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SALT LAKE CITY -- Once the ice forms on local lakes, fishing access increases for most anglers. No boat required so everyone can cover the entire water body the same way, on foot, snowmobile, or ATV. The big advantage now is a fish finder. For a few dollars you can turn a summer sonar unit into a winter ace in the hole.
Many fish finder manufacturers have developed units especially designed for hard water fishing. Humminbird has a unit that mounts on a sled with the transducer incorporated inside an extended tube that goes under the ice.
Other brands offer units in nice bags with floating transducers. The business end of these does not always sit level in the water. That can lead to incomplete views and depth readings. What's more, if the transducer is above or within ice level there may be interference or other anomalies that may show up on the screen preventing you from seeing fish hit your bait.
With the right finder an angler can actually watch a fish signal take his bait in real time on the fish finder screen. Now that is cool.
It takes little equipment to get to this point. Basically, pull the fish finder screen from your winterized boat, get a second transducer line and a power line, both available online or from many tackle stores. Add a small, rechargeable 12-volt battery, a box to store everything in and start plotting fish under the ice.
This conversion shows a Humminbird 560 attached to the top of a surplus ammo box. Some PVC sprinkler pipe left over from summer lawn maintenance makes up the support system that puts the transducer in the water and under the ice. The 12-volt battery sits in some insulation to help reduce contact with extreme cold temperatures. It also helps the battery charge last longer.
Simple and versatile, this setup will work not only on the ice but in a canoe, pontoon boat or other small watercraft too.
A salesman at one local shop said the 12-volt battery will last for days of fishing rather than only a few hours.
One of the biggest advantages to using a boat sonar system is the magnificent detail and sensitivity. It can also be one of the biggest distractions too. Spending time watching fish move through the sonar field is great; many bites too, but few hooksets.
Transducer coverage is reduced in the shallow depths normally fished for panfish under the ice. Twenty-degree coverage at 100 feet will be only half of that at fifty feet and so on. Cut the fishing holes in a radius around the transducer for better coverage and early detection for great action.
Unique challenges for ice anglers include less freedom to easily use sonar to find structure and schools of fish like in open water. That will require either a good memory from summer success or a lucky spot where an auger clears a hole in the ice where structure is found below. Mark as many spots as you can on a handheld GPS during open water days. Those waypoints will make it easier to find the same structure under the ice.
For many ice anglers sonar graphs will be merely a depth finder. If fishing reports say panfish are suspended at 35-feet right on the bottom then the sonar becomes invaluable.
Nevertheless, simple, basic understanding of fish habitat is helpful. Try points, obvious exposed structure, or where the angler crowd amasses.
Even though fish are cold blooded they do react to their environmental changes. Winter cold temperatures mean mid-thirties under the ice. In response to that fish will slow down. Their world slows down. Fast moving bait or fast jumping lures are not natural now. In fact more bite detection in ice fishing comes from the rod tip raising rather then the expected tug.
Ice fishing is far more relaxed. It should be translated into the tactics used too. Suspend baited jigs. Let them sit there at depth. A slight tip of the rod occasionally is fine; too much will likely scare off fish. They won't expend any more energy then necessary to eat. Set their table and let them come.
If the bite slows move around to find fish. If the action cools try another point or different depths. Fish will stay in schools winter or summer. If you find fish biting at depth they will continue unless a large predator comes by and they scatter. A sonar screen will likely tip off the reason for the change in the bite.
Proven tackle includes small jigheads, spinners, and plastic worm baits. Try one-eighth ounce or lighter jigheads. Curly-tailed plastic jigs or skirt-tails offer some movement underwater. Spinners or spoons do the same thing with some flash to get a fish's attention.
Sit back. Take in the clean air and sunshine. Open a bag of munchies and enjoy the day.
Good luck.
