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It’s never too early to think ahead.

I begin to think about ice fishing this time of year. I put a good amount of walleye on the table during the open-water season, but I know that a “hot” week or two on the ice in December or early January can pay off in many limits of bluegills and crappies. As far as I’m concerned, having plenty of panfish on hand in the freezer more than justifies the long hours spent cleaning them.

Good places to begin looking for fish is water that held weeds during the fall months that is fourteen feet or less in depth. Bluegills and crappies will continue their fall pattern during the early ice period and will key on weeds and weedlines for oxygen, cover and the forage they feed on. Structure and weed type can vary greatly from spot-to-spot, so plan on punching quite a few holes within a given area, ranging in depth from five to fourteen feet. More holes mean more options, and allow you to keep on the move to locate active fish, instead of relying on the fish to move through a limited area. It is usually the case that you’ll be far more successful fishing proactively, as opposed to reactively.

Electronics play a key role in successfully locating fish. Flasher-type locator's will quickly tell you two (of three) vital pieces of information while greatly reducing time spent fishing unproductive water – location and depth of fish. Identifying your jig and the fish in the water column on your flasher will allow you to quickly adjust jig depth and keep your bait in the strike-zone. The third factor, presentation, is the simple process of determining how the fish like the bait presented to them. There will be days that the fish will be more responsive to seeing your jig moved fairly aggressively, while at other times you’ll find that they prefer very little jig movement. If you’re catching enough fish in a given period of time, you’ll soon figure out what they prefer.

I like to use a rod with a very slow action that will flex, when a fish is hooked, from cork-to-tip. These “noodle rods” have a fast taper, responsive tip that telegraph strikes well, eliminating the need for spring or slip bobbers that tend to foul-up at one time or another (usually on the coldest days). My only requirement for a reel is that it is in good working order; I put much more emphasis on rod and line selection than I do in choosing a reel. Any small spinning reel that won’t fail or gum-up in cold temperatures work fine. Removing heavy, excess grease from the reels gears and spindle prior to hitting the ice goes a long way to ensure that your reel won’t “freeze up” while a good bite is on. Your line should be light and of a small diameter – 2lb. test line is the heaviest I’ll spool up for panfish. Light, thin diameter line performs best on small reels in winter weather, and will telegraph strikes better than larger diameter line.

Finding a pattern that works best doesn’t take too much time initially, and is crucial for success. While bluegills will at least consider most any jig in their immediate area, through trial and error you’ll key in on a jig color, size and fall-rate that the fish prefer on that given day.

December through early January can definitely prove to be a “hot” time of year for catching bluegills and crappies. Fast action and thoughts of fresh fish fries are all that’s necessary to get me out on the “hard water”.

Please keep in mind the DNR’s recommendation that you first contact local public safety officials (sheriff or local police department), or resorts and bait shops near the ice in question to inquire about ice thickness and quality before heading out to area lakes.

Be safe, and I’ll see you on the ice!

Dan Brown’s weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankies Bait and Marine in Chisago City and St. Croix Outdoors in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Dan Brown is a director at the Chisago Lakes Achievement Center in Chisago City. In addition, Brown is a fly casting instructor and trout fishing guide at Seven Pines Lodge in Lewis, WI. Recently Brown was featured on Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound and ESPN II’s Backroads with Ron and Raven, as well as KSTP channel 5’s Eyewitness News Morning Show. He is a Taylors Falls resident and can often be found on the area lakes, trout streams and the St. Croix river.

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