Ice Fishing Lake Trout: First Drop

This is how all ice anglers would like to start their morning! Jay’s first drop of the jig produced this nice lake trout shortly after sunrise. If only all fishing days started like this!

Ice Fishing Lake Trout

This trout makes an epic run as Pat goes toe-to-toe with an over-size lake trout.

Ice Fishing Panfish: A Largemouth Bass!

Bass mix in with crappies and sunfish while ice fishing

I caught a largemouth bass while ice fishing for crappies on 4 consecutive drops.

Ice Fishing: back to back to back Bass

The is largemouth bass #2. The next drop wjile ice fishing for crappies.

Another largemouth bass.

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Ice Fishing Lake Trout: A Muskie!

Ice fishing for lake trout on occasion brings a muskie.

Lake trout and muskie inhabit many of the same areas in winter. It’s not common but from time to time a muskie eats a bait meant for lake trout. This is an epic battle, Pat vs Muskie!

Ice Fishing 45 Inch Muskie

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Ice Fishing Lake Trout

Eric caught this 30 inch class lake trout minutes after Pat released a 45 inch muskie.

Muskie and pike are known for long fights and they typically scatter other fish in the area. Fish are smart they know something is up when they see a large predator running around lake crazy fish. That’s what made this fish a bit different alnong with the other caught in the aftermath of the muskie. Must have been quite a bit of fodd down there for the hungry preadtors!

Ice Fishing 30 Inch Lake Trout Video

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2024/2025 Ice Fishing Season Preparation

Ice Fishing Preparation for the Upcoming Season

There are many types of ice anglers. Some are ice fishing warriors with all the latest and greatest gear while others get out on warm winter days to mainly get outside and try their luck. I am more of a warrior but not to extent that I own all the latest and greatest. Let’s say warrior 2.0. Personally I take a great deal of time preparing for each ice fishing season. Good preparation will make the ice fishing season more effective in terms of time, planning and fish catching. Below is the list and I take the list a few steps further so I am as ready as can be before I begin the ice fishing season.

1. Gather all the gear in a single space. For many of us it’s the garage.

2. Organize the gear. Rods, line, ice fishing lures and tackle together. Augers, ice scoops, heaters, fishfinders and shelters in a group. Gather all the clothing too. You don’t want to be searching for hats, gloves, base layers and the like.  Safety items, ice picks, ropes and spud bars. Ice anglers who test questionable ice conditions should have a life jacket or floating ice suit. Organizing this will give you a good idea of what items need to be replaced, maintained or purchased.

I have a list of priorities and it goes as follows.

1. Augers. Start the auger. If it’s electric make sure the battery is fully charged and operational. Gas augers need fresh high octane gas mixed correctly. If there’s an issue find out now. Also, do the blades need to be changed? Some blades are tough to find so checking this out early is a serious advantage. If you punched many holes thru the ice last winter your blades may be dull. You don’t want to find this out on the ice. I like to start the season with new blades.

2. Shelters and what’s in them. I’m speaking from the portable shelter ice angler point of view. Set up your shelter. Air it out on the lawn. Look for defects like holes, fix them if they exist. What about the cover? Do the lights work? Do you have runners? What condition are they in? Are the seats ok? Do you have a shovel in it? Are all the tent spikes handy? Some ice fisherman use floors. Are they in the house? Are you a 5 gallon bucket ice angler? Heaters, are they operational and do you have the needed fuel? Think of what you typically bring and stage it accordingly. When all is deemed right with shelter place the gear back in the shelter.

3. Rods and reels. Inspect your ice fishing rods and reels. Are the reels smooth? How is the drag? Change the line on all of your reels to match the intended use of the rod. For me this is a process that’s well worth it.

4. Rod and gear bags. Inspect your rod/gear bags. Do you have the right stuff for they way you fish?

5. Tip ups. Check them to make sure they operate as intended and change any mono or flouro leaders. Are the correct hooks on each tip up?

6. Lures, tackle, line, fishfinder, bait keeper. I like to organize lure/jigs by species. I carry a panfish box and walleye box. If I’m going to fish pike or lake trout I make a box for them as well. Some ice anglers use ice gear during open water season. Get it out of your boat and add it back to the ice fishing gear. Untangle any lures so you can get at them quickly when on the ice. Toss anything that’s rusted or replace those items. Make a list of what you need? Make sure to have the line you need. Try to envision the ice fishing trips you’ll be taking this winter and prepare accordingly. You’ll need tools to remove hooks. Forcepts and needle nose pliers. Jaw spreaders are always a good idea and so is a bolt cutter. Charge up your fishfinder batteries make sure they are in good condition. It’s my opinion these batteries only last 2-3 seasons. Don’t have your unit die on the ice. Fire up your fishfinder ensure it’s operating. Do you have a If you have any doubt to whether or not it will get you thru the season get it checked out now. Check the Engle bait box and make sure all is well.

7. Snowmobile/ATV. Start your vehicle and run it for a bit. Make sure you’re ready to get your vehicle on the ice. And double check the trailer.

I like to have my gear pretty much visible so I can grab what I need for a particular ice fishing trip with ease. I stage what I want the night before. If you have space have your gear at the ready. This way I’m fast out the door and I can ID anything I might need to purchase before the ice fishing commences.

I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff but I’m hoping to get you in an ice fishing frame of mind to get your brain focused on the coming ice fishing season well ahead of the ice. Feel free to add to the list in the comments.

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Understanding Fish Behavior

I had a made a deal to rig an underwater camera to the RCA input on my 8mm camcorder and I recorded this.

So you see fish on your flasher but they don’t seem interested? That was the truth on this day back in the early 2000’s. Fish were tough to come by and because I could see fish on the flasher I wasn’t giving up easily. So after trying the numerous lures, baits, altering presentation speeds, using low diameter line etc etc it was time to use my contraption to get the scoop. I lowered the camera and I found visual truth that these fish didn’t give one rats behind about eating with the exception of one bluegill who did give a minnow a slight kiss before wandering off. Even the pike didn’t want the  minnow! Sometimes the fishing doesn’t work out but an underwater camera can provide some action nonetheless.

The Reluctant Fish

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Vintage Ice Smallmouth

So I heard you can fish smallmouth thru the ice.

It started in 2003

Well the whole thing started with a colleague of mine saying he targeted smallies through the ice. I saw, I listened and I went smallie fishing thru the ice.

It really was so simple. We target smallies in good smallie lakes on the same structure we’d target them in mid-summer. And with some of the same lures. Not to say some live bait wasn’t used but I’ve caught more smallies thru the ice on an 1/8th ounce jig and a 3 inch Kalin’s Grub than all the other methods combined.

I’v e targeted smallmouth bass thru the ice in Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Now to be fair all of my ice fishing for smallies has happened in December. So maybe that gave me an advantage? You see I’ve often thought, as many anglers do, that smallies group up in deeper water in late fall so naturally they should still be there on first ice. And they are.

I’ll give a bit of detail. In a northern Minnesota lake near Orr we targeted smallies just off the edges of mid-lake humps. It took some work but we found and caught smallmouth in what I’d say is the basin area just off the humps in 20-25 feet. The areas that harbored smallmouth bass were soft bottom in 20-25 feet of water and the same was true in Wisconsin and South Dakota. Also true was when we found 1 smallie we we found many. Most spots produced multiple fish.

As is my normal procedure we drilled lots of holes and moved often. Find no fish in 10 minutes and drill or move. It’s easier to do in December typically. If you have a hankering to try your skill on smallies thru the ice give it a try. It’s a riot!

Vintage Footage Ice Fishing for Smallmouth Bass

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