Winter in the upper Midwest offers anglers an exciting time to explore new lakes and locate fish in new areas.  While many anglers are content fishing near a large group of ice houses, there are often better fishing opportunities elsewhere on the same body of water.  These large groups of ice houses create intense fishing pressure in small areas, and fish in these areas are often reluctant to bite.  On your next fishing trip, try venturing out on your own. Here are a few tips to get you started.

    Get your hands on some contour maps of lakes in your area.  Natural resources agencies in most states have detailed lake maps on their websites that can be printed out.  You may also be able to see what species and how big of fish are in your lakes, by checking the sampling data on the same website.  If your state doesn’t provide this information, you can usually purchase a book of lake maps at a local sporting goods store.  Start by examining the map for places that look like they hold fish.  If you have caught fish during the open water months, these spots can also be good areas under the ice.  There are some general rules for finding fish at different times throughout the ice season.  During early ice periods, fish are generally in shallower water.  Look for fish in standing weeds or areas where shallow water drops off into deeper water.  As the winter wears on, and weeds die, fish will move to deeper water.  Points that extend out into the lake, secondary drop offs, or mid-lake humps and reefs are good places to start looking.  If your lake doesn’t have much structure, fish will often seek out deep water.  Deep basins, where a large volume of water is located, generally hold the warmest water in the lake, which make them appealing to fish.  Try fishing the edges of these basins or look for a transition area where gravel or sand turns to mud.  As spring approaches, and ice begins to thin, fish move back towards shallower water.  If you know of good places were fish are caught just after ice out, look for fish just off-shore of those areas.  Fish generally move to shallow bays on the north side of lakes where there is more direct sunlight.  These areas warm the fastest and are areas where fish will congregate after ice-out.  If you find a small city of ice houses over the deep basin of a lake, try fishing a nearby flat or piece of structure.  Often pressured fish will move away from the pressure to these nearby areas and even the slightest change in depth or structure can attract them.

The second thing you’ll need is a good flasher.  Vexilar and Marcum make good models that are tried and true and Hummingbird has recently come out with a line of flashers that more and more people are starting to use.  Flashers are essential for finding depth and also locating fish.  With clear ice, you can check depths by pouring a little water on the ice and reading depth right through it.  This can be effective for locating structure, although fish are tough to locate this way.  One thing that I do frequently when looking for fish, is drill several holes (10-15) in an area, covering a

range of depths.  By dropping the transducer from your flasher in the hole and swinging it around the edge, you can see if there are fish not only directly under the hole but also just outside the edges of the hole.  If you locate fish, try to catch them and see what you’ve found, otherwise, keep checking holes.  The most active fish are often suspended and a flasher will allow you see these suspended fish.  When I do locate an area with fish, I will still use this technique and walk around to all holes and only drop a line in if I see a fish on the flasher.  This doesn’t work all the time but can be effective when the fish don’t seem to be very active.  If you fish an area for 20 to 30 minutes and don’t mark any fish on your flasher, it’s time to continue searching.  Although the best times are usually dawn and dusk, it is usually possible to locate fish even if they won’t bite.  As it gets closer to those “prime times” those fish may start actively feeding.  Generally speaking, if you locate fish you will be able to catch a few of them.  During midday, fish are usually less active and you must actively seek them out rather than waiting for the fish to find you.  

 Many anglers like to set up their portable ice house, turn on the propane heater and get comfortable, hoping the fish will find them.  While this is what every ice angler hopes for, it is a rare occasion to set up on a spot and have school after school of fish show up eager to bite.  If the weather is warm enough and it’s not too windy, fishing without a shelter allows for more mobility.  Flip-style portable ice houses make moving around easy and comfortable when you find a good spot and make set up and take down a snap.  Clam, Frabill and Eskimo all make good portable shelters at a reasonable price.  Make sure you check the weight of the shelter before you buy it.  While the higher end models have thicker fabric and additional features, they are often quite heavy, which makes dragging them over snow covered ice difficult.  In order to stay mobile you’ll want to make moving easy by dragging as little weight as possible.

The three things I’ve mentioned, lake maps, a flasher and a portable ice shelter, I feel are the three most important things you will need to explore some new lakes this winter.  A gas ice auger will also be handy, but you can get by with a hand auger if your budget is tight.  On the bright side, if you have to use a hand auger, you’ll get a good upper body workout throughout the winter.  It may take some searching but eventually you’ll find some fish.  Remember to avoid large groups and stay mobile if you aren’t catching fish.  The fish are out there somewhere and when you find them, you’ll have them all to yourself, just be careful who you tell about it, or you’ll find yourself in the middle of one of those cities on the ice.