Along with his old tournament partner Tony Boshold, McNett often spent entire prefishing days drilling and camera scanning huge weed-flats for bigger bluegills, before ever wetting a line.
“It’s pretty common these days for guys on the NAIFC to tag-team drill and view with a MarCum. It’s simply the best, most efficient way to find tournament winning pods of fish,” offers McNett. “Before every tournament we won, including the 2005 Championship, Tony and I also would travel to venues just before ice-up and hop in the boat, looking for the best weeds with the camera. ‘Gills won’t often move much between late fall and first ice locations, so pre-ice scouting is another excellent way to find fish.
“We like to find a mix of weed varieties, rather than just, say, all coontail, spread across an entire flat. So first we look for the most expansive weed flats with the freshest mixes of vegetation. From there, we look for those little open trenches or circles of sand between weeds. One spot that produced tournament winning ‘gills for us was a little 1 to 2-foot rise in the weed flat. This thing was only the size of two SUVs, but it held a ton of big ‘gills. Same thing can happen in dips, where bottom drops a few feet.”
Beyond finding the right types and densities of vegetation, cameras have also revealed that occasionally, vegetation itself doesn’t necessarily dictate fish location. As McNett, Pikulski and other camera users have seen, pods of panfish sometimes suspend well above bottom within veils of strange, milky-looking water, which is surrounded by clearer water. Only through the lens of a high-resolution MarCum underwater camera has it been possible to determine that these “milky veils of water” were actually massive densities of Daphnia pulex—a large zooplankton species common to northern natural lakes. Not coincidentally, in most lakes, Daphnia is the number one food source for winter panfish.
Regardless of the spot, McNett maintains, one other piece of electronics remains essential. “We always drop GPS waypoints on fish zones. There’s nothing more satisfying than setting off across a big lake, ripping one hole, and finding yourself over the mother-lode of big panfish.” Of course, just because the camera has done its job of discovering the school doesn’t mean you put it away. That’s because these panfish-finding tools aid presentation, as well. “With the camera lens pointed down (cable clipped into the down-viewing fin) a few feet below the ice, you can really sneak your jig into tight quarters between the densest weeds,” says McNett. “During the day, this is often where the biggest bluegills and crappies hold. It’s sort of like eavesdropping on the fish. You’re pointing the camera lens at the lake bottom— a bird’s eye view of what’s happening below. Without a camera it’s really tricky to get into these tight weedy clusters with a jig.”
To slither in and amongst the base of these panfish jungles, short, compact jigs that fall like rocks work best. For most NAIFC anglers, choice baits remain Northland’s Hexi Fly and Mud Bug, Bro’s Bug Collection, along with Fiskas Tungsten Wolfram jigs. Both jig styles work best when tipped with a wad of live larva or a single plastic tail, such as a Bro Bloodworm or Scud Bug, also from Northland. Bluegills often require a diet of meat, while crappies and perch slurp plastics whole. Through the lens of the camera, the process of matching presentation is greatly accelerated; you see how each fish reacts to different jig movements, as well as precisely how individual fish nip or engulf each lure combination.
Summarizing the power of the camera, McNett offers a history lesson. “On the NAIFC tournament trail, there have been whispers about these MarCum cameras for years; about how well they worked, how clear the picture was. Certainly, the competitors who had ‘em always seemed to hold a slight advantage over the others. Several years ago, there were still a lot of guys using other brands. Today, at least on the tournament circuit, that’s changed—the word is out on these systems. The crispness of the picture, and the overall quality of the resolution on these cameras, well, you just have to see it. We see some pretty amazing stuff down there.”
Finally, with a shrug of his shoulders, McNett digresses. “All I know is, for finding schools of panfish in tournament competition, you don’t want to be the team that’s fishing without one.”

All nightcrawlers are created equal, right? Not a chance, says Frabill Pro Tom Neustrom. He goes the extra mile to ensure that his are fat and sassy. The results are more and bigger walleyes. Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com) and Frabill (www.frabill.com).

“Never before have I asked you, or anyone, to keep an angling secret. I’m going to break this rule now and ask you point-blank NOT to pass on this information. It is much too deadly, it took many years to accumulate, and it’s worth too much to just give out willy-nilly . . .This method is so deadly that I debated for several years about publishing it at all. But I finally decided to do it because there are just too darn many big fish that don’t get caught. They grow old, grow big, and die of old age—wasted!”
-Bill Binkelman, from Nightcrawler Secrets, circa 1965

Drifting back to a time when fishing sages still clenched corncob pipes, a man named Bill Binkelman was starting something big. Inspired by the writings of the great Buck Perry, Binkelman, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin sporting goods store manager, began work on a new breed of fishing how-to, which eventually became Fishing Facts magazine. Meanwhile, Binkelman wrote Nightcrawler Secrets, a short work that was the acknowledged ”good book” on live bait fishing for walleyes, bass and pretty much everything else that sported fins. The information espoused in his writings was so thought-provoking, so revolutionary for the time that it created an entire generation of disciples. Among them were Al and Ron Lindner, Spence Petros, Tom Neustrom, and many other notables. Binkelman popularized modern structure theory and the depthfinder, jig fishing, floating jig heads, fluorescent colors, even drop-shotting. Clearly, his contributions to fishing stand alone.

But if Bill were alive today, it’s bait he’d want to talk about—simple, beautiful bait. The Nightcrawler Secrets method, as it became known, featured finesse tackle and precision boat control on exact spots-on-spots—concepts unheard of at the time. He used ultra-fine #8 bronze Aberdeen hooks, 4-pound test monofilament, and only the fattest, healthiest, wildest nightcrawlers he could get. “Super-Crawlers” he called them. Stored at optimal temperature, then specially conditioned, regular crawlers became super-crawlers— baits that virtually jumped out of your hand.

Given the volume of recent media coverage advocating artificial lures over live bait, you’d be tempted to believe that baits like the super-crawler have become obsolete—that the good ol’ nightcrawler ain’t what it used to be. Nonsense. In reality, few anglers today have ever fished, let alone seen a true super-crawler. They’re that good, that special.

Live bait artists like Tom Neustrom know the difference. “A well-conditioned crawler is about as good as it gets for walleyes, especially once water warms into the low 60s,” says Neustrom, a Freshwater Fishing Hall-of-Fame fishing guide from Deer River, Minnesota. “Even in fall, a time when everyone else is rigging with big redtail chubs, I like to show fish a nice big crawler. That’s a trick not a lot of people try, but oftentimes, crawlers score over chubs by a wide margin.”

Like Binkelman’s finesse approach, Neustrom subscribes to his own crawler rigging program. “Rather than hooking the worm once through the head, I like to thread it lightly through the tip,” he says, “Pull the hook out about an inch from the nose. Almost like you’d rig a plastic grub on a jighead. You want to position the crawler to trail as straight as possible.

Neustrom continues: “Most people want to inject the tail of the crawler with air, but you’ll get much better action in your bait if you add air to the collar. I’ve experimented with many different rigging styles, but this approach makes the crawler shimmy in a seductive way that really triggers big fish. A lot of people today think crawlers are a beginner’s bait, which is ridiculous. Precision crawler fishing is an art, just like Binkelman told us back then.”

Making Super-Crawlers
“If you think all nightcrawlers are alike, you’ve got a big surprise coming,” Binkelman wrote in his 1965 live bait manifesto. “Super-crawlers make ordinary crawlers look sick. I’m not selling them. In fact, you can’t even buy them—but you can make your own.”

For Binkelman, the super-crawler conditioning process began with a sizeable cache of worms. He’d buy bulk boxes of 12 dozen or so at a time. (Today, choice bait outlets like Vados— www.vadosbait.com—offer bulk packs for about $30 per gross.) From there, he’d begin sorting by grade: select jumbos in one group, so-so’s in another, and feeble “culls,” which went into the garden. In a high-quality gross, roughly a third of the crawlers typically qualify for the “select” grade.

For long-term storage, place your stash of “selects” into a big Styrofoam cooler, such as a Frabill Habitat V, filled with Super-Gro bedding, which keeps crawlers cool and happy. A refrigerator with temperature control (set at 45 to 55-degrees) — or even the corner of your basement— provides an optimal climate.

Over many years bait dealers have tried every conceivable type of bedding—leaves, moss, manure, topsoil, newspaper, etc. In his day, Binkelman preferred a common brand of commercial bedding. Frabill’s Super-Gro is better still—a specially formulated blend of ingredients, odorless and chemical free, that make average crawlers super. This bedding is clean, easy to use, and even contains a built-in food source—another key to growing super-crawlers.

Before adding crawlers to the Super-Gro bedding, dampen it slightly with non-chlorinated water. The bedding should be moist but not wet. Gather mounds of bedding into your hands, and squeeze until it’s drip free. With excess water removed from all bedding, return it to the Habitat cooler to about half-full. Let the bedding chill until temperature drops to approximately 50-degrees (use a meat thermometer.) Finally, add your select jumbo crawlers (the Habitat storage cooler holds up to twelve dozen baits). Check your baits every few days—dead or weak ones rise to the surface. Remove them immediately. Otherwise, once the habitat is established, handle crawlers and bedding as little as possible. This is important.

The quickest path to great crawlers is to use Frabill’s complete crawler care kit, the Habitat Deluxe Worm Kit— a Habitat V cooler, smaller Fisherman’s Worm Tote, Super-Gro bedding and a tub of special Fat N Sassy crawler food. These are the products bait dealers use most.

A day before leaving for a fishing trip is when Binkelman would put the finishing touches on his super-crawlers. Atop two to three-inches of bedding, he’d place a couple dozen crawlers into each of several smaller transport coolers, like a Fisherman’s Worm Tote. Between layers of damp newspapers he’d place a few ice cubes. He would use enough newspaper with the lid in place, to create slight pressure on the bedding. This forces crawlers to absorb excess moisture and balloon up.

The final step—one that’s been used by anglers like Gary Roach and Neustrom for decades—is to fill small cups with non-chlorinated water and a bit of ice. Just minutes before fishing, drop a couple crawlers into a water cup. This makes crawlers really balloon up and jump.

Search and Destroy
“New Wave” Fish Finding Tactics on Ice
By Tony Roach

The author, Tony Roach planted a Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon in the maw of this fat-bellied perch during an Ice Trolling expedition. Photo courtesy of www.northlandtackle.com

When you spend your winters guiding on a huge lake like Central Minnesota’s Mille Lacs, doing all the things it takes to find biting fish can test your resolve. There’s only one way to the fish – drilling lots and lots of holes. My guides and I sometimes spend entire days doing nothing but searching—one guy drills, another dude scans with an underwater camera. Often, we’ll grind out three or four hundred holes in the space of a 9 hour day. It isn’t always pretty, and more often than not, the best way to find fish isn’t the easiest way. But man does it pay off. We can usually stay well ahead of the crowds, keeping big schools of untouched fish to ourselves for days at a time.

While most of our time goes toward the pursuit of walleyes and perch, the things I’m going to tell you apply to pretty much any fish swimming below the ice.

I mentioned the “pay off,” and wanted to share a little snapshot from last winter’s fishing. During a particular 9-day stretch in January, I’d been quietly picking away at a huge flock of walleyes on a spacious deepwater hump. The fish were there, but every day was different. The fish made little daily movements around and over the hump, based mostly on baitfish location, light level, and more than likely, fishing pressure exerted by our own group.

Fish like walleyes and perch move in the winter—in fact, they move a lot. Thing is, though, they’re not traveling from one end of the lake to the other. Still, on big water like Mille Lacs, daily movements can certainly span several hundred yards to perhaps a mile. And of course, schools move to different depths and locales several times within a 24-hour period.

So we’d begin each day picking up where we’d left off the previous day. My guides and I would drill in opposite directions, each zigzagging up and down from the deep edge, to the drop off, to well up on the shallow flat. After banging out 20 to 30 holes in one direction, which would take about 10-minutes, we’d go back, grab rods and begin quickly fishing through each hole. We jigged Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons for no more than 5 minutes per hole before moving on down the “trolling path.” If we were working an individual walleye on our flasher, we might stay a few extra minutes to trigger that fish. Still, having laid down entire path of holes, it was so much more efficient to keep moving and search for biters.

So if we flashed a fish in one hole, but couldn’t trigger it, we made a little sign in the snow next to the hole, and return later to hopefully catch it. Really, this is as close to trolling on ice as it gets, and you’d better believe that it’s every bit as effective for contacting active fish—especially during those otherwise tough midday hours.

Having iced close to 40 fish the previous day, I approached the spot and saw a group of shelters stationed off the tip of the hump. As I talked to these anglers about their lack of success, it was interesting to note their six augers, lying unused on the ice. Obviously, the school had moved, but I figured they’d still be close. The guys told me how they’d drilled “a bunch of holes” all over, but the fish just weren’t here.

Moving a little ways down the break—maybe 150 yards—I popped 20 more holes. On my second drop, I connected with a 29-inch walleye. With a peek over my shoulder, I slipped the fish back and bailed, saving the spot for later that afternoon. Still, I couldn’t help thinking about that group of fishermen—if only they’d kept drilling and not given up.

Which just goes to illustrate an important point regarding ice trolling: while it certainly is a systematic game, more often than not, the only way to find fish is to just keep drilling and scanning with electronics. My motto is, ‘enough holes are never enough until fish are found.’

The ice trolling system begins with my GPS. Following contours on my LakeMaster mapping software, I lay down a “trolling route” in the snow first—running the edge with a snow machine or on foot, tracing out the boundaries of the structure. Then, I simply go back through, following my tracks, snatch the StrikeMaster, and cut more holes.

Most often, when drilling-out a new piece of structure, a partner is following behind with a MarCum VS380 underwater camera. It’s the other half of my fish-finding gameplan. Anglers like cameras because they offer a n entertaining way to watch fish react to lures. But the truth is, the camera is even more valuable as a fish-finding tool. The VS380 is compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry on the fly. The picture on the 380 is incredibly clear, too, showing an amazing amount of detail—all the way down to individual mayfly larva, even zooplankton. Really, it’s like having HD-TV on ice.

The viewing angler who drops the lens into each new hole sees the big picture—bottom terrain, the presence or lack of baitfish, walleye size, numbers and their position relative to bottom. Even their activity level can be gauged simply by observing fin movement and distance above bottom (active fish are usually one or more feet above the substrate and their pectoral fins fan a little more quickly). When the viewer spots a fish, he’ll trace certain symbols on the snow for reference. To keep other anglers from discovering our fish, we’ve devised our own code—for instance we might trace a “10-4” for walleye, “50-0” for big walleye, or “1-1” for two walleyes. The goal is to fine-tune our ice trolling program as much as possible—again, it’s a system, no different than a strategic open water trolling approach—and not just a bunch of holes drilled to impress people with our endurance.

Soon, we begin fishing back through each hole in sequence. We’ll leapfrog over one another, again, rarely fishing any one hole for more than 5-minutes. Once we reach the end of the trolling path, it’s time to start the drilling/camera viewing process again. Cut and view thirty holes, then fish. After a few hours (usually less), it will become pretty apparent whether the active fish are off the deep edge, directly on the drop, or on top of the flat.

Some days, rather than using portable shelters, we simply set a large pop-up style house, such as a Frabill Headquarters, which serves as basecamp. From here, a bunch of anglers can formulate gameplans, eat lunch, and just get a blast of warm air. Really, though, if you’re outfitted with something similar to my Snosuit, you’ll never even notice the cold.

It’s sort of funny, but one of the biggest objections to ice trolling comes from anglers who say that all you need are a few wisely drilled holes placed in key spots at peak times. This is true if you’re setting up for an hour or so of fishing at dawn or dusk. But even then, I’d still rather have the luxury of working through an entire network of 30 to 100 holes along a particular structure.

What I like to tell people is—and this is absolutely true—once you start ice trolling, systematically exploring entire structural complexes with an auger and a camera, you’ll start catching a lot of walleyes and other species during all the supposed ‘off-peak’ hours during the middle of the day. Each new hole holds the hope of a big fish—and if you ask me, that’s about as good as it gets.

Real or Not? Let the Fish Decide
Clever ice anglers are successfully combining traditional live bait tactics with artificial approaches
By Jeff Gustafson

The author, Jeff Gustafson, nabs a monstrous walleye on a Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon, a classic vertical jigging spoon with lifelike looks and audible attractiveness. Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com) and Frabill (www.frabill.com).

Times are a changin'. Used to be when we went ice fishing, our presentation always included a jig tipped with some type of minnow or hunk of meat, no matter what species of fish we were targeting. As the fishing tackle industry has grown, companies have found ways to make better baits that work in all seasons for all species of fish.

Today, ice anglers can use a blended approach, combining live bait tactics with artificial applications. Maybe work a soft plastic swimming lure in one hole while monitoring a live minnow and bobber in another. And all this while a nearby tip-up deploys yet another minnow, likely something larger. The options are endless.

The following are a few jigging and rigging techniques using artificial lures that have proved effective used in conjunction with a live bait program.

Dropper Rigging Stocked Trout
Brookies, rainbows, splake and the like are all suckers for aggressive presentations during the ice months. These fish are very inquisitive and can be called in from long distances. The thing is, they can be picky about what they eat so give them a 1-2 punch by using a dropper rig. The rig consists of a spoon with the treble hook removed and in its place a short 3-5 inch section of monofilament is attached leading to a small ice fly, like the feathered Spider Ant or new Scud Bug from Bro’s Bug Collection. When jigged aggressively, the spoon will dance, while the small jig pulsates and beckons these stocked beauties to bite. This rig is especially effective early in the season when these fish are in their most aggressive state.

Bug Up Perch
Our lakes are alive in winter with bottom hugging larvae, bloodworms and crustaceans. All species of fish exploit these tasty offering but none take advantage of the potential feeding frenzy like perch do. Much of this action takes place in the mud-bottomed basins on the lakes we fish and this is the best place to find massive schools of perch. Ice fishing guru, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl has designed a series of specialty jigs and soft plastic tails for Northland Fishing Tackle that are effective on all panfish, perch included. I used some of these jigs last season for perch and lit them up using a technique that Bro taught me. “Bro's Mud Bug” is a new jig that has a “fat-head” that anglers can shake and bounce in the mud to imitate hatches coming out of the bottom. Tip this jig with one of the new plastic tails – like the Bloodworm, Slug-Bug, or Scud-Bug – and you have an offering that perch flip over.

Metallic Walleyes
Spoons are available in all shapes and sizes from various manufacturers and they catch walleyes throughout the winter. In fact, I fish spoons almost exclusively for walleyes during the winter months. Spoons are good because they have superb attracting abilities and can call fish in from a long range. They can also be shaken lightly to entice “lookers” that are in close range to bite. I just about always fish a Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon and use a “jerk, jerk, shake” cadence. I'll jig the spoon more furiously if flasher screen is bare and then begin jigging softer sequences when fish appear. One last “triggering” trick to make lookers turn into biters is to slowly jig your bait and lift your rod at the same time, making the bait rise in the water column. Walleyes are more likely to commit to if they get teased up off the bottom a bit.

Swimbait Lakers
Everybody knows that lake trout are suckers for plastic, minnow imitating baits like tubes and jerk shads. They catch fish on a consistent basis and have for years. A trend for winter trout fishing is working baits that trigger bass during the open water season. One of the hottest new styles of baits in this category are swimbaits. Gaining popularity for largemouth bass in California, they are now being used by bass anglers all over North America. If you haven't used them for lake trout, you're missing out. The Slurpies Swim Shiner is a great example, Silver Shiner and Emerald Shiner being a couple of the hottest colors. The key is to keep it moving. I will jig these baits in 3-5 foot lifts and cover the entire water column. You will call in big fish while showing them something they probably haven't seen before.

The key with artificial baits is to use them to call fish in to your presentation. If you can do this, there is always a high percentage of fish, no matter what species you are targeting, that will bite. Spend some time this winter using artificial baits in tandem with typical live bait techniques and you will see your catches improve. Every time you do something different than the norm, you learn something and in the end this will make you a much better all-round angler.

Dark House Angling

By John M. Sheely & S. L. Merriam

What is it about the various hunting and fishing seasons that make us unsatisfied? Sometimes I find myself freezing in a deer stand, not seeing deer and wishing I was casting a fishing line on summer morning. Or, when I’m in a boat getting chewed on by mosquitoes and the fish aren’t biting I say to myself, “I’d love to be in a tree stand hunting deer.”

Many outdoorsmen I’ve spoken with feel the same way. What’s left to do after you’ve filled all of your deer tags and the lakes and streams are frozen solid? You could go ice fishing, but the perfect combination lies in one of the oldest forms of angling on record.

Years ago a friend suggested that I stop by the lake and visit him. I replied, “Shall I bring some wax worms?” “Neither - just stop by and visit”, he said. When I arrived I saw his plywood shanty on the weed line under an overhanging willow tree. I noticed that his fishing shack didn’t have windows like some of the others surrounding it. When I knocked on the door my friend said, “Hurry up and get in here. Shut the door – you’re letting the light in.” I realized that my friend was watching a large decoy minnow through a big square hole in the ice. I said, “So, you just sit hear all day and stare at this hole in the dark?” With a grin he said, “Yep, hang out for a while and you’ll see why.”

After an hour of watching the decoy minnow, some bluegills and a bass swam by the hole. He said, “Don’t move!” I saw a large northern pike appear out of nowhere - like a ghost in a movie. My friend had a spear resting in the water, and the pike flexed into an S shape as the spear flew. The next thing I saw was my friend retrieving the pike through the hole.

“Wow! That happened fast.” He said “You’ve always got to be ready.” “Sometimes they come in slow, sometimes fast and sometimes they just appear like that one did”. He said, “It’s your turn”. I asked him how he knew that the pike was there. He said that he could tell by the way the decoy minnow was acting that there was a big fish in the area. I assumed that his knowledge came from spending a lot of time starring at a decoy minnow in the water, but I haven’t mastered the concept yet.

This type of fishing is the perfect combination of hunting and fishing. I had heard of this sport, but I’d never been in a “dark house” and tried it. I saw a whole new aquatic world under the ice, but I never speared a fish that day. We spent the day telling stories and sharing good fellowship viewing many different species of fish, and catching a glimpse of an occasional muskrat swimming below the square hole in the ice. Dark house spear fishing takes a lot of practice and most fishermen aren’t successful until they gain some experience throwing their spear. It takes patience and persistence.

Year after year, I see the same “dark houses” set up on the same locations on our area lakes. Each “dark house” is set up differently, but the basic concepts are the same. You only need a few pieces of gear to get started. Think safety first! When you set up your “dark house”, make sure everything has a place. After cutting a fairly large hole in the ice you need to arrange things inside the house so that you don’t fall into your spearing hole. Keeping your equipment arranged properly will make you safer. Most ice fishermen I know prefer a 2’x4’ or 3’x6’ hole cut with a standard chainsaw or folding ice saw. Set up your house on ice covering water that is less than 10 feet deep. The deeper the target the more likely you are to miss. I prefer a 7”-10” sucker minnow positioned in one half of the water depth. I use a three-way swivel with the decoy on the side, a lead weight on the bottom and a line attached to a fishing reel near the roof of the shanty. This keeps the line taunt and the decoy stationary.

It’s important to keep the tip of the spear in the water and handy when a fish swims close to the hole. Carpet on the shanty floor helps keep the noise level down when you need to move around inside the building. I use a flashy spoon (a silver or gold willow blade) attached to the decoy to attract fish. Many anglers use artificial decoys instead of live decoy minnows. Don’t be afraid to move the shanty during the season to prevent fish from getting educated about the location of your set-up. Once you move your “dark house” remember to mark its former location so that other fishermen don’t run the risk of setting up where you cut a hole in the ice and break through the new, thin ice.

Regulations vary from state to state so be sure to check with your state wildlife agency to make sure that spear fishing is legal in your area. If you’re looking for a new challenge this winter give “dark house” spear fishing a try. Fish finders and under water cameras aren’t required, and “dark house” fishing is a great experience for the outdoorsman on a budget. Spears can often be found at various retail sporting outlets. Keep your spear tines in the water and your decoy lively, and you’ll find “dark house” spear fishing exciting and challenging.

This type of fishing is only legal in 6 states at this time, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and to a limited amount in Wisconsin. Please check your local DNR regulations to see your stated detail on this type of fishing.

For more information on this type of fishing and each state’s regulations for spear fishing contact:

Dark House Angling Association

President Tim Spreck

P.O. Box 462
Stillwater, MN 55082

Telephone: 651-439-1110 or fishdecoy@fishdecoy.net

Little Tips, Big Results!

By Mike Frisch

Recently an ice fishing buddy told me of an experience where his line broke on two separate occasions on the same evening while attempting to land big walleyes. While trying to determine the cause, I queried him about the last time he changed the line on the reel he was using. “Man, I don’t remember” was his response.

My guess is that his line was probably weakened by the combination of time, excess use, etc. Changing the line on a fishing reel is a little thing that, as this instance reveals, can be the difference between ice fishing success and frustration. Here is a look at a couple other little suggestions that can lead to big results.

Sharp Hooks

Many of today’s fishing lures come equipped with quality hooks. Similar to fishing line, however, fishing hooks may need to be replaced over time. For that reason, it’s a good idea to check the hooks on the lures you use to make sure they are still sharp and the points aren’t bent or rolled over. If they are, sharpening or changing to a new hook is a little step that can help insure that the next bite results in a fish on the ice!

Regularly checking your hooks is a good habit and one that is especially important when you are catching lots of fish or fishing around cover as those two situations often result in dull or damaged hooks.

Fresh Bait

One of the best fishermen I know made a comment last summer that really hit home, “Just think of all the times you caught a fish just after putting a fresh minnow or leech on your line!” After hearing that, I made a mental note to try to monitor the number of bites my guide clients and I got shortly after re-baiting our lines. Simply put, the results were eye-opening!

Though that was a summertime experiment, it holds true on the ice as well. I often fish a minnow under a bobber “do-nothing” style next to the hole I am jigging in and try to keep a fresh, lively minnow on the line to increase the odds for success.

Jigging lures, on the other hand, are often tipped with a minnow head. While the bait is obviously dead, I think a fresh minnow head emits more fish-attracting scent than one that’s been on the hook for a long time. Therefore, regular changing of baits is important when jigging as well.

Because of the importance of good bait to fishing success, I rely on Frabill bait buckets during all seasons of the year because they’re available in a variety of sizes and styles and do an excellent job of insuring that I’ll have the best in bait for my fishing trips.

Getting the best out a fishing trip is an ice angler’s goal. Paying attention to some of the little things just mentioned can help anglers achieve that goal this winter. As always, good luck on the ice!

Mike Frisch is the owner/operator of Fishin' With Frisch Pro Guide Service and Fishin' Schools. Check out his new website at www.fishinwithfrisch.com.

FISHING RESOLUTIONS FOR 2010
By Bob Jensen

I’m not big on New Year resolutions, but after every fishing season I like to think about things I did differently or new things that I tried in the past fishing season that I want to expand on in the next fishing season. Following are some of those things.
I had some friends tell me they had been using ice-fishing lures in open water. This fall, when the fish were deep and schooled pretty tightly, I tried this tactic. I attached a Puppet Minnow to a snap-swivel and vertically jigged it. Using a fairly gentle lift-drop action, I caught good numbers of walleyes and perch. I intend to try ice-fishing baits in open water more in 2010 when the fish are in deep water.
I plan on becoming more familiar with my electronics and learn more about all the things they’ll do. The Humminbird 798c SI Combo that I used this past year drew an outstanding picture of the bottom. In the side-imaging mode it showed what was out to the side of the boat, and in the GPS mode it showed where we were on the lake and how to get back to the boat dock.
But by choosing a couple of options on the menu, this sonar did an even better job. I’m going to learn how to use my sonar to its maximum performance level for an even better understanding of what’s going on in the water below and around the boat.
I’m going to use soft bait more next year. I found soft bait producing extremely well in situations that were often thought of as live-bait conditions. We caught walleyes really good on Gulp! Alive in water temps of 39 degrees last fall. Gulp! Alive has become a big part of my walleye fishing: Next year I’m going to try to find more ways to employ soft bait.
I’m going to be sure to go to bodies of water I haven’t been to before. This past year I fished on Lewis and Clark Lake near Yankton South Dakota. Unique scenery and very good walleye and white bass fishing were discovered. I know there are other outstanding fisheries here in the Midwest that I haven’t tried: I am going to look for them in 2010.
I am going to make sure than when I get a free afternoon or morning, I’ll get on one of the lakes or rivers close to home. Those three and four hour trips can be fun and productive.
I’m going to try to continue to introduce new anglers to fishing. It’s important that we show people of any age just how much fun fishing can be, and also how productive fishing can be here in the Midwest.
I’m going to continue to take my time on the water seriously, but not too seriously. Fishing is supposed to be fun, and for me, it’s fun to watch wildlife and take time out for a snack while on the water.
Those are some of the things I’m going to do while fishing in 2010. Now is a good time for you to start thinking about what you’ll be doing differently or more of this next fishing season.
For more fishing information visit fishingthemidwest.com and watch all the 2009 episodes of Fishing the Midwest television on WalleyeCentral.com in the video section and on MyOutdoorTv.com.

Every season in the Upper Midwest offers a new set of outdoor opportunities. The winter season is no exception as many outdoor enthusiasts turn from fall hunting adventures to time spent on the ice, ice fishing that is. As the seasons turned this fall, my thoughts turned to ice fishing even before I pulled the boat and docks from the lake in Northern Wisconsin. Granted I was late this year it was November 26, Thanksgiving, and I should have been sitting in my deer stand. This is always a problem for me as I simply can not bring myself to pull the boat out of the water until the last possible minute. This year I decided to do something I have thought about for the past three years. I brought my hand held GPS and motored to the many humps, inside turns, break lines and weed edges that are natural fish holding locations any time of year. As I stopped at each type of structure I marked the location on my hand held GPS, once marked and properly identified with a fish icon and type of structure I could return to these exact spots during first ice. I have used sonar and electronic lake maps during open water fishing for years but have not taken advantage of the technology during the ice fishing season. I have often found during open water fishing it is not good enough to be close to the right spot, sometimes you have to be right on. There is one type of structure in particular that requires a precise set up. These spots are where a deep water trough gradually runs to the top of a submerged flat. If you saw this on dry land it would look like a valley or draw that leads to the top of a plateau. Walleyes often follow this trough which funnels to a point as it reaches the top of the flat. If you can set up directly over the point of the funnel you will find the spot the majority of the fish pass as they move from deep water to the top of the flat to feed. The portable ice house was now set up over one of these locations as the sun started to dip on the horizon. I was intently watching my flasher while jigging a small spoon tipped with a crappie minnow. A second line appeared on the flasher below my spoon, soon they merged into one solid line and my rod doubled over as I set the hook. One walleye on the ice. I quickly got the line back in the water as the action is typically fast as the fish move up the trough and onto the flat. There was already another fish on the graph as I lowered the freshly baited spoon back down the hole. Bang, my second fish was on.

These locations can be found right now with a good lake map and by checking depths with your sonar through the ice, but it is sure easier during open water. Next year mark these locations on your hand held GPS while fishing open water, it will save you allot of time once the ice comes to your favorite lake.

PS. It is -15 as I right this and it looks like a good day to try to call in a coyote or fox. As I said, every season bring another set of outdoor opportunities and with winter comes ice fishing and predator hunting.

By Jerry Carlson

Making the right choice between bobbers or tightlining will impact fishing success.

When it comes to bite detection methods for winter panfish angling, there are two schools of thought. Some believe the only option that makes sense is to use a bobber or float. Others have found that a tightlining system, with or without a spring bobber, is the best choice.
In order to make the right decision, a person has to consider several factors. These factors include temperature, bait choice, depth, time of day, and of course, personal preference.
First of all, air temperature is a key ingredient in making a presentation choice. If the angling is being done in a shelter of some kind with warm temps, slip bobber systems work very well. However, slip bobbers have a tendency to ice up when used outside on cold days which means stationary floats would work better.
When using minnows, I believe a bobber or float system is the way to go. Fish are not aggressive feeders in the winter and need time to suck in the minnow. A very light bobber will allow a finicky perch or crappie time to chew on things with little resistance.
Depth is an important consideration when making a bobber or tightlining choice. On a few lakes I fish, the panfish are found in relatively shallow water and are pretty much all at the same depth. Bobbers can work well for these situations.
Frequently, I find myself working fish that are in deep water and suspended. Tightlining is ideal for these conditions because it is very easy to watch your electronics and change depth as the fish come through. Keeping up with constantly changing depths with a bobber is nearly impossible.
I find the time of day I am fishing to be a big factor in my presentation choices. During the daylight hours, panfish are usually more lethargic than they are during the low light periods. Because of this, anglers need to do more coaxing in order to get them to bite.
Tightlining systems make it possible for anglers to jig larva bait in front of the noses of finicky panfish. Persistent jigging of one form or another will usually convince something to bite, even if they are in a very neutral mood. If the strikes are really light, a spring bobber may be needed.
Hook choices for tightlining are more critical than they are for bobber fishing. When tightlining, anglers need to select a jig that is small yet heavy enough to bounce effectively when jigged. It also needs to have enough bulk that it will read easily on your electronics. Bro’s Bug Collection from Northland is a good place to start.
No matter what system a person uses for winter angling, always keep it as light as the conditions will allow. If it is a bobber presentation, use the tiniest one you can. If it is tightlining, keep the jig as small as possible.
As for line, make sure it is very light. I believe this means supple, one to three-pound-test line such as Berkley Micro Ice. Four-pound test is too heavy to hang straight with light lures. If your line does not hang straight, the curls have to be pulled out before a bite can be detected.
Choosing a presentation for winter angling is often a matter of personal preference. However, sometimes the circumstances will dictate the best options for success.

Anglers can use the "do-nothing rig" to target big walleyes through the ice as well.

Mike Frisch

The author with a big open-water walleye.

It’s no secret that jigging spoons are top ice-time walleye producers. Often, however, I fish what I call my “do nothing rig” in a hole adjacent to where I am jigging
A simple minnow under a bobber makes up my do-nothing line. On days when the fish are active, most of my fish come while jigging. Some days, however, the do-nothing rig produces better.
On this line, I typically hook a minnow lightly near the dorsal fin utilizing a plain hook fished a foot or so below a split shot weight. Fish attracting color is added to the rig by using a colored Hot-Spot Split Shot. I like either glow or chartreuse colored shot.
Some days I adjust the rig by substituting a small round jig head for the hook and weight. It seems like the action of the bait struggling against the weight of the jig sometimes leads to more bites.
As with the split shot, the color of the jig adds attraction. This is especially important during the low light periods when walleyes are often most active. In fact, a red or chartreuse Super-Glo Jig tipped with a lively minnow is one of my favorite presentations when fishing early mornings or evenings.
I use a Glo-Buster Lurelight to periodically “glow” my weights and jigs for added attraction after dark.
Substituting a jig for a plain hook can mean more bites on the do-nothing rig. Another adjustment to this rig that has been successful is the use of two minnows instead of one. Two medium-sized fathead minnows struggling against each other on the same hook can be very productive at times. In fact, one of the bigger walleyes I’ve seen come through the ice fell for this presentation.
To be honest, I’m not sure when this refinement works best, but have seen it work often enough to make it something I usually try during the course of a fishing trip.
Winter walleye fishing trips can be made even more successful by adding the do-nothing rig to traditional jigging techniques. As always, good luck on the water and ice!

Head to Fin Combat
A proven pattern for hooking gargantuan pike during early ice

Up above, I tiptoe across the frozen shallows maintaining a low profile. Stealth is a big part of the game.
Down below, however, it’s more like lions in the Coliseum tearing and tossing-down everything with blood running through its veins. That’s what it’s like in early winter when northern pike slash through the shallows with hearty appetites and an equal amount of recklessness.
These apex predators spent most of late autumn roaming the basin, tracking along offshore humps and deeper secondary breaks. With the flip of a switch, though, they head straight for the shallows – 4 to 12 feet of water – when the surface water solidifies. And there’s no secret to the gravitational pull. It’s about gorging on the bounty of available forage.
Panfish are standard fare. Bluegills, crappies, and perch are already making use of whatever green weeds are left. There, they find food, and, allegedly, sanctuary from threats. Pike disrupt the peace, however, ferreting through cuts and openings, as well as cruising along the edge picking off the careless. Ultimately, panfish only find safety in numbers, some brethren sacrificed for the whole.
On certain lakes and reservoirs the summons comes in the form of whitefish and or tullibee (ciscoes). Their reproductive ritual begins in the late fall and finalizes sometime after first ice. Perfect timing for pike.
So the foodstuffs are up in the shallows, but located randomly. Weeds have already been noted. But make sure your focusing on the greenest and thickest vegetation available. That could mean a lush garden grove. In other situations it’s a thick spot amongst an acre of spindly brown weeds. The most reliable weeds are found in shallow bays that are adjacent to the main lake.
River mouths are another natural draw. Pike are suckers for moving water. Suckers, the actual fleshy baitfish, are common there. Take heed that ice quality on and around river mouths is several notches thinner than what the main lake offers.
Although pike activity is at its seasonal peak, there are good, better, and best times to fish. Morning and evening are no-brainers. With that said, historically, I’ve nailed the majority of my larger fish – 10-pounds plus – during mid to late morning, say from 8 to 11 am. The last hour and a half of the day is next in importance, but a distant second.
Weather is a factor as well. Invariably, I pound more pike on cloudy days than those marked with sunshine. Pike roam more freely. They loosen their range and don’t stick as tightly to cover. In response, I spread the field, which means running Frabill tip-ups while maintaining a rigorous jigging schedule. Depending on the state’s legal allotment of lines and how many partners I’m sharing the ice with, it can be half-dozen tip-ups sprinkled about a 200 foot radius.

The only thing that bests cloud cover is cloud cover on the leading edge of imminent precipitation, either snow or one of those bothersome early winter mists. Pike go bonkers before a front.
Now about that tiptoeing and black-ops stealth I mentioned earlier… Yes, early winter pike are ferocious feeders. That’s to your advantage. But on the flipside, you’re operating in shallow water with only a thin veil of early ice. The ice, in fact, is often transparent. To the fish, you’re silhouette is as apparent as the old tire and boulder on the bottom you just walked over. Complicating matters, my preferred technique positions me directly over their heads.
Jigging really scratches their itch, though. When pike are on the move an energetic jig is irresistible.
Pre-drilling puts the angler in position to operate stealthily. Drill your holes 15 minutes to a half hour before show time. To really take advantage of the morning bite, pre-drill in the darkness, before pike take their morning swim.
Finally, it’s fishing time. Lurched over a hole, I ready the rig, which was tied-up the night before. There’s no finer opening act than an oversized jig fitted with a live sucker minnow, either. My preference is the Bionic Bucktail Jig from Northland Fishing Tackle. Hand-tied with genuine bucktail, the Bionic Bucktail creates a full-figured and vibrant target. In clear water, I opt for White Cisco, as it mimics most native baitfish. In darker conditions, Yellow Perch is a better choice.
Next comes a 4-inch sucker minnows or chub – they are the ideal length and shape for jigging pike. Lip-hook the minnow with the forged single hook. The rear of the jig features a “sting’r” hook, a treble tethered by teeth-resistant steel. Don’t stick the treble in the bait’s posterior. It’s a common practice, but I’ve stung more pike with it floating freely alongside the minnow. My theory is that the lightest part of the rig – the sting’r in this case – is the first to find a pike’s jaw.
The action is more of a swimming and dumbed-down-darting than classic jigging. Don’t snap it. Instead, smoothly but confidently pump the jig in 1 to 2-foot motions. I’ll operate from top to bottom in clear conditions. Pike aren’t bashful about rising to the underside of the ice. In darker water, I’ve found most fish operate within 4-feet of the bottom.
Not just any old rod will do, either. Put away the panfish stuff. Remember, you’re tangling with muscle-bound fish in a relatively small space. It’s fist to fin combat.
A guiding buddy of mine and northern pike nemesis, Paul Nelson, developed a pike-specific rod for Frabill. It’s quite the fish tamer. Found in the Ice Hunter series, the 32-inch, medium-heavy stick yields the perfect balance of a firm but playful tip with the backbone of a brontosaurus.
For battling in tight-quarters I recommend spooling with a superline, not monofilament or fluorocarbon. You’ll appreciate the toughness and resistance to shredding. I look forward to testing the new Performance Fuse from Sufix.

It takes angler skill to bring down fish of this magnitude as well. Expect violent runs and very dynamic directional changes. To win, you must wear the fish out, no horsing it in. Pulling back too hard nearly insures that the jig will tear free. Maintain pressure, letting the drag do what it’s designed to do. As a failsafe, I back-reel with the drag-system covering my behind. If the fish runs exceptionally fast, lock down on the handle and the drag takes over – beautiful 2-part harmony.
Icing a submarine-sized pike in the shallows isn’t like walking and chewing gum. Plan that the fish will appear horizontally – wide head in the hole and numerous inches of body tucked beneath ice. Keep the rod loaded, applying constant pressure while turning the fish. Obviously, it’s nice having a “net man”. As the snout rises, prepare for the snatch and grab. Know that you’re going to get wet. In fact, to reduce the risk of breaking off, I take the fish while it’s vertical, its movement restricted in the hole. As a bonus, the fish is less likely to flip-out and injure itself.
Once on the ice, it’s a quick photo – titans only – and the head goes back from where it c0ame. Hold and pump the fish a few times until it’s self-powered. High-five your partner, or do that faddish knocking fists move, and it’s on to another screensaver quality pike.

About the author: Brian “Bro” Brosdahl (Max, Minnesota) is a professional fishing guide and renowned ice fishing expert. For nearly two decades he’s been sharing his insights and innovations with the fishing public. He can be reached at bbro@paulbunyan.net.

For the last several years I have caught dozens of big walleyes through the ice on small baits, when nothing else was working.

Tom

Ice fishing is like no other angling expedition that we do all season. Sure it’s cold and sometimes miserable, but there’s something to be said of the peacefulness and the tug of a fish beneath the ice that is hard to describe.
Perception, of what other anglers do to be successful, can dictate one’s opinion on future direction. Trial and error is still the best antidote when it comes to trying methods that work. Two of ice fishing’s best known gurus, have shown myself and others, the meaning of scaling down the size of the baits we use for productive time spent on the ice.
Dave Genz and Brian “Bro” Brosdahl have pioneered many of the presentations and micro baits that have been proven fish catchers. For years there have been, at times, opinions that large baits will catch larger fish and smaller baits only catch small fish. There is always a time when you have to try these methods and dissect the presentation to see if this is a rule of thumb. I have definitely changed my thought process when it comes to catching more fish through the ice than I ever had before, and I’m talking consistently.
When examining the stomach contents of walleyes, crappies, and perch I found there is a preference for smaller items to consume. Is it because the predator fish can catch smaller baits easier, or is it their appetites, or body needs, are not as demanding in the cold water period? Believe me when I say that a fish, such as a walleye, may be the exception to the rule at times, and may consume larger forage at times, but that’s usually not the case. Whatever the reason dialing in and fishing smaller baits during the frozen water period will let you bend the rod more and catch more fish.
I can bet this was a driving influence when Brian “Bro” Brosdahl helped design a series of small baits for the Northland Tackle Company that has changed the mindset of several excellent ice anglers. Bro has many seasons on the ice chasing every critter that swims in the frozen world. He has been a student of the game in trying to analyze just what the fish want, not just what looks good. There is a difference!!
The “Bro Bug” collection of baits including the Scud Bug, Slug Bug, Mud Bug, Blood Worm(my favorite), and the Gill Getter fit the profile of small micro baits that are fish catching machines. With the introduction of the “Hexi Fly”, Northland Tackle has done a great job of bringing baits to the angler that indeed work, not claim to!!! The Hexi Fly has a different profile that is electronic friendly. What does that mean you ask? Let’s look at it from the perspective of track ability on your flasher. While using my Humminbird Ice-55 I can track the descent easier because of the flat back on the Hexi Fly that actually picks up the signal quicker and more efficiently. It’s sonar friendly and gives me an edge keeping the bait in the fish zone, even when the depths are greater than 30 feet. One thing I thoroughly enjoy is watching a bait on my Humminbird fall slowly to a suspended fish, or have a crappie, bluegill or jumbo perch come screaming up from the bottom to attack that “slow mover” sliding into their world. It’s awesome!!
Small spoons don’t take a back seat to any presentation either. Northland Tackle’s new Macho Minnow, not only has the wobble and the flash we expect from a spoon. But it also has a “kicker tail fin” that flutters, clatters, and clinks. The flash and vibration are fish attracting components and can make a difference when the bite is off. The one twelfth and one eighth ounce size may be small, but they have put numerous nice walleyes on the ice when the presentation required downsizing. I can tell you from experience that smaller spoons, fished properly under a number of conditions, can be the deciding factor.
For the last several years I have caught dozens of big walleyes through the ice on small baits, when nothing else was working. I have sat on walleyes that wouldn’t bite with a multiple of presentations and downsizing was the ticket to success. You really see the phenomenon on deeper walleye locations and especially where they tend to suspend over deep water locations and especially where they tend to suspend over expanses of deep water. Case in point is the deep mud basin on the southern part of Lake of the Woods. By paying close attention to my electronics, and with the use of smaller slowly descending baits, I have been able to hook and land walleyes in the 7-10 pound range. Northland’s Jiggle Bug and Doodle Bug have been my “go to” baits when this occurs. Give it a try if you ever encounter the exact set of circumstances that I have thrown your way. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
If you haven’t given these “Micro Monsters” a try in varied conditions, make sure you arm yourself with a handful, before you head out on the ice. You will learn quickly why ice fishing greats such as Dave Genz and Brian “Bro” Brosdahl are so successful.