Ice Fishing Tips from Bro

When fishing new lakes or lakes without accurate lakemaps, anglers can drill holes in a zig-zag pattern to try and find structure. The holes can be checked quickly with sonar to check the depth, bottom hardness and for the presence of fish. A good light weight ice auger like StrikeMaster’s Strike Lite makes it easier to keep drilling holes until you find the fish.

Anglers fishing on early ice in lakes without lakemaps can often use the physical features of the land around the lake to help them find fish. Points can usually be seen along the shoreline. Reeds are often still visible frozen into the ice, which will usually follow the contour of the shoreline. Deeper areas of the lake are often adjacent to bluffs or hills along the shoreline, while shallow weedy areas are often adjacent to low or swampy areas along the shore.

StrikeMaster makes a 6 inch auger bit that fits most of their ice augers, which is my personal favorite tool when searching for fish on my guide trips. Smaller holes drill much faster through the ice, leave less sign for other anglers to follow and are a fast and stealthy way to search for fish. The bits on the augers can be changed in minutes to a more “fishing friendly” 8 inch auger once the fish are located. Anglers can also use two ice augers like I do, one for searching and one for fishing.

Ice fishing rods have gone high tech and are available like tools, in many different sizes and weights. The new rods are “species specific” and “presentation specific” for most fishing situations anglers will need on the ice. Matching the rod to the presentation will help you catch more fish and have more fun while you are doing it.

Dead-Sticking is one of my favorite techniques for catching fish on an extra line. It takes a rod with an extremely light tip, but a heavier butt-section, so you can see the bites and then bear down and set the hook when a fish hits the bait. I like to prop-up my dead-stick on the ice close to me, so it is easy to watch and grab when it gets a bite. The soft Quick-tip allows me to see the bites before the fish feels the rod.

Anglers have nearly unlimited options when working an ice fishing rod down a hole with sonar, so they can watch their bait and see any fish coming through under the ice. On a dead-stick, a tip-up or a bobber rig, the minnow has to do all of the work. Anglers need to keep their minnows lively, by hooking them in a way that does not injure the minnow. Anglers can also experiment with fin and tail clipping larger minnows, to give the “wounded-minnow” look that drives predator fish crazy.

Anglers should match the weight of their line to the weight of their lures and the action of their rods. Lures won’t work properly with too heavy line, because it inhibits the lure action. I like to use super braids with tiny diameters with a fluorocarbon tip-it on the end of the line. The super braid gives me sensitivity and strength, while the fluorocarbon gives me low visibility. I tie a “reverse clinch knot” to secure the two lines or anglers can use a short leader with a small swivel, if they can remember not to reel it through their rod guides.