Scout for Ice Fishing NOW!!!

[Hotspotter]

I'm just as guilty as the next guy, trying to get a jump on the next season before it's even come along. I've been deer hunting for more than a month now, but before you put the boat away, you owe it to yourself to do some pre-season scouting for your ice fishing spots!

It's the perfect excuse to use your underwater camera. The algal blooms have died back, and most lakes have turned over some time ago, so clarity should be less of an issue for you than it has been during the summer months. Also, many fish are moving or have moved to their early ice locations.

A week or two ago, we found some crappies already stacked in a back bay of a larger lake, susupended off the bottom in the deepest part of the basin. I was using my flasher to vertically jig them up, and dropped the Marcum camera down initially for confirmation of what species they were. This is a traditional early winter spot for me, and I was glad I took the time to give them a look.

Take one last boat ride before you winterize if you haven't already!

Joel

[jigginjim]

I have been doing this for the past couple years.

[zamboni]

I don't have a boat

[Northlander]

My GPS is full of potential ice spots from theis fall.

[skee0025]

I've been having some issues walking on water lately..

[Full Choke24]

I have a few spots in mind. i cant wait to go out on French and jump on the crappies, last year we hammered them early in the year. There weren't too many big ones but we got quite a few smaller like eight to twelves.