Survival of the fittest applies whenever we throw a little chaos into a system. Drop a meteor on planet Earth and those big dinosaurs go extinct, but those crafty little mammals eventually rule the world. So it is with ice fishing 2008, a season that’s been dealt a hefty dose of chaos by Mother Nature. Yeah, the weather has challenged the traditional rules we’ve accepted the past few years, but by rising to the challenge, and surviving, I think we’ll all be better ice anglers by ice-out this spring.
As most ice anglers knows, we started with what appeared to be awesome ice-making – unseasonably cold temperatures in late November and the first few days of December. Lakes far north were setting up just perfect, and – had the snow held off for another week – we probably would have had an absolutely classic winter for hard water fishing.
Alas, that didn’t happen. Heavy snow hit in many sections of the country where the ice hadn’t formed yet or was not quite thick enough to support the weight of all that white stuff. When there’s no ice, snow hits open water – no problem. When there’s 8 to 10 inches of ice, there’s enough to support it. But in between – right where we were in a lot of places when that heavy snow hit – the weight of the fluffy stuff pushes down the ice, allowing water to flood it and creating the slushy conditions that defined the first six weeks of the season.
Now, those conditions didn’t stop me from enjoying early ice, and to be honest, most of the ice fishing faithful haven’t stayed away, either. As I craft these thoughts in mid-January, I’m enjoying a strong weekend bite on Pelican Lake in Minnesota, and I see many other anglers. The rather tame, relatively snowless winters we enjoyed (some might say endured) the past few years were the anomaly, I think. This year is the normal winter, and it’s taught me some new ice fishing rules and tricks.
For starters, I’m seeing fewer standing weeds this winter than I’ve come to expect for most of this decade. A couple factors caused this phenomenon. For starters, water levels were lower last fall, and the high winds of autumn created currents that helped knock these weeds down. In some places, where the tops froze into the ice, there are some standing weeds, but the heavy snow and slush cover atop the ice hasn’t helped vegetation either. More snow means less light penetration, and that means less photosynthesis keeping plants alive. Bottom line, the vegetation that exists is hugging the bottom foot of the water column, and that’s a phenomenon I rarely see this early in the season. They’re so thick that my flasher has a hard time differentiating between the thick weeds and the substrates just inches below.
Fish tactics-wise it means this hardcore panfisherman is working the bottom bigtime. Bluegills and sunnies trying to avoid predators are hiding out in this limited cover. I’m not a serious pike fisherman, but the tip-up users are chasing a lot of flags this year. I suspect the pike are foraging hot and heavy over these compacted weedbeds. It’s made for good fishing, though I worry that faster decomposition of these weeds could contribute to lower oxygen levels later this winter, and that could translate into greater winterkill.
Most years, I’m targeting panfish over weeds and inside turns of breaklines all winter. Another result of the marginal vegetation structure this year has been that I’ve found bluegills holding over rock piles in shallow water. Winter bull bluegills over rocks! These rock piles top out at around 6 feet, and prime times has been 3:30 to dark. I learn or see something new every year, and I’ve particularly enjoyed mixing up my tactics to target these rock-loving ‘gills.
Logically, the decreased light levels under the ice mean fish are operating in a darker environment, and that’s a formula for using glow jigs, a tool I’ve employed quite a bit this winter. On bright days, I’ll use simple sunlight to charge my lures. If it’s cloudy, I’ll charge them with a Tazer. One rule I’m following consistently that seems to be productive has been sticking with regular day-glow jigs in clear water. Orange, green and chartreuse are my top colors, though some have a glow feature, like an eye to add a little flash. In murky water, I employ the hardcore glow tackle. Red glow is my favorite, probably because it’s the brightest, then chartreuse, then blue, which in my experience holds its glow the longest.
Even with lots of snow on the ice, and the accompanying darker water, I haven’t seen fish vary their prime bite times. Exhibit A was the walleyes on Lake Mille Lacs during an excursion there early this month. We saw a consistent morning and evening bite while fishing the edges of a mudflat. As for tactics, I’d just point out that downsizing our bait was even more of a premium this year than in past years.
As for general tactics I’m employing more this winter, I’d say that plastics are really coming into their own for ice fishing. I’m in awe (by monitoring with my underwater camera) how we can change a fish from a sniffer into a biter by adding a piece of plastic. I’m seeing anglers all around me using this tackle more and more, so we’re all getting better at using and catching more fish with plastics.
On the live bait front, I really like the colored Eurolarvae. I can change the color of a setup without changing my hook simply by rebaiting with these. I can also go multicolor by throwing on two or three. What a slick, productive system.
Being a run-and-gun guy, it does my heart good to see people working their fishing networks, gathering information before they hit the ice, and being so mobile on ice. I can’t stress how much that has changed in just 10 years. One mistake I still see is people drilling a bunch of holes in a straight line. I believe in drilling many holes at once, then letting things settle down, but unless you’re right on the breakline, a row of holes probably doesn’t maximize our opportunities. I drill my group of holes in a zigzag pattern, because that’s how fish move. If you’re marking fish and they move out, the school didn’t just cruise across the lake. They’re probably under the opposite corner of that octagonal pattern of holes you drilled, so go work it!
I’d argue that the tougher travel conditions actually have improved fishing this year. The funny thing in Minnesota is that some of us don’t consider ice fishable until you can drive a car on it. Most readers know they can get just about anywhere ice fishing on an ATV or snowmobile. A lower volume of truck and auto traffic has helped distribute the ice fishing pressure a bit because people are getting off the plowed roads. The lower volume of big vehicles means fish are feeling less pressured, and have been more willing biters. By the time you read this, a predicted January deep-freeze probably has frozen all the slush solid, and we should have ice that’s easy to traverse. It all boils down to a late mid-season and late ice season 2008 that should be very productive. Get out there and enjoy it.By: Dave Genz
