Fishing through the ice is a traditional activity in northern locations where the ice is thick enough for people to safely venture onto frozen lakes and ponds. In some places, a winter community de-velops, and ice houses, also known as shacks, shanties, and bobhouses, dot the surface.

The roots of fishing through the ice extend back to the era before modern reels and line. North American natives speared fish through holes chopped in the ice. They used decoys to attract fish to their holes, or they simply waited for the fish to pass underneath. Lying on top of the holes, wrapped in skins and blankets, kept them warm and blocked out light so they could see into the water.

Spearing is still practiced in some places today, and the use of decoys and spears has some passionate followers. Most decoys are still handmade and designed to behave like a wounded fish. They vary in size, ranging up to 30 inches long for wooden or metal models; the larger decoys are used for sturgeon. However, this is a limited activity and a controversial one.

General Hardware

The only thing that today’s ice anglers have in common with those early spear-wielding anglers is the hole in the ice. Making the hole generally requires an auger or spud. Augers can be manual or gas-powered, and they create holes that are 7 to 10 inches in diameter. Larger holes are necessary for landing outsized fish, and the drill bit needs to be sharp. A spud or chisel can also be used to make holes and widen existing holes; these tools are generally used for cutting through in places where the ice isn’t very thick, or for testing the thickness of relatively new ice (since a lot of chiseling is needed to get through 2 to 3 feet of ice).

Where the ice is thick, a long-bladed chainsaw can be used to cut large rectangular holes. The large hole allows for plenty of angler movement and for easy landing of any size fish. A chainsaw is also useful for creating a holding pool for the caught fish. The angler cuts a large shallow depression in the ice and pokes a hole through to flood the depression.

A scoop is another necessary item. It is used to clear the hole of ice fragments and may be a wide perforated metal ladle with a long handle or a shallow perforated plastic bucket. A Styrofoam-insulated minnow bucket is also important, especially in very cold and windy weather. The Styrofoam helps keep the bucket water from freezing. A plastic minnow scoop is handy for retrieving bait. Not a necessity but highly valued and important to many ice anglers is a portable sonar unit. A long-handled gaff is useful for large fish, like trout; obviously it is used only on fish that will be kept.

Portable or permanent shelters are used in some locales, although many ice anglers like to be mobile and move from place to place to fish and to search for schools of fish. Permanent shacks, which look like large outhouses, may need to be registered and will require setup and removal, but they provide protection from the elements and are great for serious and regular fishing if they are located in a good spot. Some houses are heated and equipped with various amenities, greatly increasing the comfort level; the most deluxe versions are mini-palaces, with color television, propane cookstove, and beds. Obviously these ice houses are not easy to move, and in most places they must by law be removed from the ice by a certain date (for safety reasons and also to keep debris from falling into the water as the ice weakens).

Mobile anglers need a means of toting their equipment, and some have devised boxes that are dragged on sleds over the ice or are towed behind a snowmobile. (Anglers on foot, incidentally, may need cleated boots for traction on sheer ice.) Likewise, portable tentlike shelters are ferried across the ice. Complete sled-based mobile systems, some with a covered retractable top, are a more deluxe option. The systems are made to be easily pulled so that anglers can keep up with fish that are on the move; these also store tackle and give protection from the wind. Small heaters can be used with them.

Tip-ups

An essential element of ice fishing, especially with live bait, is a tip-up. This device sports a spool filled with line, to which a baited hook is attached, and sprouts a highly visible flag that stands up when the bait has been struck. Fish are retrieved by handlining. The frame of the tip-up is wooden or plastic, and it sits on top of the ice.

Tip-ups come in many different styles, sizes, and materials, with varied bite-indicating systems. There are basically two types of tip-ups. In wind-assisted tip-ups, the arm moves up and down and jigs the bait with any kind of breeze. The extent of movement can be adjusted. When there’s a bite, the spool rotates, which releases a bite-indicating flag. This type of tip-up can freeze up under bad conditions, although retrieving wet line onto the ice can help prevent spool freeze-up.

The more common type of tip-up is a simple line-filled spool placed under the water to prevent freezing up. There is no wind assist or jigging action with this type, and movement of the spool trips a flag to indicate a bite. Both versions are mainly used for larger predators rather than for panfish, and live or dead bait can be fished at any level. Complete outfits ready to fish are found in most tackle stores in areas where there is ice fishing.

Rods/sticks/line

Short jigging rods and sticks in the 18- to 48-inch range are used for jigging through the ice with assorted jigs and special ice-jigging lures, some tipped with bait. Jigging sticks come in a variety of materials and handle styles and feature 20 to 50 feet of line wrapped around a loop that is in or on the handle.

The angler adjusts the line to the depth selected, lowers the bait into the hole by hand, sets the hook with the stick, plays the fish by hand, and lifts the fish out of the hole with the line. You can use a balsa float (not the old-style round bobber) or spring bobber (a thin strip of flat or round wire attached to the tip) with the stick.

Rod and reel combinations are plentiful. Rod and reel must be matched, and the action of the rod must be soft enough to keep from breaking the line being used. Like sticks, rods should be short, and they usually have few guides, which are large to help minimize ice buildup. Reels are often light spinning or spincasting models.

The line used for ice fishing on rods or sticks varies with the application. A guideline is 2- to 4-pound line for panfish; 4- to 8-pound line for pickerel, walleye, and smaller trout; 10- to 20-pound line for pike and large trout; and 15- to 30-pound line for big flathead catfish. Wire leaders are needed for some species. The golden rule in line choice is to go heavy if the fish are aggressive. You can use heavier line and lighten up the last 10 to 20 feet by using a lighter leader.

Thin-diameter lines are obviously helpful for clear water and for fishing with small baits and tiny jigs. A line that stays limp and doesn’t stiffen in the cold is important. Microfilament line is helpful here, since it doesn’t change characteristics and is very sensitive. A monofilament leader may be advisable when fishing with heavier microfilament lines, and a softer rod may also be useful for absorbing shock, since this type of line has no stretch. Some anglers like a fluorescent line for its visibility, and it can easily be watched in a dark ice house.

Lures/Bait

Minnows are the favorite live bait of ice anglers, especially when fished on a bait hook below a tip-up. They are most often hooked through the lips, which is the strongest location, and then behind the dorsal fin. They are also popularly fished on a jig hook. Bait anglers who use tip-ups also need an assortment of hooks, split shot weights, floats, and other terminal tackle, as well as small baits like maggots and grubs.

There are loads of jigs and jigging spoons suitable for ice fishing, depending on the target species, as well as some specialty ice fishing lures. Each behaves differently in the water, and the action is also influenced by the addition of bait. Generally, however, any jigging lure should be worked in a subtle manner for panfish and more dramatically for larger predators.

Different shapes of small ice jigs are used, as are different types of jigging spoons, most of which weigh from 1/8 to 1/12 ounce. Another choice is small leadhead jigs, which are dressed with soft lure bodies or tipped with bait. Balanced jigging lures, which lie horizontally and have a hook at each end as well as under the belly, swim in a unique manner due to a tail fin, and these lures are popular in different sizes for various fish.

Methods

Like open water angling, ice fishing encompasses both passionate devotees and anglers who fish only occasionally. The most serious ice anglers work hard at trying to catch fish and learn new methods; other anglers enjoy just being outside in the winter and aren’t concerned with success. Many people, of course, fall in between.

Ice fishing involves a range of approaches for successfully attracting and landing fish. The best ice anglers know they can’t make the fish do what they want them to do, so they try to adjust to the fish and avoid being locked into fixed ideas about lures, baits, and locations. If you assume that, in general, fish are aggressive only 10 percent of the time, in a negative mood 60 percent of the time, and in a neutral mood for the remainder of the time, then your best approach is to finesse the situation, being a bit crafty and cautious and assuming that the fish are in a negative mood. This approach will not alarm fish no matter what their disposition is. On the other hand, an aggressive approach, such as jigging a large spoon for perch, will probably scare or turn off most fish. Thus, beginning with a tiny jig baited with a single maggot should bring better results.

When you’re starting out, a companion who is an experienced ice angler is a great advantage. Ask questions and try to learn the basics. For catching panfish, you can start very simply with a jigging rod and a thin, small float (see) about 11/2 inches long and 3/16 inch wide. The float is held in place on a light line (4-pound test is good) with two silicone tubes (now found in most tackle shops). Use two BB lead split shots (each of which is 1/64 ounce) to balance your float, placed about 21/2 inches above a No. 12 or 14 hook (switch to a smaller hook and lighter line if the fish are hard to catch). Carefully place one or two maggots or waxworms on the hook.

This approach will be effective during the first three to five weeks of the ice fishing season when panfish are normally close to the shore in shallow water that is 18 inches to 4 feet deep. Carefully lower your hooked bait in the hole, and watch for any movement of the float up, down, or sideways.

The float can fly down on a strike or move very slowly just an eighth of an inch. This is why a float is best if you are a beginner; you can see the entire range of bites and get accustomed to them. Sometimesit’s better to jig without a float, but if you have had success seeing bites, you can easily learn straight jigging and you can imagine how the bites feel (see: jigging).

This approach just described is a good way to get started on ice fishing for bluegills, crappie, or perch. By using a finesse approach, you can readily adapt to those easier times when fish are aggressive.

To be aggressive about catching fish you need to locate them; in ice fishing, using portable sonar and keeping on the move are important elements for locating fish. Make sure your sonar unit can shoot through the ice and can depict both the fish and the weeds where some species may be holding. You can facilitate the effectiveness of the sonar by squirting nontoxic antifreeze on the ice and then placing the transducer on the wet spot. Ice has to be fairly clear for this, but thickness is no problem. In heavily marbled ice or snow-saturated ice, make a hole and place the transducer in the hole.

Using sonar allows you to keep moving. When fish appear on the sonar screen, drill a hole and then carefully watch the fish on the screen as you jig. You can often see how the fish respond to your bait or lure (and also to its color) and to the jigging action; you can even watch the fish take the bait. You’ll need to jig at various levels for good coverage, just as you would in open-water fishing.

Safety

Never take ice for granted and assume it is safe. Invisible underwater currents, springs, and heat-attracting debris in or on the ice can weaken it dramatically. Some well-frozen lakes develop pressure ridges that you should stay away from. As a rule, always fish with a companion, and test ice thickness before you travel on it.

Right after freeze-up, ice toward the middle of the lake is thinner than that along the shoreline. River ice and lake ice can vary in thickness throughout the winter and in different parts of the river or lake. Do not assume uniform thickness.

The thickness of the ice is not always an accurate measure of its strength. Cracking and sudden temperature drops can severely weaken ice. Heavy snow cover insulates ice, drastically reducing its growth; the snow may cause water to overflow around the edges, thus weakening the ice there.

If you drive on the ice with a vehicle, especially a heavy one, be aware that sudden braking or driving over a bump increases the effective weight of the vehicle and can cause ice failure. Driving fast over thin ice may create an under-ice wave similar to a boat wake; this force can crack the ice ahead of the vehicle under the right conditions. Therefore, it’s best to drive carefully and slowly.

As a guideline, the minimum ice thickness for certain loads is as follows: 4 inches for a person walking; 6 inches for a snowmobile; 8 inches for a vehicle weighing 3,500 pounds; and 12 inches for a vehicle weighing 8,000 pounds.

If you’re fishing by yourself (which may not be wise) early in the season when the ice is thin, consider hanging ice picks around your neck (two 6-inch nails tied to 15 to 20 inches of nylon cord and covered with a super glue). Cover the points with tissue paper that is taped in place, and hang the whole rig around your neck. If you fall into the water, you’ll have something with which you can grab onto the ice and pull yourself out. Carrying extra clothes—even if you leave them in your vehicle on shore—is a good idea, though you’ll prob-ably never need them if you’re careful.

Always dress properly for ice fishing. The danger of developing hypothermia or frostbite is obvious. Fortunately, excellent clothing and footwear exist to help prevent this.