To a true ice-head, getting to groups of un-harassed panfish before the masses do, is of prime importance. So often, early ice community holes have become shells of their former selves by the time the rest of the hoarde gets there. For good reason. Especially with panfish in shallower settings, traffic brings noise, and perhaps more problematically, buckets that haul panfish home with their owners. Which, for most early ice crappie and bluegill anglers means, you’d better be the one who finds the bite rather than someone who latches onto it too late and after it’s already waning.
Ice thickness and resulting safety measures are really the one rule we must all play by. 3-4”es of freshly formed, “black” or clear ice that’s free of slush, re-freeze, or defect is what we all want. Note that this may mean you only have 1-2”es in portions of the lake with springs, ducks and geese, or where timber may protrude up and out of the water-body. It’s why you’ll need to get good with a chisel by measuring how many good hard chisel strikes it takes to bust through 4”es. A small plastic or steel bump board and an ice auger are great for measuring ice. Drill a hole, stick the lip of the bump board under the ice and note ACTUAL thickness, not estimated. Then, get good with figuring out your chisel and feel free to estimate. It’s like sighting in a rifle where you calibrate on target to ensure success when in the woods. Don’t skip this step.
After ensuring the water is safe to walk on, the first big question is really “where?” Hopefully you’ve been doing some fall scouting to help you at this query, as so very often, the fish haven’t moved or at least haven’t moved far. Side imaging has made it very easy to locate schools of panfish late season. Sometimes in shallow remaining weeds, while other times suspended down over 50 feet of water. Much depends on the lake you’re fishing, the predator prey relationships, and what weed cover is available to the different species you’re targeting.
For shallower weedy systems, you’ll need to find the “good” weeds and best groups of them in the lake. Underwater camera scouting is really important here, with the target being cover, not fish. You’re looking for bright green, standing beds of cabbage in lakes north, or coontail so often in lakes that don’t have cabbage. Even when these weed species are not present, you’ll want to note specific features in the weeds themselves. That can be pockets of weeds in front of dock or cabin areas, or it can be weed edge features. Pockets are hardest to find, while lakes with a good defined weedline can have very predictable twists and turns.
Start by looking at a high resolution contour map of the lake, if available. Small bumps, blips, and twists in contours often can be mapping or map-line interpolation errors. These can be places where an anomalous depth reading cause the underwater topo-line to zig, instead of zag. More often, and as lake mapping gets better, they often reveal something larger in nature related to bottom content. A small jog out to sea, then back towards shore can mean a short sand or hard-bottom underwater point. A small circular sliver just off of an edge can mean a bit of rubble. Conversely, a dip in depth along a weed-edge can mean an inside turn. Of all weed edge features, these are my favorite, as they provide a “pocket” for fish to seek refuge and cover.
When shielded on three sides by a wall of weeds, it’s much easier for first-ice gills and crappies to see roaming bass and pike that are looking to pick them off. It’s the same reason that pike and bass use the points, as it gives them a predatory advantage to ambush prey coming around a corner unseen. That’s not to say panfish don’t use these points, but so often they’re found on either side or at the base of it, rather than right off the tip.
On other lakes, early ice crappies are the target, and they’ve been suspended in their ice haunts for weeks or months. Small tear-drop shaped, deep, and attached sub-lakes can hold some great early ice crappies. I see this so often in large panfish lakes, where a small waterway connects another separate lake or a deep bay. I target these specifically during early ice, as they tend to get hit hard in the coming weeks. The best fishing in them is usually right away.
From there, it’s out to main-lake basins, and just like the inside turns of weedlines draw fish, they do the same in deeper-water mud spots. If a basin in 30-60FOW is rather circular, focus on a slightly shallower irregularity up against it. Rarely are they a perfect circle, and usually you’ve got one part of it that necks-down, comes tight to some shallower structure or cover, or has a small jog to it. These irregularities to the basin are great places to start drilling and finding.
Notice I haven’t said anything about fishing yet? So much of early ice is about finding, such that once you do have a place to start, expect the fishing to be pretty good. Fish loud and proud. For both crappies and bluegills I’m typically using spoons first ice for max attraction and speed fishing. I’m hitting lots of spots and expecting fish to generally be in a good mood to eat.
That said, I have experienced with bluegills especially that first ice doesn’t always mean a flurry of activity. Especially in ultra-clear systems, over the past few years I’ve observed some abnormally tough bluegill bites with 3-4”es of clear ice. Not all systems are the same, and note that these lakes usually pick up with some snow cover on the ice, or thicker ice in general. Too much light penetration in certain water-bodies can be too much of a good thing. In bog-stained, tannic water, I tend to find the opposite.
Don’t hesitate to bring a one-person hub or flip-over shelter either. They’re great for keeping wind off your line and keeping that light from penetrating too far into the water on clear first-ice. A little shelter can keep you fishing longer too, and that’s important when on certain lakes the bite can be more related to timing than anything else.
No matter where you fish first ice or for which panfish species, expect some active fish. Fish quickly and expect there to be a bite somewhere, abandoning lakes when you’re not finding what you want in favor of another system and some cooperative fish. Use a chisel. Bring a friend, a throw-rope, and some ice picks. Consider safety a top priority, and focus on finding fish first. Only then should you start to try and catch them.
