Ice Fishing Tips & Tricks

Use Plastic

Experienced ice fishers, like Steve Ryan of the fishing website Lake Link, prefer plastic to live bait when ice fishing. Panfish in a frozen lake will generally respond well to plastic finesse lures. Using plastic also eliminates the need to cart live bait out onto the ice, lightening your load. Just be sure to bring along a wide range of plastic bait, as you'll likely want to change lures as the session progresses.

Add Variety

Ice fishing reduces your access to the water, and this may tempt you to stop adding variety to your technique. For example, it may seem adequate to use a single vertical jig and pull it up and down in the water at a given depth. If fish stop biting a vertical jig, insert a horizontal jig through the ice and try moving it in a spinning motion by twisting your line with your free hand. Change colors and jig styles to introduce even more variety until you find what works for the fish below you.

Observation

Ice fishing in a cold, clean lake should give you a good view into the water from the light that enters through your hole in the ice. Instead of sitting back from the hole, position yourself directly above it and look down into the water. You'll be able to see fish approaching your bait, giving you more time to prepare to make the catch. At the same time, you should be able to see how fish respond to different types of lures and different motion in your line.

Use Chum

Besides relying on your lures, add chum to the water, This may help attract fish to your general area, making them more likely to end up on your line. Take along a variety of materials for chum. Each ice fisher has her own preferred mixture. Ice fishing chum ingredients can include worms, dried oats, uncooked rice and minnows.

Find Remote Lakes

Ice fishing in the winter is directly related to how many fish were caught in the summer. Because the fish haven't yet had a chance to repopulate, you'll have better luck on a lake that wasn't extensively fished during the summer. This may mean finding a lake without a boat launch, because it would have been less accessible during the summer months. Remember that the best spots for spotting fish in the summer may actually be among the worst places for ice fishing.