Five Top Hardwater Hacks, Off the Radar

By Ted Pilgrim

from The Fishing Wire

This isn’t one of those articles giving props to piles of mainstream, traditional ice fishing tackle. For that, you might simply step in to your local outdoor store and buy an ice auger, shelter or lure from any of the established brands. Or run a Google search on the aforementioned items; there’s no shortage of advice from which to form an opinion.Wearable ice accessories greatly increase mobility, comfort and fishing efficiency.

That said, try searching for alternative ice gear, or secret ice fishing tools or hardwater fishing hacks. Good luck.

Somewhat of a non-conformist himself, ice pro Brian “Bro” Brosdahl probably says it best: “Some of the most valuable ice gear I use every day sort of gets taken for granted,” asserts Bro, who routinely zigs when crowds zag.

“It’s like those key role players on a football team; the gear that really deserves credit for a great day on the ice mostly goes unacknowledged. Worse, some of these tools are totally ignored and unused by anglers. Truth is, there’s a whole bunch of pretty cool equipment you’ve probably never seen before that will absolutely enhance your time on hardwater. Some of it deserves the daily MVP award, though you might totally take it for granted.”

#1 – WEAR YOUR UNDERWATER GLASSES

Hidden among haystacks of traditional ice gear is an alternative trend toward wearable tackle and gear storage, as opposed to stuff you’re forced to drag around like a third wheel. “I wouldn’t call it a trend exactly,” Bro interjects. “I mean, it’s mostly the tournament anglers on national circuits like the NAIFC who are literally wearing their underwater cameras and their tackle around their torsos.”

Couple winter’s back, NAIFC National Champs and three-peat Team of the Year winners Brandon Newby and Ryan Wilson helped the underwater camera inventors at Aqua-Vu design a wearable case compatible with its Micro viewing systems. “The motivation for designing the Micro-Mobile Pro-Vu Case,” says Newby, “was one of necessity, and of our need to find untouched fish. For us, a portable Aqua-Vu Micro camera lies at the heart of finding fish and structure—whether we’re prefishing a tournament or hitting new water.”

Designed to fit any size angler, the Pro-Vu Case sports dual adjustable straps, positioning the camera screen across the angler’s upper torso. The softcase itself features a large zippered camera compartment with a built-in protective cover, plus extra storage for a cell phone, keys and small tackle necessities. “We can drill holes, jig or rig lines and always keep the camera at the ready. The hands-free design of the case even lets us fish and underwater view at the same time. For us, it’s an absolute must-have piece of equipment.”

#2 – ACCESSORIZE YOUR ICE SUIT

Continuing the wearable tackle trend, Frabill offers a similar apparel accessory. “Don’t know about you, but I like to fish in stealth mode,” notes Bro. “Carrying a small, all-star selection of jigs, plastics and other necessities in a single wearable case is a luxury. The fact I can use it as a hand warmer—priceless. Probably not one in ten anglers knows what I’m talking about,” he laughs.Frabill Tackle Pack/Hand Muff

Fitted to be worm around the waist, Frabill’s Tackle Pack / Hand Muff is the only wearable tackle bag doubling as an easy-access hand warmer. “Fact is, a lot of us fish without gloves—especially during a frenzied bite,” notes Bro. “The Tackle Pack fits right across my food shelf (Bro-speak for love handles). Not only can I quickly access a fresh jig or plastic tail without getting up and digging into a pile of gear, but I can also throw a couple hand warmers inside the insulated hand muff for an instant warm up. Eliminates downtime. Definitely puts a bunch more fish on the ice for me, every day.

“We’ve long said our ice suits serve as our wearable shelters. I just take it one step further.”

#3 – PERFORM PANFISH DENTISTRY

Technically, the next nouveau tool can also be worn, or just as easily tossed into one of the four-dozen pockets sewn into your ice suit. A Panfish Toothpick is pretty much what it sounds like: a slick little device that safely, easily extracts a fish’s last meal from betwixt its bony jaws. The Toothpick pops free even those troublesome hooks lodged way back in the larynx. The name of the game is preserving your expensive premium hooks, tungsten jigs and other valuable lures. Performing the procedure with minimal stress on fish is a beautiful benefit.

“Grabbing an impaled jig with a forceps or pliers scratches and flakes lure paint and can bend or break your fine wire FISKAS Wolfram Jigs,” notes Jamie Olson, ace angler and proprietor of Your Bobber’s Down, Inc., an online retailer of elite-grade fishing tackle and hard-to-find accessories.

Both the Panfish Toothpick and new larger, T2 Toothpick feature a specialized V-slot. Apply quick direct pressure on the hook bend, backing the barb out and cleanly removing the lure. A ton of top-level anglers now use the Toothpick, says Olson, many of them having now removed pliers and hemostats from their lanyards altogether.

#4 – THE LONG & SHORT OF IT

Despite the fact most ice fishers choose 25- to 30-inch ice sticks, huge advantages highlight both longer and much shorter rods. Case in point, St. Croix Rods’ 48-inch Legend Black ice rod, considered crazy tall for an ice wand. Among anglers who prefer to stand while fishing, to keep the rodtip close to the water surface for bite detection and to prevent line freeze, a longer rod can be an exceptionally valuable tool. Moreover, for flip-and-dip style shallow water fishing, an angler can simply keep a two- to four-foot length of line hanging from the rodtip, allowing for instant and rapid-fire fishing through multiple holes fast. Finally, a longer rod provides superior shock absorption, vital for battling large, fast-surging fish such as pike, lake trout and big walleyes.

At the other end of the spectrum are palm rods, curious 12- to 18-inch all-in-one rod/reel combos capable of fishing the tiniest lead or tungsten jigs with utmost finesse. Particularly for shallow water panfish, European-born palm rods serve as superior bite detectors, most of them, like the Jonttu Sport Special, armed with adjustable, super-responsive strike indicators. Top anglers consider a palm rod to be an extension of their fishing arm, spooled with wispy 1-, 2- and 3-pound test tied to jigs weighing under 1/64-ounce.

#5 – SNELL IT

Staying with the scaled-down panfish theme, one of the biggest off-the-radar movements waiting in the wings are so-called through-head tungsten jigs. Another Eastern European contrivance, many of these elite designs lack a true line tie. Instead, they feature a small hole bored through the metal itself. A specialized, though simple, knot known as a snell or Marka knot secures these amazing jigs to your line, maintaining a perpetual horizontal posture—no repositioning of the knot required. Note: You can also use this knot with standard line-tie jigs for the same horizontal benefits. Finally, because the knot itself is recessed onto the hook shank, retying isn’t required nearly so often—and the snelled line itself can be used to secure soft plastic baits in place.

Alternative ice angling is little more than rethinking convention, taking the next step beyond “normal.” Time to embrace new or off-the-radar tools and techniques . . . before they become yesterday’s news. 

Bass Under Ice
from The Fishing Wire

you can catch bass under ice

Crosslake, MN – A certain notion says bass don’t much care for the cold. That when winter arrives and seals lakes with ice, big green and brown bass skulk about, but certainly don’t care to bite.

Right?

Well, the actual truth is, a small group of exploratory anglers in Minnesota and Ontario have been quietly going about the business of bassin’ through augered holes in frozen lake surfaces. They’ve lipped plenty of largemouth and smallmouth bass. Big ones, too. But perhaps more importantly, the exploratory anglers have proved a few notions of their own, thanks largely to underwater optics documenting the antics of frigid water bass.

Mike Hehner, photographer and producer for Brainerd, Minnesota based Lindner Media Productions has been on the forefront of the hardwater bass movement. Hehner, as well as Ontario angler Aaron Wiebe, believe winter bass are worthy of more angling attention due to the species’ sporting qualities. But both anglers also beg for careful conservation, catch-and-release and selective harvest of small specimens only.

“Honestly, you can catch some of the biggest largemouths of the year right in the middle of winter,” says Hehner. “Winter bass can be pretty stacked up if you find them in the right places. They’ll feed relatively competitively, though they won’t strike as aggressively as they’ll hit say, a spinnerbait in summer.”

“Because winter bass like to hide and hunker down in cover just like they do in summer, I’ve always got my little handheld underwater camera—an Aqua-Vu micro Revolution—along for the ride. The camera shows fish in true-life color, while sonar can have a tough time picking up fish signals between aquatic plants.”

Debunking and perhaps confirming long-held conceptions in equal measure, Hehner reveals some of his more surprising underwater discoveries, and offers a few suggestions.

Winter bass usually feed best from midday until about an hour before sunset. “On camera, they’ll often sort of vanish from shallow vegetation areas as the sun begins to drop in the sky.”
Look for active largemouths around healthy pondweed, cabbage, elodea and mixtures of different plant varieties. “Bass often frequent these shallow zones to hunt small sunfish, so seeing sunnies or crappies on the camera screen can be a tip-off that bass are also present.”

Avoid water deeper than 20 feet. “Smallmouths, in particular, will especially seek out deeper winter locations, where they congregate and form massive schools. Pulling them out of deeper water causes barotrauma (rapid expansion of the swim bladder that creates hyper-buoyancy and an inability to remain submerged.)

Just as in summer, bass exhibit different moods on different days.

Use the temperature gauge on the Aqua-Vu to find the most active bass. “We look for warmer 39- to 41-degree water under the ice, which often holds the biters.”
Immediately release all bass in extra cold temperatures (below about 20oF.) In lakes with ample populations of small and medium size bass, consider harvesting some fish less than 15-inches, while recycling all larger bass.

Big bass willingly bite panfish-size plastics. One to 2.5-inch worm-like baits on small tungsten jigs work very well.

Best to find larger concentrations of shallow bass. “If I see just one or two bass in an area with the camera, I might not catch them. But if I find a concentration of five to ten fish, there’s a great chance bass will be competitive enough to bite.”

“One of the best baits is a live 3- to 5-inch shiner minnow tethered to a #1 wide gap hook. We’ve found it’s best to restrict the minnow’s movement by anchoring it slightly in place with split shot. If the minnow gets too wild, bass can lose interest and stop chasing.

Use the camera as a fish-attractor. “Lots of times we’ll see bass come right up to the camera. Occasionally, they’ll bite the camera head. If you don’t see bass around at first, leave the camera down there for a minute or so; any curious bass in the area will likely swim over to inspect it.”

Use the camera to sight fish. “This is what makes winter bass fishing so much fun. It’s incredible to watch bass chase, nip and bite your baits. Also, use it as a hookset gauge. If you’re using livebait, and the bass has the minnow in its mouth, set the hook immediately—don’t wait until the bait gets swallowed too deep.”

“It’s amazing that a fish with such a large mouth can pick tiny baits to pieces. We often see them nipping just the last ¼-inch of a minnow’s tail, or just barely mouth the head of a jig, without engulfing the hook. How do they do that?”

“Bass are a lot more active under the ice—all winter long—than most folks realize,” says Hehner. “Chasing them and getting them to bite is incredibly fun with an underwater camera. And you learn a ton. Winter days on most lakes—even with dozens of other anglers around— rarely is anyone else paying attention to what might be the best big fish game in town. Amazing.”

About Outdoors Insight, Inc.

Creator of Aqua-Vu, the original Underwater Viewing System, Outdoors Insight, Inc. has led the underwater camera category in design, innovation and quality since 1997. The Central Minnesota based company builds many popular outdoors products, such as the iBall Trailer Hitch Camera (iballhitchcam.com) and Odor Check Moisture and Odor Control System (odorcheck.com) featuring Scent-Lok Technology. For more information on Aqua-Vu, visit www.aquavu.com.

Measuring Angler Success on the Ice

Ice fishing success

Erica Sevigny has heard her share of fishing stories this winter.

As a winter creel clerk for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department on Lake Audubon, Sevigny knocks on ice house doors to ask ice anglers a few simple questions about their fishing trip.

“I haven’t run into anyone who wouldn’t answer my questions,” said Sevigny, a North Dakota State University graduate who has worked with the Department’s wildlife division in summers past. “Some of them, especially if they catch a fish when I’m there, don’t want me to leave because they think I’m good luck.”

As luck would have it, at least for those anglers who consider Sevigny a lucky charm, Game and Fish will continue its winter creel survey on the popular fishery in central North Dakota until the end of March, or whenever anglers can no longer venture onto the ice safely to fish.

The Game and Fish Department conducts a creel survey in summer and winter on Lake Audubon every three years. During the open water months, creel clerks interview anglers at the boat ramps as they are leaving after a day of fishing.

When the lake is iced-over, creel clerks take a different approach.

“In winter, the creel clerks travel out on the ice to talk to anglers because there are just so many places to fish on the lake, including Lake Audubon refuge, which is closed to open water fishing,” said Jason Lee, Department district fisheries supervisor in Riverdale. “They’ll work a certain area on a certain day, or a couple areas on a certain day. What they’re trying to get is complete trip information, rather than just interviewing someone who has been fishing for 15 minutes or a half-hour.”

Scott Gangl, Department fisheries management section leader, said there are three components – fish, habitat and anglers – to a North Dakota fishery, Lake Audubon included.

“As anglers are one of the main components of a fisheries management plan, we on occasion want to sample these people to gather information on fishing pressure, the number of fish caught, released and total harvest,” Gangl said. “Creel surveys are another monitoring tool that allows us to gather information that helps in the management of a fishery.”

The angler interviews are short, simple and to the point. Sevigny asks anglers what species they are primarily fishing for, how long they’ve been fishing, zip code and what they’ve caught.

“If those anglers interviewed have fish that they’ve caught, the creel clerks ask if they can measure them, which is information that we’ll compile at the end of the year,” Lee said. “This information tells us, for example, the biggest fish they catch and keep, or the smallest fish they catch and keep.

“During the open water creel survey on Audubon, for example, we learned that 88 percent of the northern pike and smallmouth bass caught were released,” Lee added. “And with walleye, 50 percent were released, I suspect because they were smaller fish they didn’t want to keep. This kind of information is interesting to fisheries biologists managing the fishery.”

With the promise of several more weeks of winter and little idea how things will unfold weatherwise, Lee said Mother Nature has so far made it easy for anglers and creel clerks to access Lake Audubon.

“The more interviews the creel clerks can conduct, the better our catch-rate information,” Lee said. “We try to randomize to some degree when we’re out checking on anglers to get a look at the entire fishing day, rather than just focusing on the sundown walleye bite.”

Anglers, no matter the time of day their ice fishing outing started, are also asked to rank the quality of their trip.

“This gives us an overall idea of how well they’re enjoying their fishing experience,” Lee said. “Without their help in the creel survey, we wouldn’t have any of this valuable information. In general, anglers have been great about taking a few minutes out of their trip, or at the end of their trip, to talk to creel clerks about what they caught, their experiences and if they harvested any fish.”

While North Dakota’s more popular waters, such as the Missouri River System, Lake Audubon and Devils Lake, are surveyed routinely, but not every year, Gangl said the Game and Fish Department will survey other smaller waters when questions need to be answered.

In 2015, for example, a winter creel survey was initiated in the south central part of the state to learn, among other things, who was fishing, where they were from, and what they were catching.

Instead of a lake specific survey, the survey was based in a region where biologists could travel from lake to lake, depending on where the hot bite was happening, to interview anglers.

At the time of the survey, Gangl said: “What we’re after is the size, catch rates, species and the quality of the fishing experience. Are anglers keeping medium-sized fish, small fish, only big fish, and what is their preference?”

No matter the location of the creel survey, or time of year, Gangl said the opportunity to simply talk with anglers, to put a face with the agency managing the fisheries, is important.

“A big benefit is that we, as an agency, get to interact with the angling population on things other than biology,” he said. “We learn how far anglers are traveling to fish certain waters and we get to gauge their satisfaction. We don’t have a lot of control over what makes people happy, but they are generally happy when they are catching fish.”

Four Tips for Mid-Season Ice Fishing Success
from The Fishing Wire

Changes in strategy can put more fish on the ice during the mid-winter blues.

MADISON, WI – After the rush to punch holes during first-ice, hot bites tend to cool off. Many ice anglers are left scratching their heads. Some call it the mid-season blues and leave it at that, but there are a number of tactics that can help adaptive anglers ice more fish, despite changes in fish behavior. All it usually requires is a change in approach.

Here are a number of tactics culled from anglers who spend countless hours on mid-season ice and consistently prove the period can be just as productive as first- or late-ice.

Big Walleye through the ice

WALLEYES & PERCH—UNCONNECTED, OFFSHORE STRUCTURE

For walleyes and perch, look for offshore, unconnected structure from the shoreline—humps, reefs, crowns, etc. Bigger, more dramatic structures are usually better because they exhibit more nuances and, therefore, tend to hold more fish. That said, smaller isolated structures—tiny humps or rock piles—will still often hold fish, just not as many, so don’t overlook them. Ideally, find larger, offshore structure that’s adjacent to a flat, not a super-hard no-man’s-land break. Such flats provide a cruising area for fish and a comfortable approach to the structure. Look for depths in the 30s or 40s that shift into the 20s at the structure, keeping in mind that the deeper the tops of the structure, the longer the bites will last. Also, you want a larger structure crown—ideally, a big, flat crown with some mixed habitat perhaps including rock on one side, a slow taper on one side, and another side with a hard break. This means you can maximize your time by investigating a lot of different situations on one piece of structure.

From a mapping perspective, a mobile app like Fishidy is indispensable, which features mapping layers, contour lines, structure/vegetation, and Fishing Hot Spots. This can help you eliminate 90% of unproductive water from the get-go, saving time and energy. Then, once structure is located with the app, run the perimeter of that structure with your ATV, snowmobile, or vehicle to get a better picture of that structure’s area and pre-drill all your holes before ever dropping a line. It could be six holes or it could be 30, but you want to make sure you hit the entire piece of structure. If there’s fresh snow, all you need to do is follow your tracks around the structure as you fish or use your Fishidy app. And remember to drill three holes in each location—one on top of the structure, one on the break, and one off the break in deeper water. If someone gets on a bite, be prepared to drill a second sequence of holes in that spot, so keep your auger close while fishing.

WALLEYES—FIND GREEN WEEDS

Walleyes aren’t always out roaming the flats and reefs chasing shiners; a lot of times they’re in the weed beds snatching up young of the year bluegills and crappies. Savvy anglers know that not all weed beds die off in the winter, particularly coontail and some cabbage. Finding green weeds can be more challenging during the mid-season, but can still be accomplished with the help of hi-tech mapping and sonar, a tool like the Fishidy app, or the use of an Aqua-Vu underwater camera.

Once green, standing weeds are located, catching walleyes typically becomes a matter of working the holes and corners of the bed.

This is where tip-ups come into play, because you might be really stretched out. You may find a hole in the weed bed that’s 300 feet away from where you’re jigging. That said, green weed beds can be a great place for family fishing. Use lots of tip-ups and jig sticks to cover the most area possible, and a family or group can enjoys some banner mid-season days on the ice!

In summary, the magnetism of weeds doesn’t change throughout the winter. If anything, the remaining green weeds become super congregating areas for fish during mid-season, holding more fish in less area.

MID-SEASON LARGEMOUTH BASS

Don’t overlook the fun that largemouth bass can present during mid-season. A good place to find them is on the giant, shallow-to-mid-depth flats in bays or the mouths of bays adjacent to spring spawning areas. Green weeds are not a prerequisite in these areas, but if you find them, it’s game on. Contrary to what many believe, bass feed continuously throughout the winter and are not turned off at all. In terms of presentation, it’s tough to beat live bait on tip-ups in this application, like a shiner or sucker. Also consider hobbling the bait by cutting a fin or gills so the bass don’t have to chase it. Bass will also readily hit jigging spoons and even small jigs tipped with waxies or spikes like those used to target blugills and crappies.

WALLEYES—RATTLE BAITS

Mid-season ice fishing success doesn’t have to involve live bait. In fact, some artificial presentations—in the right circumstances—can outperform live bait. Jigging minnows and lipless rattle baits can be formidable weapons, and the latter is a real superstar in just about any mid-season situation because it fishes myriad depths, from shallow to deep. Something like a LIVETARGET lipless rattlebait fished on Seaguar braid with a fluorocarbon leader produces an ideal combination of strength, sensitivity, natural falls, and easy hooksets.

Cadence is key. The free-fall is especially important with rattle baits; you’ve got to limp line the bait down so it does everything it’s supposed to do without forcing it to have an unnatural wobble on the descent. Because the body profile of rattle baits is so natural, a lot of times fish will hit them on a dead stop with no movement. You can literally have one sitting motionless for a minute or more and a walleye will come up and hit it. The silhouette—even at a standstill—resembles young-of-the-year fish that spend much of their time barely moving, almost in suspended animation.

If walleyes are approaching small bluegills or crappies at dusk in the weeds and the panfish are shut down and the walleyes are still active, they are used to motionless prey. So, your jigging cadence doesn’t always have to be wild or active. Experiment with slower movements and even dead-sticking.