I recall clearly many days where an “ah-ha!” moment changed the way I did things forever.  One such moment happened on December 26, 2000, and it altered the way I fished through the ice permanently.
The converted trailer shack that my buddy Holmes, his cousin Adam and I were fishing out of on the day after Christmas had taken on a distinct chill, and I held my hand out over the flickering propane heater, which sputtered and spit the last fumes from the twenty-pound cylinder on the outside of the house.  Being back from Florida for my final holiday break of undergrad, I still was not used to the North Dakota winters which I had fled from in 1997, and I nervously asked how we planned on keeping warm the rest of the day.

“We’ll have to go back into town and refill the tank,” said my buddy, obviously annoyed.
His cousin nodded, and agreed to drive. I volunteered to stay behind just in case a school of fish decided to cruise by our spot on the channel edge, though I was doubtful.  I watched the duo pull away from the ice house in Adam’s Chevy, opened a set of handwarmers and clicked the bail on my borrowed ice rod.  The Northland Buckshot Rattlespoon zipped down the hole off to one side and disappeared from view in the twenty feet of dingy water below me.  I looked to my left at the whirring disk of green, red and yellow on the Vexilar FL-8 fish finder hanging in the next hole over while I jigged my lure about four feet off the bottom.
With each twitch of my rod, I saw a yellow flash on the monitor of the sonar device.  I would rip the lure up and down and the color would change from yellow to red to green and back to yellow, or when I’d move it just slightly, it would flicker between a light green bar and a thicker yellow bar.  It was like a video game of sorts, and as my brain made the connection, I smiled with the onset of that “ah-ha!” moment.
I would open the bail and the lure would drop into the solid red bottom and the line would go limp.  I’d slowly pull the spoon up and it would creep up warily from the edge of the sonar’s viewing area.
“This is pretty neat,” I said aloud as I banged the spoon on the bottom, ripped it up and let it fall; and then reeled it up a few feet in the water column.
I glanced at my watch, looked out the window and sat down as I jiggled the fishing rod some more.  I again turned my attention to the whir of the FL-8 fish finder and saw something that looked out of place.  A large red blob had materialized on the circular screen, just below my offering.  I jigged the rod to make sure that the object wasn’t my spoon, and as I did, the red bar rose up toward it and paused about a foot below the yellow mark on the screen.  I then ripped the spoon upward and the red mark exploded after it and I felt the fish whollop my offering.

The drag on the reel began to scream, the ice rod was doubled over pointing straight down the hole and the fight was on.  I went from watching the Vexilar, to looking down the hole, to loosening my drag.  Occasionally, the red mark would zoom through the screen and then quickly disappear.  Each time, the line was higher up on the sonar’s display.
Finally, I saw the fish – a large pike – swim under the hole.  My adrenaline surged and I cranked on the reel, attempting to steer its head toward the surface.  Finally, the gaping, tooth-filled maw angled just right and I put the last few turns on the reel.  I reached down and grabbed the northern behind the head and hoisted it out of the water.  It was a five-pound pike, my first ever through the ice.
My friends rumbled up in the pickup shortly thereafter with a tank full of propane.  I stepped outside the metal shack and held the fish up for them to see.
“That Vexilar is really cool,” I said to Adam, as I explained how I saw, triggered and caught the fish with the help of his sonar unit.
The next year, graduated and relocated back to North Dakota, my parents bought me one for Christmas, and that old FL-8 still ranks as one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me.  A few years ago, I upgraded to an FL-20 fish finder, and passed the old unit on to my brother who still uses it to this day.
I’ve often said that a sonar device is only slightly more important than an auger when ice fishing, and I wouldn’t leave home without one.  Today, there are more brands, models and options to fit any angler’s needs and budget than just the FL-8 fish finder, which was the only unit available at the turn of the century.  If you fish with any of them, you’ve probably had that “ah-ha!” moment on ice, seen what was once unviewable and learned how fish react to your presentations.  As a result, you probably agree with me that your chosen sonar is the most important piece of ice fishing equipment.  If you haven’t yet fished with one, it’s time to see what you’re missing and experience an epiphany of your own…in our outdoors.

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By Nick Simonson

For the past few weekends, I have been exploring a small impoundment about twenty minutes from home.  Rumor had it that big bluegills roamed the basin out from the public access, but all my efforts had produced over the past month was a plethora of puny perch.  At the urging of my buddy Randy, we headed back for one more try on the small reservoir, based on a tip a fellow gave us on our way off the ice at the end of our last trip.
We ventured off from the point and I fired up the auger and began punching holes out in a line from shore.  After the thirtieth hole I clicked the auger off, tied a tiny jig on my spring bobber rod and began to explore the basin before us.  With my friend fishing shallow, I walked out to the farthest hole in the line with plans of working my way back toward shore.
As soon as I dropped the transducer in the hole, three lines flickered against the black backdrop of my sonar.  I dropped the jig and watched it spiral out of view into the murky waters of the forty-acre lake formed by the damming of a small creek some thirty years ago.  The lines rose up to meet the jig and I readied for the inevitable – undoubtedly they would be the same six-inch perch I had encountered before.  The spring bobber on my rod bounced and I set the hook with a snap of my wrist.
The blank bent in a solid arc and I knew right away the fish on the other end was not one of the tiny perch I had worked so hard to get away from.  The line spun around the hole as the whirling fight of the fish pulled it tight against the edge of the ice and then popped it loose and over to the other side of the hole.  The upside-down tornado whirled closer and closer to the surface as the line between the rod and hook shortened.  Like the moon sliding in front of the sun, the circular body of a big bluegill eclipsed the diameter of the hole and I felt my eyes go wide.
With many other anglers in the shallows where my friend was fishing, I gave a quick but muted whistle to my buddy and held the hand-sized panfish up for him to see and motioned him to join me out over the deeper water.  In a few minutes we were in the thick of a bluegill bonanza.  Our backs turned to the rising south wind; we raised the red lines off of the bottom and got them to bite with a subtle shake of a small plastic tail or a lightly-hooked spike.  Time and again, quality sized bluegills came to hand, but as the wind rose, the fish became more stubborn.
We switched ice fishing rigs to pull a few more from fourteen feet; bounced to a hole just on the break to land another out of twelve feet; and varied our baits to trigger other fish we encountered at various depths in between.  Even when we were forced by the wind to set up the shack and settle for a more stationary – but comfortable – position, the fish directly under us could be fooled by keeping our baits moving and modified from time-to-time when things slowed down.  The entire afternoon we landed forty ‘gills.  In that time, we hooked only one perch.
If it wasn’t for my friend’s continued press to give the lake one more try; the bluegills might have just been a hopeful thought for next season.  But by persevering, trying new areas and varying our presentations, we found success where we once found only frustration, and had we given up the stories of the big bluegills would have remained just that.  I’ve learned in the past few seasons – whether hunting or fishing – that sometimes perseverance is all it takes to have a breakthrough like the one I experienced this weekend, and help make those stories a reality…in our outdoors.

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I often think back fondly to my times while ice fishing tip ups growing up in North Dakota.  For those anglers who love to chase a waiving flag across the ice, there’s no better place than the Peace Garden State, where on hardwater, fishermen are allotted four lines with no restrictions as to what’s on the other end.  It could be a treble or it could be a single hook, it could be in pursuit of pike or trout or walleye.  Smelt, shiners, fatheads, whatever your bait of choice there are so many ways to fish with tip ups.  We fished them all and found ways to modify our tip ups for any situation.  Now, even in Minnesota where only two lines are allowed, I still like to keep a lookout for an orange flag waiving in the breeze.  What follows are some tips for not only the usual slimy suspects, but for fishing flags for any other species.

10.  Barrel Role.  I like to spool all of my tip-ups with old-school 50-pound-test Dacron – simply because it’s strong and easy to handle.  However, if fishing walleyes or trout, it is far too visible to connect to a hook.  I like to tie a barrel swivel at the end of the line and from there I can add leaders of superline or monofilament in varying lengths above a smaller hook or treble to match the species I’m pursuing.

9.  Another Notch.  The flag-holding T on the top of each tip-up usually has two sides, an all-smooth side and a notched side.  The notched side will hold the flag more securely, requiring a good tug to pop it loose, as opposed to the smooth side, which will allow the flag to trip easier.  In addition, these sides can be turned into, or against the wind to prevent a premature triggering of the flag.  Use this feature to assist on those gusty days.

8.  Cleanup.  When using tip-ups, make sure the area around the ice hole is clean.  Also, keep the surface of the water in the hole free of slush and ice; making sure to monitor that there isn’t a build-up of ice sealing off the hole.  This might require a regular round of inspections – particularly when it’s cold – to keep the areas ice free.  Clean holes will make playing and landing fish with a tip-up easier and more successful.

7.  Depth Charge.  When fishing for species that tend to roam the water column or at least parts of it – such as stocked trout, lake trout and pike – vary the depths at which your baits are set.  I found great success fishing for wintertime rainbows stocked in a lake near my home town by finding depths of 15-to-20-feet and setting a bunch of tip-up offerings from five feet below the ice to five feet above the bottom.  Check them with a sonar unit and mark the line at the surface with a rubber band when the presentation is where you want it.
6.  Sharpen Up.  Now, most of my tip-up fishing is for pike.  I like quick-strike rigs and just plain trebles, where legal.  The key for toothy critters is keeping these bigger hooks sharp.  Go through your collection of terminal tackle, whether fresh out of the package or not, and run a hook hone to make sure the point finds the mark when it’s time for the hook set.
5.  On Your Mark.  As stated above, a line marker will allow for a quick reset of a tip up after a fish has been landed.  I like to use a broken thin rubber band, but a piece of string or yarn will do the trick.  Once you have your presentation set where you want it to be, or where you find fish are striking, tie in your marker so you can get back to fishing sooner when you bring your hook to the surface.

4.  Traction Faction.  When there are a number of folks fishing tip-ups in a group, the more the merrier.  Be ready for fast-paced flag action on the ice, and be ready to sprint to the nearest tip-up when a pack of pike rolls through.  Especially at early ice, the spring from the shore or shack to the flag requires traction on the ice.  Have a set of cleats, such as Yaktrax, on your boots to help you stay standing (or sprinting) after those tip-ups that pop.
3.  Wrapped Up.  It is important to keep the line spooled neatly on tip-ups, and you should check for an evenly wrapped spool each time you bring the line up and put the line back down.  Bunched or tilted line freezes and tangles easier.  This can produce resistance when a fish swims off with your bait, causing unnatural pull which in turn may cause the fish to drop the offering.
2.  Neat Freak.  When a fish is on the other end, there’s a lot to think about – tension, playing out the line, how to land it and where the fish is located.  Keep your line out of the equation by setting each section as neatly as possible on the side of the hole each time you gain a little on your quarry.  This way, if the fish runs the line zips easily up through your hands and back down the hole.  Refer back to tip #8 to make sure the loose line plays back easily – with no ice or slush to snag on.

1.  Let It Spin.  When fishing for species you plan to keep, you can take things a little easier.  Especially when looking for pike, when a flag pops, hustle over to the tip-up and watch.  If the fish still has the bait and is swimming away, wait until the T mechanism stops twirling.  Pike instinctively strike a bait and then run with it a while before stopping, turning the bait and swallowing.  If you’re keeping fish, it’s best to set the hook after the tip up stops moving.

With these tips and some you’ll undoubtedly pick up on the ice with a little experience, you’ll find your ice fishing tip ups success will increase.  And it won’t be long until the repeated and resounding shouts of “FLAAAAAG!!!” will echo across the hardwater surface of your favorite lake…in our outdoors.

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The noise in the pines behind me grew until it sounded like a rushing spring waterfall on the North Shore.  I had been on the ice just long enough to set up my hub-style ice fishing shelter, drop my Vexilar transducer and land my first fish of the new year when the fabric around me began to shake violently.  Suddenly with a pop and a flash of white, I was rolling across my newly drilled holes as the heater, sonar and bucket chair toppled around me.  I looked up and watched the alternating red-and-black-and-red-and-black of my shack rumble across the frozen lake, propelled by a wind gust of at least forty miles an hour which had sprung up from the only moderate breezes I had experienced to that point.
Bewildered, I got to my feet and my legs began churning in a chase after my shelter, which had collapsed into a heap resembling a broken kite.  Despite being deflated, it still managed to hop up into the air two more times, extending my early-morning sprint across the snow-covered surface of the lake.  Finally, I set my boot down on the side of the shelter, caught my breath, and did what everyone else would do.  I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the embarrassing event (not likely, considering it was 8:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day) and was relieved to see most of the houses around the lake were still dark and no one else was ambitious – or foolhardy – enough to be out on the ice.
Growing up on the plains of North Dakota, and ice fishing the lakes and sloughs of that region taught me how to cope with gusty winds.  It’s a fact of life in the upper Midwest that winter brings not only cold and snowy conditions, but also with them some very powerful winds. One way for anglers to deal with it is with a large, comfortable permanent shack, but I’ve never been one to settle in one spot on the ice, and with my desire for mobility comes the sacrifice of stability.  But there are a good number of things a person can do to secure a portable shelter in the wind and enjoy a fixed position on the ice when active fish are located.

Once I had recovered my shelter and folded it back up, I went back to my original position, righted my equipment and cleared the snow away from my fishing area.  I then set about piling up the slush into one big mound at the side of my six-by-six-foot square and popped my shack back into shape.  This time, I angled the shelter so that the wall did not face into the wind, but instead led with one of the corners, thus reducing the drag the shelter’s shape caused with each gust.  Next, I took four ice anchors and their four-foot tethers and secured them firmly in the ice and tied them tightly to the house on the loops at each side to provide added security.  Finally, I transported the slush from my large pile and packed it down on the fabric flaps at the base of the shack to add weight and form a heavy base to keep the shack in place.  With my efforts to secure the house completed, I settled in and hoped for the best.

With the wind continuing to rise around my shelter and near whiteout conditions on the other side of the lake as a result, I was secure in my spot by taking these few extra steps to combat the changing conditions.  While I would have preferred my usual flip-over sled-style shack, which is easier to secure with the same methods and has the added advantage of my body weight working to keep it stable, I was still able to enjoy a couple of hours of fishing for bluegills, crappies and a rogue largemouth bass that came up under the cover of my pop-up shelter while the winds whipped around me.  By being prepared for whatever winter throws at us, we can still remain mobile, find fish and have a successful trip – with just a few extra steps – regardless of the gusts that challenge us…in our outdoors.

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When it comes to trying something new, I’ll admit I usually need a good reason to change or replace anything in my routine.

From breakfast to fishing, after nearly four decades on earth I still gravitate toward my preferred options – sausage and eggs for breakfast and worms and bluegills for fishing.

The last time you tried something new, did you have a hint of apprehension, or at least a little adrenaline rush triggered by anticipation? I’ll try a new sausage, but my eggs must be scrambled. I’m not that daring.

While ice fishing for northern pike darkhouse spearfishing in North Dakota has little to do with breakfast preferences, it’s one of those experiences that warranted some apprehension, and generated anticipation when the first season opened in 2001.

Anglers, fisheries managers, and even people who didn’t fish had many questions   when darkhouse spearfishing for northern pike began in December 2001. Though many open-water and ice anglers did not favor spearing at the time, the state legislature passed a bill requiring a spearing season, and since then the State Game and Fish Department has worked methodically to design a season that is practical, provides opportunities in most areas of the state, and still protects the resource.

Water clarity is a major consideration. Each water body is unique. Some lakes with seemingly acceptable water clarity may become cloudy at ice-up, making spearing difficult. As such, different lakes show up on the list of most popular spearing destinations from year to year, depending on water clarity.

Spearing is covered under the regular fishing license, but people who want to spear must register with Game and Fish. Registration is free and available at the Department’s website gf.nd.gov and allows the Department to monitor the number of registered spearers, and follow up with surveys

The 2011 spearfishing season opened on most state waters Dec. 1, with the exception of Spiritwood Lake which opens Jan. 1. The season runs through March 15. Legal fish are northern pike and nongame species.

Darkhouse spearing is allowed for all residents with a valid fishing license and for residents under the age of 16. Nonresidents may darkhouse spearfish in North Dakota if they are from states that offer the same privilege for North Dakota residents. Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana allow spearing by nonresidents, essentially allowing reciprocal opportunities.

In the inaugural 2001-02 season 1,255 individuals registered to spear. Seventy-four percent indicated that they actually ventured onto the ice and tried their luck.

The average weight of pike harvested was 6-7 pounds.

Since then, the number of registered spearers has varied from around 1,200 up to 1,700. Annual harvest varies widely as well, depending on lake accessibility and water clarity.

Even in years with the highest overall spearing efforts, Game and Fish surveys indicate spearing harvest is just a small percentage of the overall pike harvest by open water and ice anglers.

Like eggs Benedict, spearing certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve never tried it, don’t let another 10 years pass.

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While taking those first nervous steps onto the ice this weekend, I stared down into the weedy shallows with their vegetation frozen in place, the last respiration of openwater photosynthesis trapped in the tiny bubbles just inches from the surface of the frozen water. I traced my way along a small crack and as I approached the area where it intersected another fracture, both separations shuddered and the white lines darkened with a slight filling of water. Though nothing more beyond the pop and the slight flow occurred, it was an early-season reminder that no ice is safe ice and it made me remember some other ice fishing tips for another safe season of hardwater angling.
10. Carry basic survival tools with you. A knife, a lighter, a whistle and ice picks are the bare bones basics you’ll need in case of trouble. A small first aid kit, a GPS unit, duct tape and a Ziploc bag are great to have too. Much of what you need to survive can be packed in a tacklebox or in an Altoids tin. Use the Ziploc bag to keep it all waterproofed.
9. Be a “half-full” angler. Keep fuel levels on your truck, snowmobile and ATV at half or better when you’re headed to the lake. That way you’re guaranteed not to get stranded for lack of gasoline.
8. Keep it on the rocks, not on the ice. Save the celebration for after the outing. Alcohol impairs judgment, hinders mobility, results in faster body-heat loss and has been a contributing factor in many ice-related incidents in recent years.
7. Stay clear. A lesson passed on to me by a brother of mine, who will remain nameless, was learned the hard way. The drawstrings of his hooded sweatshirt became entangled in the gears of his power auger and the motor pulled his face flush with the housing. Thankfully he was able to hit the kill switch and cut himself free. Lesson learned – keep loose clothing and limbs away from motorized ice equipment – augers, ATVs, etc.
6. Layer up and pack an extra set of clothes. You can’t put on what you don’t bring with. Wear multiple layers of clothes and keep an extra set packed in your truck or sled, just in case a boot – or your whole body – breaks through.
5. Be thick-headed. Know what thicknesses of good, clear ice can support you. Three inches will hold a person. Seven inches will hold an ATV or snowmobile. 12 Inches will hold a small automobile and 16 inches of clear ice will generally hold a pickup. These are just guidelines, so adjust as needed based on ice conditions and formation in your area.
4. Watch the weather. Warming trends and liquid precipitation can have quick negative effects on ice quality. Monitor what’s coming and what has happened recently in the areas you plan to fish, as recent rains or prolonged temperatures above forty can weaken ice.
3. Know your water body. Have a good understanding – and a map – of areas on your fishing waters which are known to have questionable ice. Note areas of currents, springs, aerators, bridges, culverts or vegetation which make ice unstable and avoid traveling or fishing near them.
2. Let ‘em know before you go. Provide information to a non-angler back home as to what lake you’ll be on, what areas you’ll be fishing and when you’ll check in and return. Leave detailed directions on how to find you along with your contact information and that of the anglers you will be with.
1. No ice is safe ice. This is the number one for ice fishing tips. It’s not terra firma, there’s no safety net, and it just can’t be trusted. No matter what month of the hardwater season, no matter how cold it has been, no ice is 100 percent safe. Remember that with every step.
Follow these tips as you venture out this month on the first few inches of safe ice. Being cautious and prepared is the first step toward a successful outing, whether you pursue pike, perch or other pisces on the ice…in our outdoors.

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The education we get from ice fishing techniques such as underwater cameras is invaluable. Having the mental picture of how the presentation or lure looks in the water, how the fish approach the lure and what actions caused particular reactions from the fish sets some anglers apart. Anglers who have this education have a huge advantage. There are several ways to get this education. When I was a kid, I would lay on the ice with my jacket pulled over my head so I could look down the hole. I would lie on the ice mesmerized until I was so wet and cold that my body started to have a tingly burning sensation.

On some water, the visibility is such where anglers can look down the hole and watch fish, watch the presentation. Spear houses, dark houses and even portable Fish Traps with dark enough fabric to block out light enable anglers to peer into the under water world below. Many kids who grew up in northern Minnesota for example can recall staring in wonder down a spear hole as fish swam by. Spending this time staring underwater no doubt makes an angler more adept at how fish behave. Having the mental picture helps us put all of the pieces together regarding location, bottom compositions, weed varieties, fish movements and finally, how fish approach and react to a presentation.

There are many fisheries and parts of the Country where good visibility allows for anglers to “sight fish.” By using a dark house, anglers can look down the hole and watch fish. Fishing successfully in ultra clear water takes a few adjustments for example many anglers will wear dark clothing so that they blend in with the inside of their dark houses so they aren’t as likely to spook fish. Some anglers also leave some slush in the hole to mask movement. Some anglers like to drill larger holes specifically for sight fishing so that they can see to the sides much further. While anglers typically watch the fish, many anglers will still use a Vexilar as an early warning as fish will often show up on the Vexilar before you can see them below the hole. The real beauty of sight fishing however is the education regarding the nuts and bolts of your presentation.

Line twist, memory and the wrong jigging motion can keep finicky panfish from sucking in a jig. By being able to watch the motion or rocking on the jig that is necessary to eliminate lure spin and being able to watch how fish respond, positioning themselves inches from the hook and ultimately eating the jig, this education serves anglers very well. In fact, I dare say that this education has created some of the best panfish ice anglers I have ever met or fished with.

What an underwater camera does is allow you to buy this education. What you will learn about how fish eat and how fish move by using an underwater camera is invaluable. I believe this information can make you a better angler. There is a lot of bad information however about how to use underwater cameras effectively. There has also been a negative stereotype regarding the durability of underwater cameras. To be fair, many of the underwater cameras on the market have been low quality price point cameras. In a nutshell, the ice fishing industry took monitors and lenses from other industries and tried to package these components into a waterproof housing at the cheapest possible price point. The result was equipment that seldom lasted more than a year or two. The underwater cameras that are available today from Vexilar are a horse of a different color in that they are dependable and are of much higher quality for today’s demanding ice angler. In fact, the Vexilar Scout is the only camera specifically designed for underwater use where the focal point on the lens has been adjusted for the distortion of water, thus the picture quality is greatly enhanced.

There are however many myths about underwater cameras. For cameras to work, you still have to have good water visibility and a combination of good natural light. Most cameras have lights on the lens but for actual fishing applications, I see fewer fish (walleye, pike, perch, panfish) when the lights are on. Murky, turbid or stained water also makes underwater cameras ineffective. The most notable example of stained water not being conductive for underwater cameras is Lake of the Woods. Even shallow water that is turbid is not very good conditions for cameras. Now there are situations where you might be able to see a foot or two underwater but typically, you need better visibility preferably seven to twenty feet for cameras to shine. Why do you need such good visibility? Because the further away you can put your lens from your presentation, the more functional cameras become as an ice fishing technique that will land you fish.

For panfish, down viewing where the lens is pointed straight down and fished down the same hole in which you are fishing is a very effective and functional technique. This down viewing technique shines with panfish because panfish can be reeled right up the cord. With heavier fish, down viewing is not as effective because they tangle up the cord so if you are targeting walleyes or larger fish, you will have to drill a second hole and point the camera lens at your presentation.

The advantages of down viewing are efficiency. You can fish with one hole and you can almost immediately find your lure as you don’t have to twist or turn the camera lens. The higher you can hang the camera lens above the zone where you are fishing, the better as you can see a much wider or larger area below. Optimum height above your jigging area is five to seven feet. What I have found when I have to drop the lens closer to the bottom is that the area I am looking at shrinks but also as the lens gets closer to the bottom, many fish become hesitant to swim right below the lens. They will swim up and peck at it but it becomes difficult to get fish to swim right below. This phenomenon becomes really apparent as the sun gets low and visibility drops and the camera lens has to get inched closer to the bottom in order to see your jig as the water darkens.

With walleyes in particular, it is important to hang the lens far enough away where you don’t tangle with the cord. For horsing fish up or away from the cord, I like to use braided line like Northland’s Bionic Braid and we often use a fluorocarbon leader. This combination is tough and effective. For viewing, cameras often work best if they are used inside a shelter or at least shaded somehow from the sun. For fishing outside, what often works the best is to use the black and white mode and turning up the contrast.

One of the biggest lessons cameras will teach you is that fish often hit the wrong end of a jig or spoon and that you can actually turn the hook towards the fish as they approach. You can also swing at fish that suck in the jig but don’t move a spring bobber or signal any type of strike. On really tough bites, anglers using cameras can pick off fish when nobody else is catching. Cameras also enable you to sort through the size of fish where you can play keep away with smaller fish.

There is no doubt that there is a time and place for hunkering down over fish, rolling up your sleeves and using the detail a camera can show you to figure out difficult fish. Obviously, not every fishing situation is conductive for underwater cameras but I do believe that when you don’t or can’t use a camera, the lessons learned will continue to serve you well. Underwater cameras can really compliment modern sonar systems like the Vexilar flashers.

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We do much of our filming on late ice. We take a lot of our photos at late ice as well. The reason is simple, long relatively nice days on the ice where you can expect sweatshirt weather. When the sun begins to rot the ice, you can expect to get some work done if you are in the business filming television shows as you typically get good fishing and weather that doesn’t freeze fingertips and camera batteries. Like many of you however, I need to get on the ice long before late ice and in all reality, first ice is just as prime of an opportunity to catch fish but the conditions might not be so romantic.

The reality is that during that first ice period when we are walking on the first three inches of clear virgin ice making those very first footsteps, we are dealing also with some of the first real cold weather of the season. Balmy and sunshine doesn’t make ice. Chances are that we are fishing in bone chilling cold where the ice booms and moans through the night like a civil war battlefield. When I was younger, I was a pretty enthusiastic and ambitious angler who would typically find ice to fish and tolerated some fairly miserable conditions where I didn’t have the proper clothing and even chopped holes at times by pile driving holes with fence posts through a few inches of ice so there goes everything you ever heard about spooking fish at first ice. We fished in some miserable conditions and tolerated the uncomfortable of the situation because we wanted to fish so badly. I still have that passion but the gear has gotten so much better that I seldom experience any of that former misery anymore.

When I am walking out on early ice that is less than six inches, I often simply walk to close by locations where I caught fish in the fall. Regardless of what species I am after, most of the fishing is relatively shallow and often close or in proximity to the shoreline contour. Don’t out think the fish as most places won’t get busy until you get at least six inches of ice so pull fish off the obvious spots first. Weeds like coontail are typically still green so nice weed bed edges are obviously good for just about all fish but for walleyes and perch, gently sloping sand shelves or gravel shorelines that drop off into deeper water can be dynamite. If there is any weed growth like some patches of broken down cabbage, chara or carpet weed, the spot can be even better. Flooded timber can also be good. Often during the early ice period, we often find walleye and perch together or crappies and bluegills together. Some stretches of shoreline or some parts of the shoreline structure however, will just have more activity. If you start seeing activity on your Vexilar, even just bait fish or invertebrates rising through the water column when the sun sets, you are getting close to the zone. Finding the general areas and depths typically doesn’t take long. Just remember to look at the big picture so that you can slow down when fishing through some spots. If you are after walleyes and catching a few perch, slow down as the walleyes are around. If you are after crappie and find pods of bluegills, slow down as the crappies are typically nearby.

Early ice is typically a time of the year when a person can walk out and expect to catch some fish. This time frame is typically one of the best times of the entire season to ice fish. There are a few unique challenges however to catching or finding fish at early ice. Like mentioned earlier, conditions are often brutal. The right clothing makes all the difference in the world for enjoying your time outside. There are a lot of really good cold weather suits out there and to be honest, some are actually too warm if you are moving or doing any activity at all. My favorite cold weather suit is the Ice Armor Grey Suit. With this particular suit, I have fished outside in thirty below temperatures all day and was comfortable but just as importantly, the suit is still comfortable when the temperature is thirty above. If you plan on walking on ice, get some ice cleats, or if your soles on your boots are thick enough, even tack a few drywall screws into your soles so that you have some traction. A tow rope that hooks up to your shoulders makes towing a sled or Fish Trap much easier. Clam manufactures both the Fish Traps and the tow ropes for serious ice anglers. Keep gear to a minimum when on foot for obvious reasons. If you are planning on really exploring the lake, the Clam Scout or Pro one man shelters are perfect because they are simple enough to still tow easily. These light weight shelters offer heavy duty protection from the elements when needed and there is plenty of room to store your gear. A bucket, Mora hand auger, small tackle pouch, a few of our Jason Mitchell Elite Series Rods, rod case along with a GPS and Vexilar round out all of the gear in my Trap.

Unless I plan on doing a lot of sight fishing, I often like to fish outside and hole hop. I often just use the Fish Trap to haul my gear or I set up when I am tired and want a break or if I get on a really hot hole. With that being said, here are a few tips for fishing outside in cold temperatures. When the temperature is less than about ten degrees, I really like to fish with braided line when fishing outside. Many people make the mistake of thinking that braided line is no good when fishing outside in the cold because it typically absorbs water. Yes braid will ice up faster than mono but what I have found is that I can shred the ice off the line much easier by just running my mittens down the line and the line seems tougher in the cold. With mono, the ice just seems to slide down the line and you eventually have to put the line in your mouth to melt the ice off. Northland Tackle makes a Bionic Ice Braid that works extremely well. Ice on line however costs you fish because it is harder to distinguish bites especially when targeting panfish so be diligent about shredding the ice off the line. When it is so cold that I have to use choppers or gloves, our over sized spring bobbers that we designed for our twenty and twenty four inch Jason Mitchell Elite Series Spring Bobber rods save the day as this particular spring bobber rod gives you sensitivity in the cold and is fairly ice resistant.

Lastly, always keep safety in mind. Use a spud bar to check ice in front of you when walking on questionable ice. If water comes up the hole or the ice gets wet when you pound the spud bar down, back off the same route you came. Keep at least a couple of screwdrivers in your pockets to help pull you out if the worst happens. Put a cell phone in a waterproof bag and put that in your pocket. Wear an inflatable life jacket and avoid springs, muskrat huts, beaver lodges, feeder creeks and other moving water. If you do ever fall through, don’t panic and don’t worry about taking your boots or clothes off, you clothes will actually float for a while. Keep your head out of the water. I didn’t have screwdrivers or anything to grip the ice with one time when I fell in so I got out by laying on my back and kicking my feet until I got up on the ice far enough to roll over on my belly and crawled out. This sounds simple but getting out of the water is absolutely exhausting. Safety is nothing to compromise as falling through the ice is scary, dangerous and serious business. StrikeMaster actually makes a jacket that was designed for first ice safety with ice picks and cleats on the elbows. First ice is rewarding and productive but neither of that matters if you don’t use common sense and fish with safety in mind.

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There’s an old Irish proverb that wishes good luck to the traveler by stating “may the road rise to meet you.” For anglers, especially those on the ice, it should be more like “may the fish rise to meet you.”
Presentation is one of the key factors for consistently catching fish and the nature of angling through the ice doesn’t leave a whole lot of horizontal options. For that reason, knowing why fish take to a vertical presentation, how to draw them up to your lure and what to do to seal the deal when they do rise to meet your jig are vital for success.

Most active fish in the winter will rise up to take a lure that is worked in the water column above them, whether it’s just a few inches or up to several feet. Even neutral fish will come off the bottom or out of the depths to inspect a jig or a spoon worked up higher in the water column. The reason for this is simple armchair biology. The eyes of most fish species are mounted so as to provide an upward viewing angle. They see everything to each side, out in front of them some distance and up toward the surface of the water. Therefore they are more likely to see an item of prey that is above them than below them, where their viewing angle is limited.

When fish are marked on or come in close to the bottom, a presentation of 12 to 24 inches above them is ideal in gauging their aggressiveness or at least in determining their interest. If an aggressive fish doesn’t speed up to the bait, lower it slightly with a few jiggles and hops. Particularly with perch and bluegills, when watching a sonar screen, the highest-sitting fish in the column may not be the first fish to the bait. Oftentimes, a smaller specimen will race past that top fish to seize the opportunity. On a hot bite, that first fish might trigger a rush of strikes, drawing fish of all sizes (including the big one who didn’t seem all that interested) up to the bait, and the fishing is good in that spot for some time thereafter.

More often than not though, anglers are forced to finesse those fish into biting. For this situation, an elevated presentation also helps draw their attention. Then it’s up to the angler to convince them to bite. When fishing crappies and bluegills, a sensitive graphite rod with a spring bobber helps manage a finesse presentation and often only a slight jiggle and pause above the fish will start them moving in for a closer look.

Remember when fishing panfish, that they have relatively big eyes and small mouths and dine on the tiniest pieces of food – some almost too small to see with the naked eye like daphnia, a near-microscopic life form. As a result, these fish can see and reject imperfect presentations or baits that appear or act unnatural. For this reason, be subtle in your presentation when a slow-rising fish (neutral or just slightly active) moves in to inspect. The closer the crappie or bluegill gets, the more subtle your jiggles and hops and the longer your pauses should be. Sometimes, as a blip closes in on the Vexilar, all it takes is the tap of a finger against the rod handle, or just a slight squeeze on the grip to impart the necessary movement to trigger a bite. In these instances, watch the spring bobber and line carefully as the bite from a neutral fish will be very subtle, telegraphed as just the slightest twitch.

When fishing active predators, like walleye and pike, the opposite may very well be the case. The fish may approach cautiously, but be triggered into biting by a wild jigging motion which pulls the bait up and away from them, inducing a reaction strike. A buddy once reported on a fishing trip to Lake of the Woods that the only way to get the walleyes to bite was to draw them in with a larger Salmo Chubby Darter, jigged aggressively and then ripped away from the fish when they were directly under the hole. The walleyes would then smash the lure as it came tumbling back down.
There’s one common instance where a bait lower than the fish can trigger a bite. If you are over a school of fish that have cooled off and are not biting, and none will rise to meet your bait, try letting your jig freefall through the group and hit bottom before raising it above them again. This rapid elevation may trigger the curiosity of some of those fish from the bottom of the school to ascend and take your jig. The disturbance caused by the jig may also free debris from the bottom, attracting fish and restimulating a slow bite.

After a few outings, you’ll be able to better pattern the species you are after. You can determine based on how a few individual fish respond to your presentation whether you need to get lower or more subtle. On those fast-paced days over a good school of fish is when you learn the value of an elevated presentation. This season on the ice, start above your quarry, and then work your way down, or make them come to you with a series of jiggles, hops, taps and pauses. Adjusting your presentation based on how fish view their prey will help elevate your success this season…in our outdoors.

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When you look at some of the best ice anglers, there often is some strategy in how and where they drill holes.  Ice anglers might not be able to drift or troll but they can drill holes in a pattern and discipline themselves to fish the holes in a set time to cover water.  There is a method behind the madness and successful anglers often have a strategy behind the drilling.  Just drilling a bunch of holes for the sake of drilling holes can be counter productive if there is no purpose.

The reality is that some of the better days I have had on the ice were days where I didn’t have to move a lot and was able to catch a lot of fish out of a handful of holes.  For whatever the reason, there was enough fish underneath me and new fish moving in below me where I didn’t have to move.  There is also the play it safe scenario during tough conditions where patience and small moves on a spot that holds fish can be the best call.

I don’t like the idea of big moves where anglers drill lots of hole and attempt to cover a lot of water without a purpose.  Too much time is wasted.  Pick spots, pick structure and have a game plan where there should be fish.  If you fish a few spots through and don’t contact fish, the next step is gather more information so that you can make a more educated guess on where fish could be as finding fish is often the process of elimination.  Even on a small lake, you can’t look at the whole lake through an eight inch hole.  You have to be smart and pick your battles.  Once promising areas are found, let lake maps and GPS guide and suggest where and how to drill the holes.

There are several factors that often dictate how and why to drill and fish several holes.  One common scenario occurs when fish are not sorted by size, big fish mixed right in with small fish where the big fish are the minority.  Most of the time, the big fish will be the dominant fish and usually, the first fish out of a hole will be the largest.  As the big fish get plucked, the size drops off.  This is particularly true in thick stands of weeds, underwater cribs and planted structure where anglers are finding isolated pockets of fish.

Another factor that can demand drilling a lot of holes to catch fish are roaming fish that move across the basin of a lake.  These fish might suspend or school vertically versus spreading out across the lake bottom.  These fish are also generally moving, typically about the speed of a slow walk.  This type of situation generally takes some effort to find these fish and sooner or later, the school will drift off where you either have to drill more holes to stay on the school or find another school of fish.

Time of day is another element that can dictate the strategy as low light conditions often see the best fish movement for not just walleyes but even panfish.  When fish are moving and the movements are somewhat predictable, you can set up on good spots and drill less holes because the spots are recharging with new fish.  Often when the sun gets a little bit higher, this strong fish movement stops and you have to drill holes to hit fish.

In a perfect world, we would always be fishing familiar water where we know the details of the lake bottom like the back of our hand and also have a GPS with this information saved but the reality is that some really good water doesn’t have good GPS mapping available or the detail might be lacking.  New or unexplored water can only be dissected one way and that is by drilling a lot of holes.  Even on familiar water where there might be good mapping available, there are often little subtle sweet spots that will never show up on a map.  The only way to hit these gold mines is to drill holes and basically stumble on to them so maps and GPS are a reference but remember that some of the best spots don’t look that good on a map.

Applying good strategy to drilling holes separates the best ice anglers from the average. The first variable is how far apart to drill holes.  When exploring basin areas or expansive shorelines on big water, we often begin our search by stretching the holes far apart.  Much like open water fishing, we make big moves to find fish.  Once productive or potentially productive areas are found, we focus on specific areas and drill holes much closer together.  A good rule of thumb when searching through an area that you know holds fish is to consider water clarity.  Ten foot visibility means drill your holes ten feet apart.  I usually use the water visibility factor when I first move through an area but there are other factors that might cause me to slow down and drill holes even tighter.

We often drill holes much tighter if we are fishing in groups so that if somebody gets on a hot school of fish, there is another hole available.  Structure like weed growth, flooded timber or large rocks might also create windows of visibility where there is an obstruction to how far the fish can see you.  A massive rock pile for example might take several more holes to fish through because fish five feet away on the opposite side of a boulder for example can’t see you.  The other factor already touched on is the mood of the fish.  High sun, clear water, fronts or other factors that push those fish down where they won’t come underneath you means more holes.  Really touch fish require more holes because you have to drop right down in front of the fish, much like a bass angler trying to find the right angle.  When things get difficult, you can’t assume that the fish will swim over four feet or even turn around.

Above are several reasons why an ice angler should be willing to drill a lot of holes.  What really good anglers will do however is slow the day down by also spending enough time in an area so that the bite can develop.  Remember that big moves find fish but small calculated moves catch fish.  If you are in a good area that has slowed down and can’t sit still… make short, small moves where you can be in position to slide back to spots that produced fish earlier.  If you are over a basin or type of structure, good spots will recharge with each new school of fish that moves through.  Weeds can sometimes be different in that some pockets take longer to recharge because the fish might not get funneled into them the same way as fish relating to a point or depression for example.  Remember to slow the day down and adjust the presentation so that you can catch the fish below you.  There have also been occasions particularly with shallow walleyes where we found that we caught more fish by drilling just a few holes in the best spot on the spot and let the commotion settle down as a lot of activity shut the spot down.  Heavy snow also can create a lot of slush and water on the ice so again on a good spot, drill fewer holes so that you can fish the spot the next day without having to stand in a foot of water.

In order to fish aggressively on the ice, you need a few essentials for equipment.  To find fish and make the big moves, I am often fishing out of my pickup or off my snowmobile but to really scour an area for fish, nothing beats fishing out of a portable one man Fish Trap or fishing outside.  To fish outside in extreme conditions, you are going to need the proper clothing which I highly recommend the Ice Armor suits as they allow a lot of mobility, are dry and most of all warm.  When you are fishing outside or off a snowmobile and a twenty mile per hour wind is hitting your back, you need to have Ice Armor.  The other piece of equipment that makes this style of fishing much more productive and enjoyable is a fast, lightweight auger like the StrikeMaster Solo.  After you use a Solo, everything else feels too heavy and slow, kind of like picking up a much heavier shotgun.

Editors Note: The author, Jason Mitchell earned a legendary reputation as an ice fishing guide with Devils Lake’s Perch Patrol Guide Service and is credited with pioneering many of the advanced strategies and presentations that have revolutionized ice fishing over the past twenty years.

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