Well, it’s that time of year again.  By now, the large pleasure crafts are pulled out of the lake and put away for a winters rest.  The crack of rifles and shotguns ring out in the woods and the smell of burning leaves and brush fills the air.  Each morning, the puddles and ponds give an icy clue of things to come.  It won’t be long before the lakes start forming ice. All of the work winterizing the boat and storing the fishing gear is complete.  But the pike angler doesn’t take time to relax.  No, for him the lure of the water is too much.  It’s time to start preparing for ice fishing season.  And now it’s time to change our attitude towards pursuing fish.

    In the spring we are anxious to get out and cover water.   We go out, casting spoons and spinners across expansive flats, in search of those big females that are looking for an easy meal.  In the peak of summer we endlessly troll any and every weed edge we can find.  We fish aggressively with fast presentations and big lures.  In the fall, it’s back to casting the weeds and slowing down our presentations. What do all of these presentations have in common? We are actively pursuing fish.  With each cast or trolling pass, we work new water.

    With the ice comes a new mindset in targeting pike.  We are now forced to wait for the fish to come to us.  Throughout the open water season we think in terms of fishing horizontally.  Whether casting shallow flats or trolling near the bottom in 20 feet of water, our presentations consistently moves across the water column.  We adjust the presentation horizontally by speeding up, slowing down, and adding pauses to the retrieve. Sometimes it is necessary to move up or down in the water column, but rarely do we fish for northerns with a straight vertical line.

    In winter we have no choice but to fish vertically.  We still have options that allow us to actively pursue the fish, but we can’t fan cast around a spot, or deep troll a mid-lake flat.  We are still confined to fishing vertically, which by nature is a more passive technique.  Even in the summer vertical fishing is more aggressive because the boat is moving and we are still bringing the bait to the fish.  So how can you be more successful when fishing through the ice?  Learn what the pike looks for when selecting habitat.  During the early ice period, northern pike are very active and aggressive.  Winter is a stable time in lakes.  Water temperatures, water levels, and oxygen levels are fairly consistent throughout the lake.  Unlike summer, when fish are greatly limited by temperature and oxygen, winter fish are able to move from place to place without any physical constraints.  The key factors in locating these winter pike are identifying areas that provide food sources and cover.

    The best places to find pike during early ice are on the weed edges where food and cover is plentiful.  Some weeds will still struggle on under the ice, especially in lakes with little snow cover and good light penetration.  Most weed lines will be made up of dead or dying weeds that haven’t completely disappeared, they will not be the lush green underwater forest that they used to be, but they will still offer the best cover for fish that have not given up and gone deep.  The best areas will be shallow flats near flowing water. River inlets are the most abundant sources of nutrients in the lake at this time of year.  The river inlets carry food for minnows and panfish, as well as providing well-oxygenated water to the lake.  The open water areas created by inlets are important to plant life because the light does not have several feet of ice to travel through.  This becomes even more relevant if there is a layer of snow on the ice.  For minnows and panfish feeding on plankton and invertebrates, this extra light is a welcome aid and for a site feeding pike it is great place to locate food.

    In lakes with populations of cisco, pike will move up even shallower, following their favorite prey onto their fall spawning grounds.  These areas will typically be four to six foot deep flats adjacent to deep water and will likely contain some vegetation such as bulrush or small pondweeds.  This is the most susceptible time of the ice fishing season for big pike.  On popular spearing lakes, long lines of spear houses can be seen in shallow water areas where the ciscos are spawning.  As winter progresses, the pike and the spear houses will disperse back over deeper water.  This same pattern holds true in lakes dominated by bluegill and yellow perch as the forage base.  These bait fish will often hold near shallow water during the early ice period, only to retreat to deeper water later in the year as oxygen levels decline.

    So, how do you go after these guys?  Ice fishing forces a more static presentation, but this doesn’t mean you have to sit on a bucket and wait for the fish all day.  It is important to use the tools you have available to you to maximize your efforts. Mobility is still the key to chasing pike.  Just because you can’t troll doesn’t mean that you can’t pursue pike aggressively.  Like any other time of year, predatory fish are going to be found near their prey, so when you find the prey, you are close to finding the predators you are after.

    The best way to begin is by identify key areas based on the conditions.  At early ice, look for a shallow area near a river and begin there.  Start by drilling several holes, starting out past the break line and moving shallower.  With today’s sonar technology, finding baitfish is much easier.  A good flasher is an invaluable tool.  The ability to see not only bait fish, but also your bait allows you to determine how the fish are reacting to your bait and can give you clues as to what’s down there, how aggressive they are, and how large the school is.  Spend a few minutes catching some panfish to determine what is around.  Most species will attack a jig with a wax worm.  An abundance of perch near a weed line is a better area to find pike than a school of large bluegills or rock bass.  Ciscos suspending off the bottom are even better.  When possible, I like to setup a tip up at one spot while I continue searching for baitfish at different depths.  Once you start getting hits, you can run a tip up at one spot and aggressively jig with a large minnow at another.

    The key to playing this waiting game is to minimize the wait by maximizing your chances of crossing paths with foraging pike. Knowing what habitat and forage the pike are seeking out at this time of year helps you identify places to start. Soon you will start to recognize subtle changes that can make a difference.  Some are structure changes like a larger pocket of weeds or a one or two foot depth change.  Other changes include presentation changes like using rattle jigs and adding an extra pause or twitch while jigging. Early ice can mean some fantastic pike fishing, it just requires a change in attitude and presentation. Remember the old saying, "good things come to those who wait."

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