The ice-fishing season is so close you can feel it. With the first signs of ice on smaller lakes, it won’t be too before ice anglers across the state are drilling holes, dropping lines and yanking out fish.
    Early season ice fishing is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. For one, the bite is definitely decent—more often than it’s slow though early season is never as good as late season.  
    Another reason is that there are very few other ice anglers on the water. The diehards are definitely out there, not to mention the crazies who the rest of us rely on to determine if the ice is thick enough or not. But even including those folks, the fishing pressure is light in early season and that means the fish are less likely to be spread out and wary.
    You’ll see spearhouses out on the ice even before the lake freezes over which is crazy to me but it shows that you can get out there and ice fish pretty quickly. Something a lot of anglers don’t realize about the winter bite is that most every “hotspot” holds fish in the winter.
    “Hit the ice when it’s safe enough to do so and you can have a great deal of success in the early season,” said ice fishing expert Bryan “Beef” Sathre. A member of Rapala’s Ice Force, Sathre is an accomplished ice angler. “Don’t wait until there are cars driving around, get out there before that craziness ensues and experience a fantastic fishing experience,” he added.
    Even early season “community spots” are usually productive during early ice. When trucks are running all over the place, those community holes often get tapped out quickly, but that doesn’t happen usually during early ice.

Locations
    Shoreline breaks are probably the most consistent location to find fish through the ice though you can fish the inside and outside weedlines. “Early season ice fishing is a lot like early season open water fishing—the fish are deep, shallow and inbetween,” Sathre said. Jumbo perch will roam all over as will walleye and pike in each of these locations.
    Shallow doesn’t even begin to describe it. On a lot of bodies of water, you can hit the inside weed break and actually sight fish them in several feet of water cruising over the sand. “It is pretty freaky being able to see your jig under the ice and watching a walleye come in for a bite,” Sathre said.
    Getting on the ice as quickly as possible must be done safely and most anglers will walk out from the shoreline or park their ATV/snowmobile along the edge of the thicker ice and walk the rest of the way. Just realize that you don’t have to fish those midseason spots just yet.
    Sathre said some reliable shallow locations now and you might just discover a honeyhole that will last the rest of the winter. When other anglers are fishing the depths, you can have a great time in shallow water.
    The best weedlines are those that still have green cabbage or any kind of vegetation so long as it’s green. Usually in the early season there’s not a lot of snow cover so the weeds remain leafy green for quite some time.
     A group of anglers can thoroughly cover these areas for a variety of species by putting tip-ups along the weed edges and drilling holes in a triangle formation. One point of the triangle goes along the shallowest part of a spot you plan on fishing while the others can be along a deep shoreline break and the other point along an inside edge.
    Pop holes at the corners and at several locations inbetween so you can walk the perimeter trying to locate aggressive fish. Having the holes pre-drilled also helps save time and avoiding spooking the fish as conditions change.

Be prepared
    Show up to the ice ready to fish for several different scenarios. A recommendation is to have at least three rods pre-rigged for ease of transition. One rod is rigged for walleye with a jigging spoon. Another rod is rigged for deadsticking with a slip bobber. The third is set-up for perch or panfish as well as for finesse walleye presentations.
    Livebait is great and early season fish tend to be aggressive biters so full-sized golden shiners work great, even for perch. Another tremendous lure are soft plastic impulse baits that fish will hold onto but won’t fall apart after catching one fish. When an aggressive group of fish comes in, you can get back to them faster with soft plastics.
    A good quality flasher is a must have though there are times in the early season when an underwater camera with a nice LCD color screen is the only way to fly. Green weeds and bottom content transitions are easier to find with an underwater camera than a flasher.
    “When the ice is not very thick, sometimes a hand auger is the way to go versus working with a motorized auger. StrikeMaster’s new synthetic hand augers on the market are both more durable and lightweight than traditional all-metal models,” Sathre said.
    Safety equipment is also essential, not just during the early ice. Have ice cleats, hand-grips and rope on hand for emergency purposes and if you aren’t sure the ice is safe or not, and can’t find a reliable answer, err on the side of staying off until you can find out for sure.
    Bring that camera along as well to capture the trophies of the day before releasing them back to the lake. With most of the fish coming from the shallows, they are very releasable in most cases and can be safely done so provided you don’t let the gills ice up.
    “Keep hoping for cold weather and it won’t be long until that early ice bite is going crazy,” Sathre said.