The Allure of Early Ice

Each year, as the open-water fishing season winds down, ice-fishing fanatics eagerly await the lakes to freeze. No matter what date it's finally safe to go, Wisconsin guides Jesse Quale of Green Water Walleyes Guide Service and Captain Troy Peterson of Mr. Bluegill Guide Service will be there immediately, as they both agree that early-season ice is generally the best ice fishing of the year.

Why Go Early?

The early bird gets the worm in many instances, and both guides say that can be the case for ice fishing. While it can be good all winter, both say there is something unique about early ice.

Peterson can't wait because he knows it's going to be excellent fishing. "Early season is usually the best, and the sooner you can get out there before the fish have been pressured, the better," he said. "I typically locate the fish with my boat before the ice freezes, and you'll find schools of fish, and then as soon as the water freezes, those fish will not have moved very far. Once you get on top of them and locate them, it's usually lights out."

Quale shares Peterson's affinity for getting after it early. "It's the cream of the crop and a lot of times, those fish will be stacked up in their wintering holes that you found back in November," he said. "They will be in those bends of channels, main lake flats and points, and if you are fishing places with current, they'll be in those current breaks. Those fish will be in those areas until they start to move again as it gets closer to spring."

Walleyes and More

Much of Quale's guiding throughout the year is for walleye, but he says that early-season ice fishing can be a grab bag of different species, which often use the same areas this time of year.

"You definitely get a mixed bag in these areas with a lot of walleye, but you'll also get perch and crappie in these areas," he said. "The crappie will suspend more, but the perch tend to be lying much tighter to the bottom. You'll be able to catch walleye both suspended up with the crappie and along the bottom with the perch."

The reason all of these fish coexist in the same areas is simple: generally ample forage that keeps them there until it's time to move to spawn as spring gets closer. " The walleye stay in those same areas until a majority of them move into the rivers to spawn, and it makes them much more predictable and grouped up in the wintering areas," said Quale. "Once you locate the areas with a lot of fish, there are several ways to catch them, but I like to go with an aggressive spoon in bright and gaudy colors since a lot of our fisheries have stained water."

Quale listed the Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon and the Slender Spoon from Custom Jigs and Spin as two of his favorites, and a ¼-ounce size in a yellow, orange, and fire tiger would be his first choices. He'll also mix in baits like the Custom Jigs and Spin Rotating Power Minnow, a jigging minnow.

"Those gaudy colors for the spoon or something with a lot of flash to it will get their attention, and they can hear that vibration or rattle," he said. "Most of the time, we're fishing in 25-plus feet of water, and that size will get down there quickly. The jigging baits are also phenomenal for getting bites, and you don't need to add any bait or anything to them to get fish to react."

When fishing for walleyes, he goes with a 32-inch medium-action rod and a Piscifun Frost straight-line reel spooled with 6 or 8 lb Seaguar IceX fluorocarbon for the walleyes and 4 lb on a 500-size spinning reel if he's after panfish.

"I'm using the straight line style reel more for walleye now because it is much better for fluorocarbon because you don't get the bait spinning as it falls, which a lot of times will spook those fish," he said. "IceX is a phenomenal line that's so strong and doesn't coil up on you; it's excellent stuff that is so abrasion resistant that it's like you have a wire leader on. The one thing I always tell people is not to fill up your spool as much as you would for summer fishing to help with line management when it's cold, which helps a lot, and you can easily spool two reels with that 50-yard spool."

Peterson's Favorite Panfish

Troy Peterson is known as "Mr. Bluegill" as it's one of his preferred targets, both from the boat and on the ice. Early in the ice-fishing season, he says shallow water is the way to go, and stealth is critical.

"The panfish are typically still very shallow around weeds, and you'll find a lot of bluegill in that 3 to 5-foot of water zone," he said. "With only a few inches of ice and clear, shallow water, being stealthy is so important. They'll be there until the vegetation dies off, then start migrating out deeper and suspending when there is less oxygen up shallow. "

Instead of using short ice fishing rods, Peterson prefers longer 4- to 5-foot rods and will drill several holes in proximity so he can dip into more than one without moving too much and stay back a little further.

"The biggest thing is being quiet, and that's partly why I don't wear cleats on my boots and drill several holes in the same area," he said. "You can spin around and dip into those holes and not make any extra noise or shadows. It's so shallow, so the less movement the better."

As for baits, he prefers four and five-mm tungsten jigheads with small plastics in natural browns and black hues to imitate small insects. "The bigger bluegill that we chase are mainly feeding on hellgrammites, dragonfly larvae, and other insects," he said. "They are pretty aggressive first thing in the season, and you can use bigger jigs, and that helps to keep a lot of the little ones away. As the fish become more pressured later in the season, we'll use smaller jigs that are 3mm."

For his line setup, Peterson will use both Seaguar IceX and Gold Label fluorocarbon, but often leans toward Gold Label due to its ultra-thin nature. "When we first get out there, and we're working the bigger baits, you can get away with 4 lb Gold Label, but we go down to 2 lb when we are using the smaller baits," he said. "I like Gold Label because it's so soft, and it keeps everything very natural when you are using that small of a jig. Plus, it's so thin that you can get more movement on your jigs, and it helps with getting more bites when the fish are pressured."

Ice Safety Tips

No ice fishing story would be complete without some mention of ice safety, which is always important but even more critical early in the season. Both veterans of ice fishing, Quale and Peterson, have learned over the years some tricks to keep themselves and their clients safe.

Quale says that common sense and asking around for conditions are two of the biggest things an ice angler can do to stay safe. "The biggest thing is never to go alone, and I'm always using my spud bar to check the ice all the way out to where I plan to fish," he said. "We also make sure we have our ice picks around our necks, a throwable cushion, and a 50-foot rope. If the ice looks ugly or unsafe, stay away from it, because in some fisheries, especially mine with current in the flowages, there are always places where the ice is bad. It seems like anytime someone goes through, it's those same trouble areas that never seem to freeze up properly every year."

If you don't know the ice conditions, Quale says there are many resources to find out. "There are a bunch of Facebook groups and forums that will give you information, but another excellent source is your local tackle shop," he said. "Just call them up and find out, because almost all of the time, they will know how the conditions are for different bodies of water."

Peterson uses many of the same rules of thumb for checking ice safety and relies heavily on his spud bar to check ice before taking clients fishing. "Early in the season, I do a lot of driving and checking on all of the lakes before I even think of taking someone fishing," he said. "I've got my ice picks and floatation suit on me and will use the spud bar to check the ice to spots and use my GPS to chart my path for when I come back. I feel safe walking on ice that's about three inches thick and will use the spud bar, and that will take two or three really good hits to the same hole before it breaks through."

If you're an ice fishing fan, get out early and often this season, as it can be some of the best fishing of the year. Before the fish get wise to the holes being drilled above their heads, the action is hot despite the freezing temperatures.

Seaguar IceX Fluorocarbon is a low-memory, micro-diameter line with exceptional abrasion resistance. It is available in 50-yard spools in 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and now in 10, 12,  and 15 lb test sizes.

Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader is available in 25- and 50-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 lb tests for freshwater use, complementing the 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leaders available for saltwater. 

Other Seaguar lines for ice fishing include:
Smackdown Braid for Jigging Rods from 10 to 65 lb test sizes
TactX Camo Braid for Tip-Ups from 10 to 80 lb test sizes