Both bluegill and crappie often suspend or move out over deep water basins on many bodies of water each winter. Deep and basin are often relative descriptions to describe a large offshore bowl of deeper water but more specifically, look for the bowls or basins that bottom out between fifteen and forty-five feet of water. Most of these basins are typically soft bottom but points and other structure that protrudes into these basins are often a harder bottom structure. The rock that intersects or protruded into a basin is really an overlooked location for panfish but often, we often find fish drifting through this open water suspended off the bottom. Breaking down these basins for suspended fish can be intimidating but there are many adjustments you can make to become much more ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing No Weeds
There can be surprisingly solid ice fishing, where there are no weeds, for panfish on lakes and reservoirs that lack classic weed growth. From an ice fishing perspective, good weeds in the wintertime often correlates with good water visibility. Poor water visibility, turbidity or exposure to strong winds might create panfish water that might offer at least shallow weed beds during the summer but by winter, most of the weed bed is down. There are also some reservoirs particularly in the Great Plains States built to provide irrigation and the drawdown prohibits good weed growth from ever developing. Many anglers mistakenly believe that most great panfish water has good aquatic vegetation. That is not the case and lakes that are devoid of any aquatic vegetation often require completely ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing for Walleyes with Rattlebaits – Walleyes, Ice and the Rattlebait Revolution
Ice Fishing for Walleyes with Rattlebaits Get out ice fishing for walleyes with rattlebaits. Rattlebaits not only sink fast, they increase your coverage area exponentially by propelling waves of attraction hundreds of feet beyond the hole. by Nathan Shore They are children of the run-and-gun, born with the advent of trolling motors. They sink fast, require fast retrieves and vibrate with a tight, fast wiggle. Rattlebaits hum, rattle and roll to quickly cover water and call fish in with sound and vibration. When ice fishing for walleyes with rattlebaitst this quick sink-rate adds another productive use, as well. A few years back, walleye anglers rediscovered the effectiveness of lipless rattlebaits under the ice. Locked into one location over one hole at a time, the ability to cover ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing Perch – Jumbo Perch Talk
When you go out ice fishing perch there are tactics that can keep fish in an area longer. Especially those Jumbo Perch. Jason Mitchell shows you how it's done in his own backyard of Devils Lake ND. by Jason Mitchell When we look at catching jumbo perch through the ice, I dare say that we typically catch ninety percent of the fish in a ten percent window. Ice fishing perch on most bodies of water consists of drilling holes to get on fish and getting that one or two flurries that fills the pail. You can go from zero to hero in about twenty minutes when you finally strike pay dirt. The key to putting the smack down on fish is maximizing the opportunities. Being efficient, getting fish up the hole, getting the fish unhooked and getting that lure back down to the fish is paramount. What ... [ Pound this link... ]
Weed Rattle Bait Walleyes – Ice Fishing Devils Lake
An intense reaction bite for walleyes in shallow water on North Dakota's Devils Lake. The anglers aggressively work rattelbaits and share some techniques on how to score walleyes with Clam Rattle Spoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf_vSI-UR9c This episode was filmed last April. Last year was an extreme year for ice fishing with a lot of ice so most years, these patterns would be occurring in March on Devils Lake. ... [ Pound this link... ]
Learn to Lace Up the Right Lure at the Right Time – Ice Fishing Lures
Lace up the right ice fishing lures at the right time and you’ll put more fish on the ice. To help you do so, ICE FORCE enlisted four top pros to share tips for using the top-four ice fishing lures styles – spoons, jig-and-plastic combos, rattlebaits and minnow-imitators. Spoons As popular as spoons are, many anglers still struggle with when and how to use them, and which type to use where. “Too many people simply use spoons as a bait-delivery-method, but there’s a ton of nuance and action to each spoon type,” says ICE FORCE pro Nelson. Many anglers fish spoons too erratically, moving them too much and too far. “They never quit moving them,” says ICE FORCE pro and Freshwater Fishing Hall of Famer Tom Neustrom. “The bite will happen and they don’t even know they had a bite.” Nelson and ... [ Pound this link... ]
Ice Fishing Walleyes – Explosive Patterns for January Walleyes
If you plan to be ice fishing walleyes this January this is a must read. January in Minnesota means plenty of ice fishing walleyes and there are many great opportunities available for doing some serious pole bending. Walleye anglers have more options now than at any other time during the hard water season and can be a real mixed bag from the first of the month to the end. Basically; active fish can be found from shallow to deep and are ready and willing to co-operate if you know the where and the when. Humminbird pros Mark Courts of Harris, MN and Kevin McQuoid of Isle, MN uncovered an explosive shallow water pattern dor ice fishing walleye on huge Mille Lacs Lake that most anglers have never heard of. Mark on the big bang: “We found a shallow bite in five feet of water that was simply ... [ Pound this link... ]
Go long for Early Ice Fishing Walleye – By Jason Mitchell
Maybe it’s because I’m getting older or maybe it’s because I can cover more ice, but I really enjoy ice fishing on the bare ice—usually sitting over a hole on the back of my snowmobile. Don’t get me wrong. I still love ice fishing in a shelter and I always have my clients fish from a shelter. It’s just that when I’m actively searching for fish and trying to stay ahead of the bite, I find myself on my sled. I’ll pop a series of holes around an area that looks good and then hole jump on my sled actively searching for fish. It sounds easy but it’s a lot of work and a lot of stress on the back. I used to prefer shorter ice fishing rods but I started using longer ones fishing from my sled because my back would get sore leaning over all day long. I switched to longer and longer rods until I ... [ Pound this link... ]
Walleyes on the Rim – Early Season Walleye Ice Fishing
What surprises astute walleye ice fishing anglers on most fisheries is that there are a percentage of fish that remain close to shore at first ice. Why? Walleyes on the Rim By Jason Mitchell Each early ice season is almost a space race in regard to reaching spots further out on fishable ice while still being safe. Simply put, there are just spots that we know will be good and usually, the first people on those spots are going to catch some really nice fish. This phenomena happens on Lake of the Woods, Mille Lacs, Devils Lake and several other major walleye fisheries. The spot we can hardly get to always seems to pull at anglers’ curiosity the hardest. What surprises many anglers however is on just about every fishery, there is a percentage of fish that remain fairly close to shore and ... [ Pound this link... ]
Techno Tip-Ups
In recent years I have found myself going away from my tip-ups and more. It isn’t that they aren’t enjoyable, most of my favorite days on the ice have been spent running back and forth between the flags; it is simply that I find myself on the move frequently and when I am not drilling a ton of holes it usually because it is really cold and I am camped out in my fish house. However, with a little work combined with some new technology, tip-up fishing is no longer a sit and wait technique. Tip ups Tip-ups can be very effective in a run and gun setup, especially when the fish are on the move over shallow flats with little structure to hold them in one place. With this kind of setup, it is no longer a waiting game with your tip-ups, but you need to be ready to constantly move them to ... [ Pound this link... ]