You might expect that long, warm autumns would make me tense. The past decade, ice has taken its sweet time developing; therefore, Ice Team members like me must be pacing the shorelines, repeatedly gassing up the augers, and monitoring our weather-band radios for any hint of a cold snap, right?
Think again.
Sure, guys like me and Dave Genz consider it pretty special when a long, early cold snap hits – giving us some bonus early ice fishing time. But we learned years ago to embrace open water in late November (and even early December) by recognizing its potential for scouting early season ice fishing locations.
By late November, if the nearest fishable hard water remains in Canada, I start hearing from crabby ice-o-philes. I’ll share with them what I’ll share with you now: Take the boat and get efficient by scouting for healthy weeds and marking fish. By late October, panfish and walleyes alike have begun setting up in places where they’ll spend most of the winter.
As much as I love my auger, drilling holes to mark locations will never be as fast as drifting over areas and marking waypoints with a boat.
You might be amazed at how many healthy green weeds you’ll still find post-turnover. In 2007, I’m seeing even more in many Minnesota lakes, thanks to the low water, which – because of low run-off – kept lakes relatively clear this year. Clearer water means healthier weeds.
You’re always going to find some dead weeds, but this year especially, I’m seeing areas in early October that look as green as the middle of summer.
Let’s get specific, starting with crappies. Post-turnover crappies tend to flush down into deeper water in the central lakes country of states like Minnesota and Wisconsin where much of my fishing occurs.
Turnover usually occurs late September or early October, depending on the amount of wind, which can accelerate the process and dissolve a thermocline pretty fast. For post-turnover crappies, we’re talking mid-range depths here of 20- to 40-feet deep. And remember, “deep” is a relative term depending on the lake. In some shallower bodies of water, 11 feet might qualify as the deep water.
Where you find these crappies, you’ll often find big bluegills, too. Some years they’ll drop into these big holes, and other years, if there’s enough green weeds, they’ll stay in the vegetation. As I said earlier, I’m seeing more good green weeds this year, so that’s probably where I’ll begin my search in 2007.
Obvious starting points are weedlines adjacent to deeper basins. When slowly searching the weedbeds with your sonar, look for the slightest depressions – even 6- to 12-inch dips. These provide hiding spots for panfish and crappies from pike and other predators. When I see these on my sonar in summer or fall, I mark these locations on my GPS for first ice!
Often when fishing these spots, you’ll catch your share of predator fish, too. They’re working the weedbeds for forage, but big panfish will tuck into those depressions to let the predators pass overhead.
Remember, panfish need two things: food and cover, and this scenario, though not foolproof, provides both.
Forest Lake in east-central Minnesota is Exhibit A. Something about how this lake sets up, but it rarely gets early ice. If I can find time in late fall, I’ll go search that lake (and others like it) for healthy weeds with my underwater camera, or sometimes I can tell simply by looking over the edge of the boat. The new color underwater cameras, however, give you better insight into the health of the vegetation. There’s another tip hidden here: Bring a buddy for camera detail!
No green weeds? Where you can find deep water scenarios, especially in Minnesota, lots of fish drop deep. This can help cut the search time, especially on larger lakes or reservoirs. This helps eliminate a lot of real estate, such as those sterile, hard-bottom areas.
I find that on classic big water, prior to turnover, panfish and perch will be on the rocks. If you can find these areas before the water mixes, any adjacent deep water likely will hold those same jumbos into late fall and winter.
For ice walleye scouting, I have my spots on lakes like Winnie that I’ll follow, say down Center Bar, which is a really big piece of real estate. Here’s my gameplan for scouting walleyes from a boat in such locations or new water.
Start by finding healthy weed beds, just as we discussed for panfish. Then, I locate shoreline-connected points or humps near shore. As winter progresses, I’ll go farther out off those points and humps. By late winter, I’ll start working my way back in.
Here’s the rule of thumb: When boat-searching for early ice perch or walleyes, start with healthy weed beds, and scout along shoreline-connected points or near-shore humps.
In fall, a lot of shiners and other forage sources are leaving the big basins and and using the weeds for cover. Shiners like 55-degree water, which is why they run so deep in summer. But when they come back in fall, walleyes (and perch) show up like a storm on our big lakes.
And everybody is duck hunting!
My point here is that you can enjoy some excellent open water fishing success while you’re conducting your “ice-scouting.” If you see “raindrops” on your sonar, you’re probably seeing perch surrounding themselves with all that food. Walleyes will do the same.
Depending on water clarity, you’ll know whether it’s a day or evening bite. Some lakes are clearer than normal, so plan on a darker or more overcast season, even after the surface freezes.
I can’t stress enough the need to monitor water clarity this year. A lot of lakes, even stained lakes, have cleared up because of lack of runoff. My guess is that this will mean a later bite for most winter anglers.
And what if you can only fish during the day? Well, then plan on working the weeds. And there’s no better time to scout their presence than right now!
Brian Brosdahl is a Power Stick for Ice Team.By: Brian Brosdahl
