Early ice tactics

[united jigsticker]

What's everyones favorite early ice approach?

I like a good daytime bite, so I look for lakes with tinted water, and fish suspended schools in the basin areas in the mid mornings and early afternoons.

Evenings and nights I like to hit the clearer lakes on the outside weededges and points to try and ice a few slabs. This typically holds a good chance to nab a few Walleyes too in the process.

What are some of your favorite trends for early on in the season? Any good Gill patterns we could touch on?

Also, I hear the some of the river areas and even a few backwaters can produce some good action, although a little more care in consideration of ice conditions must be taken. Anyone care to touch on this subject as well?

thanks

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[This message has been edited by united jigsticker (edited 11-30-2003).]

[Guest]

I hit the deep holes for crappies and the weeds for gills in the lakes I fish. Pretty simple at first ice.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
651-271-5459
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Guest]

I also like stained waters for early ice during the day. Since ice is thin and snow cover is limited, stained water during early ice is key for during light hours. You can fish more effectively because fish have a harder time seeing you and your shadow, etc. Not to mention a lot of these stained waters are smaller lakes and ice up first and can be fished rather easily and patterns are easy to figure out.

And like UJ said, clear lakes are great for low-light and dark periods during early ice. Crappies will come out to feed more aggressively during these periods because predators like pike are more active during the day and crappies have sort-of a free range on prey and can suspend all over the what column raking in plankton instead of just staying tight to the weeds/structure, etc during the day. Clear lakes can have fast action at night during early ice for crappies. But don't be surprised if you tag a few slabs in a nearby stained lake at night either, it happens all the time.

During early ice I like to start with small lakes that freeze up first. Stained lakes with still standing weeds are awesome for early ice crappies and gills during the day. You can find fish suspended in a lot of these lakes rotating around some of the shallow breaks and bays, and also over deeper edges, if water isn't too deep. I like to start shallow and work the weedline and then slide off the break into deeper water and search the basin line for low standing weeds or transition areas. By transition areas I mean areas where sand meets weeds, mud meets weeds, different types of weeds meet, etc. Pockets in weeds can be dynamite as well. Transition areas in other lakes can have sand meets rocks, rocks meet pebbles, clay meets mud, etc. Basically where one bottom type/structure meets, or transitions, to another. These areas are key throughout the year, whether it be open water or hard water. A lot of other structure can come into play as well. During early ice I don't focus too extensively on mainlake structure or very large prominent pieces of structure when targeting crappies and gills. Most shallow areas will hold fish in stained lakes and the mid-depths are about as far as you need to go in most cases. But shallow lakes that stay shallow throughout the lake and have deeper holes, the fish will locate in and suspended over the deep holes, another option to consider. Early ice usually lasts a few weeks and then patterns and locations will change.

Clear lakes are good at early ice too, but I like to hit these lakes after the day bite on a stained lake. Location on clear lakes can be simple at early ice and once you set up, often times you can stay put or move slighly to stay on fish once you locate the right spot. At night crappies will rise up to feed on plankton drifting throughout the water column. Not uncommon to see crappies suspended 10-15 feet off bottom in 20 feet of water during early ice. Larger portions of lakes where average depth is 5-10 feet that are accompanied by 15-20 foot depressions/large holes are excellent at early ice. So many times in the past have I escaped the crowd and found these large pockets in 16 or 18 feet of water surrounded by 6-10 feet of water. These areas will have about a foot of weeds on the bottom and can produce for several weeks until ice thickens are snow cover accumulates which causes a loss in light penetration, oxygen, and the weeds die off, then fish will relate to deeper structure and holes. Even after the midwinter grips us, you can still find crappies and gills relating to these areas. Humps and bars are other areas worth a look during early ice. These humps and bars should be adjacent to shallow water and not out in the depths of sea. Deeper holes will hold fish as well, mainly suspended crappie. Crappies will rise to the level of the adjacent shallows right over the hump or bar and pick up baitfish and plankton as night approaches and during the hour or so after dark.

So my plan of attack during early ice is find a small stained lake with prominent weedlines and breaks leading into semi-deep water. Most of the time max depths in these lakes are only 25-30 feet and 20 feet is all the deeper you need to go for several weeks at early ice. After the day bite I'll relocate to another nearby lake and hit the evening bite over mid-depth pockets or humps adjacent to weedlines or shallow water. Deeper holes might be explored as well. Transition areas can be used both day and night and if found use them. Punching 50 or so holes isn't uncommon and sometimes I'll fish clear lakes during the day to locate prime spots for an evening bite. Locate where the fish will be and then be ready for some fun action once the afternoon approaches.

As far as bluegills are concerned, I often times find them with the crappies amongst the weeds. But when locating over pockets and depressions off the crowd I find them tighter to the bottom and over mid-depths bars, humps, and saddles. Bluegills can also be found roaming mud flats picking stuff off the bottom. I can find larger gills roaming the flats of stained lakes. Some of these flats will have sparse weeds and clay or maral.

I like to use maggots when targeting daytime panfish. I'll sometimes deadstick a minnow but most of the time I'm moving around a lot during the day and I only like the one jigging rod when I hop from hole to hole. During the night bite I'll deadstick a minnow for crappies. Minnows really excite the crappies lateral line and acts as an easy meal for a hungry crappie. I always couple the deadstick with a glow jig tipped with maggots at night. Euro Larvae are my top choice for maggots. Waxies have their place too. Small crappie minnows work great for minnows.

As far as jigs go, I like a horizontal jig when running and gunning as well as during most other cases. I like the kicking motion a horizontal jig can give off and it can be fished with numerous different techniques. Glow red is a hot color for stained lakes, as is silver and gold. Jigs with little blades on them work great for stained lakes too. In clear lakes I like to stick with non-glow jigs during the day and I'll switch to a glow jig at night. Vertical jigs are great for minnows and a lot of other situations. I always rig up some rods with both horizontal and vertical jigs. Everyday can call for a change in presentation. Vertical jigs imitate different things then horizontal jigs.

Custom Jigs n Spins, Tackle City, Systems Tackle, Northland as well as many more make jigs for both styles. I like ratso's and shrimpo's. Demons, two-spots. Fatboys. Marmooskas...

Another new innovation that will turn some heads, both fisherman and fish, is Bio Bait. Bio Bait has Ice Bits which are made of real larvae/maggots and smells like the real thing, looks like the real thing, tastes like the real thing, and basically is the real thing. Can be fished the same as any maggot and can be tipped on anything. Easy to use and an easy way to catch fish. Bio Bait can be seen on the Catch-N Tackle HSOforum and is going to be part of my arsenal this winter!

Good Fishin,
Matt

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Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum

[This message has been edited by MJ5 (edited 11-30-2003).]

[Lunker]

I also find that the holes produce well. But I find that often other fisherman have the same idea, and I can be more productive on the dropoffs to the shore side of the hole.

[This message has been edited by Lunker (edited 11-30-2003).]

[CrappieJohn]

River systems can be tricky at this time of year and any ice fishing should be approached very cautiously until we have at least 5 inches in areas with any sort of current and perhaps a solid three inches in the backwater areas without current. The best areas to check first are where you last caught fish in open water..ie. around docks in marinas or harbors, brush in shallow backwaters, etc. Baits for the sunfish almost always do better with a waxie attached and crappies tend to enjoy a bit more meat so minnows are in vogue there. Both fish can fall to and are taken by ultra small plastics, especially those with thin tails that go into action by a breath. Not unlike thier lake cousins, sunfish tend to spend most of the time in the deepest water available within an area and are perhaps more predictable than the crappies. Craps are good at being any where in the water column and at any time when found in a river system. In large part, this is due to the influence that current has on the fish and the fact that they are used to it. Something many people do not take into account when fishing a river system is the wind on open water. If a strong wind is blowing downstream on open water it can literally cause the water level under the ice to "raise". This increase in water depth isn't even apparent to the angler , but the additional water pressure on the fish can throw things way out of wack from the day before. This too can create"phantom"urrents that did not seem to be there the day before. I have always maintained that the only thing that can mess up a day of fishing on a river worse than wind is thunder. And we will not see much of that activity now. River pannie fishing throws a whole pile of variables into the catching arena. Yet some of the most satisfying fishing can be had within such a system and it is my heartiest of recommendations that if you enjoy the ice...try a river or backwater. The tricks you learn there will make you even better at fishing in a quite body of water.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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