Don’t Let the Winter “Freeze” Your Fishing Fun!
Published: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:00 am
By: TJ Maglio
When the average American hears the phrase “ice fishing,” he typically has one of two responses. The first, usually by people that didn’t grow up in the Great Lakes region is, “why on earth would you be crazy enough to go out on a frozen lake? Isn’t that dangerous?” The second, by those with the bug, is “when and where?” While most people in the country are putting their rods and reels away for the winter, oiling and cleaning reels, preparing for the holidays and getting settled in to their winter routines, a savvy (some say crazy) group are just getting their gear ready to go and dreaming of the first cold, calm nights necessary to turn liquid water into ice.
During winter in most of the Great Lakes region, when people are all snug in their beds, there may be just as many people dreaming of tip-up flags flying and drags screaming from the fight of a giant fish through the ice as there are dreaming of sugar plum fairies.
Captain Jim Hudson of Hudson’s On The Spot Guide Service has been fishing the waters of western Lake Superior all his life and is known as one of the most knowledgeable guides in the area. He considers his home water to be one of the best ice fisheries in the country not only for trophy potential, but also for its diversity. Though his experience lies mostly on the biggest of the Great Lakes, the tactics and techniques he has learned can be utilized in many other places that freeze around the region.
Jim says early ice anglers have a good chance at hooking up to 13 different species from the same hole. Species include: lake trout, splake (a cross between a lake trout and a brook trout), brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, king or chinook salmon, coho salmon, lake whitefish, herring, northern pike, walleye, lake perch and smallmouth bass. According to Jim, there’s constant excitement because “after you set the hook, you can never be sure what is going to come out of that hole.”
The ice fishing season in Jim’s region generally begins around the third week in December and ends around the last part of March, though this varies due to weather and wind patterns around the area. Jim says the best bite, especially for the best chance at landing as many species as possible, is typically during the early ice period from around Christmas to the second or third week in January. Ice conditions vary, so make sure to call ahead to your specific area before making the trip to ensure there is safe ice for your visit.
The ice fishing experience has at times gotten a bad rap and that’s something Jim is working hard to change. “People think of ice fishing as sitting on a bucket and freezing, but I think of today as a new age. There is all kinds of equipment out there now that not only makes it more comfortable, but it also makes it a lot easier to catch fish and have a great day.” Gear like portable heated ice shelters, outerwear designed specifically for ice fishing and specialized electronics and tackle designed for the ice are all part of the improved experience.
The tactics and tackle on the big lakes may vary a little from what inland ice fishing enthusiasts are familiar with. When targeting trout and salmon, Jim likes to use bucktail jigs tipped with a cut smelt or herring and he uses the same baits whole for tip-ups and deadsticking. For targeting warm water species like smallmouth, walleye and northern pike, Jim uses artificials like the Northland Forage Minnow and tube jigs like the Berkley Hollow Belly tube.
When looking for productive areas during the first ice period, Jim recommends concentrating on the 10-30 foot depths. Contour changes including breaklines, underwater points and depressions tend to concentrate fish and focusing on them will increase your odds of success. Because the area is so large, Jim tends to caution against moving too much and punching too many holes because the nomadic nature of the big-water fish often has anglers behind the eight ball and having unproductive days.
Because the Great Lakes waters are so vast and diverse, an angler can expect to catch not only multiple species on any given trip out on the ice, but can also have a chance at a true trophy as the lakes harbor giants of almost every available species. In addition to the potential for a trophy trout or salmon, Chequamegon Bay specifically harbors a world class smallmouth bass fishery and trophies over 6lbs are iced every winter.
The prospect of ice fishing on a big body of water can be very daunting to some and Jim advises that the sport is not without potential dangers. Safety should always be the primary consideration. Jim always goes out on the ice with the knowledge that no ice is ever completely safe and proper planning and caution are the rules of the day whenever setting foot onto the ice. This becomes even more important in a Great Lakes situation, where the ice is constantly shifting and weather can be fickle. Proper ice safety gear includes a life jacket when traveling on a snowmobile or ATV, ice picks for assisting an angler back on the ice after a fall and a spud bar, which is a heavy metal chisel, designed to quickly check ice depths. Another tip Jim recommends is to listen to your intuition: “If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it,” he said, demonstrating his belief that people have an innate ability to sense potential danger. It goes without saying that you should also always inform someone of your plans; when you plan on being back and never go out on the ice alone.
Though Jim’s knowledge has been honed in the Chequamegon Bay/Apostle Islands area of Lake Superior, other phenomenal areas around the Great Lakes for dynamite ice fishing include, Bay’s De Noc on Lake Michigan, the 1,000 Islands region of Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron as well as Lake Simcoe and Lake St. Clair.
For anyone interested in experiencing what Lake Superior ice fishing has to offer, it may be wise to spend a day on the ice with Jim Hudson’s On The Spot Guide Service to pick up a few pointers from one of the best in the business. Jim is a U.S. Coast Guard Certified Captain and guides full time both open water season and through the winter. He keeps his clients outfitted with the latest heated shelters from the Clam Corporation, top of the line Vexilar electronics and uses the best tackle in the industry from companies like Northland, Berkley and others. Jim truly gives a full service guided experience, providing everything his clients need for a successful day on the ice. For more information or to book a trip with Jim Hudson’s On The Water Guide Service, check out www.fishchequamegonbay.com.
For the multitudes of people that get cabin fever in the winter, a day out on the ice on one of the Great Lakes could be just what the doctor ordered and it just might have you hooked into the biggest fish of your life. Who knows, before long you might just become one of the “when and where” people.
