Wheelhouse Angling - Family Edition

The popularity of wheelhouses has grown in recent years for good reason.  It is a comfortable way to enjoy fishing for the whole family.  Though, at least for my crew, the camping-on-ice part has been as much fun for them as the fishing.  That part has been hard for me, as I’ve traditionally been the kind of guy who would much rather forgo niceties, comfort, and conveniences, in favor of more and better fishing.  While the two sides aren’t mutually exclusive, I’m slowly learning that to get the most out of any family trip, it’s important to weigh considerations of fun and family as much as you do the fishing.

As a kid, I could not get enough of fishing.  Any day, and any kind.  I was, I’m sure, a pest to my grandpa who would take out all of his grandkids over the days of vacation we spent together, and I dreaded the word “too.”  “It’s ‘too’ windy, cold, or full for you to come this time,” grandpa would say when he knew it would be a challenging day out for someone younger.  The tie-in to modern wheelhouse fishing is that kids can now come along without parents having to constantly tend to needs.  Everyone is warm, there’s usually quite a bit of room, and there’s plenty of fun for the entire family to be had – fishing or not.

For my family, I expect everyone pitch in to make things that much easier on dad.  Many hands make for light work kind of idea.  My family helps drill holes, set-up lines, and generally prepare for the act of fishing.  That includes adding hole sleeves, scooping out slush, and preparing the electronics.  It’s not too much to ask, and I’ve learned that if they’re not helping, they’re typically in the way when we’re getting ready to fish anyway.  That and they’re proud to be able to do everything needed and generally be helpful.  My oldest son on our last trip even added some banking snow to the house all the way around, just perfectly.    

Over time, my kids have learned that we try to run a tight ship for a multitude of reasons.  Everything needs a place, and the sooner we get organized, the earlier we can get down to fishing, watching movies, making meals, and generally just enjoying our time on the ice.  The floor is kept completely clear of bags, boots, or any other items, as walking around gets tricky with everyone’s items scattered about.  Each person has a place for their personal items, clothes, etc. already picked out ahead of time, and the boys store their phones out of the way to avoid the possibility of dropping them down the hole. 

The same goes for the fishing side of things.  We have tool holders where pliers and forceps go, specific drawers for tackle, and a place the bait bucket hangs out.  Each person gets a portion of the house to jig from if they want, with rods being stowed out of the way when not in use, and in rod holders when taking a short break.  The electronics are broken out by-person too, and if we’re using an underwater camera, that’s got a spot too.  It keeps expensive items from being broken or lost down a hole, and while it may seem a bit rigid, actually makes it easier to relax once everything is in place.

Rattle reels are used quite often in favor of jigging, especially when the bite is slow.  It’s a way to fish without actively fishing, and once lines are set and everything is setup, it’s now time to have some fun.  Of course, with kids, that changes from moment to moment and for my boys, depends on the fishing.  I really like getting everything setup, then turning them loose.  My wife likes to read, I like to tend lines, and make sure we’re always in the game, and my kids are total wild-cards.

For that reason, it’s nice to have a bunch of things ready for them.  Inside, that involves having food and snacks at the ready.  Fish-house time is special time, and maybe that means they get more treats than they normally would, which I’m just fine with.  Sometimes they like fishing while watching TV, so we’ve always got a good stock of movies at the ready if signal prevents over-the-air TV-watching.  At night we usually play a few card games while we wait for rattle reels to go off.  At any time, the clock stops and fishing ensues fast and furious.  It’s amazing how excited my kids can get by seeing a single fish come topside, and they’ll jig for up to an hour if they feel like the bite might be on.

I’ve learned it’s important to get them outside the wheelhouse too, a thought not lost on a good buddy of mine who on the last trip, cleared off a big portion of snow to have his kids ice skate on.  My boys have gone on ice hikes, played “boot hockey” (boots, sticks, and pucks, no skates), and even built snow forts in pushed up piles from lake plows.  Of course, they’ve also explored fishing outside of the house.  That includes drilling out new areas to move to, fishing in a portable to have their own experience, and setting up tip-ups to cover more ice. 

One favorite activity is to give them an ice auger and underwater camera and tell them to go find some fish!  More often than not, they’ll come running back into the house to have us see a cool boulder they found or some big pike they saw swim through.  In some respects, it’s about fishing, but in many, it’s not.  Balancing the wish to fish needs to be met with indulging their sense of wonderment.  It’s important to note that for them, so many of the experiences are new.  While it can be hard to miss the night bite because we’re entranced with small baitfish herding up along a weedline, it’s fun to see them light up when they see something they’ve never encountered before.

All of which might be the secret to having a good time on the ice with your family.  I’ve been guilty of making it too much about fishing before, and there’s usually some recoil when that’s been the case.  My family is happiest when it’s a home away from home, and they can carry on with whatever suits them at the moment, with just a bit of fishing mixed in.  That way, they can dive in and fish as hard as they want, when they want, and relax the rest of the time. 

Mid-Winter Panfish Tips

It’s getting harder out there.  Both to find fish and especially to catch them as we get deeper into winter.  Most anglers have graduated from boot-traffic to wheeled transport of many kinds, which dramatically changes the winter fish-scape.  Overhead noise and pressure can relocate fish, but it’s also important to note that pressure can take them directly from the lake.  That’s why for mid-winter, you need a few more tricks up your sleeve to keep the bite going.

Community Hole Edges – It is inevitable that you’ll often be forced to fish in areas where other people are.  Lots of folks know to fish the edges of the community spots, but you can be strategic about which edge based on ice traffic patterns.  Usually, the access-side of a community hole sees the most on-ice traffic, so I will seek the back-side of a group.  I’ll also be ready to relocate should a few groups be making constant noise or otherwise disturbing fish, especially in shallow water.  For gills, I’d rather go shallower than the rest of the group to escape pressure, and in most instances for crappies I’d rather go deeper – all else being equal.

Fish Secondary Structure or Cover – Now is the time to find fish on less-than-fishy looking spots.  That can be a sand-flat surrounded by mud bottom you side-imaged during the summer, or a secondary point at the base of a big main-lake one which is getting less attention.  I also like fishing weeds during this time of the year, as you can find weeds in lots of places and don’t have to concentrate on only a few areas in the lake where people are colonizing.

Be Organized – Bite windows are the name of the game come mid-winter, with fish feeding at times in only 15-30 minute intervals.  It’s imperative that you have multiple rods rigged, with different baits tied on and at the ready.  Drop on the same fish with different baits until you find the winning combination.  I like to have an attractor style spoon like a Forage minnow, then a horizontal presentation like the Forage Minnow Fry, to something that hangs a little more vertical, like the Tungsten Punch Fly.  Have plastics and bait handy and at the ready and be ready to focus.  If you break off, tangle, or otherwise can’t drop on the school, abandon that setup for another and fix the mess later.

Travel to Fish – Mid-winter is the perfect time to explore new bodies of water and hit trophy destinations.  The bite can be challenging on famous lakes too but can be comparatively better than what’s going on in your backyard.  Even if you strike out, I’m reminded that every trip like that makes you a better angler in the long run.

Use Your Camera More – Underwater viewing has changed the way we fish, perhaps more than any other technology to date.  From the use of swivels and inline reels, to learning the importance of green weeds and fish behavior within them, owning and using one simply means learning more.  On certain panfish bites, especially midwinter, using one can mean catching more fish.  I can think of more than a few finicky perch and crappie bites where seeing the fish inhale the bait every so subtly, as the only way to convert hooksets.  Of course, if fish seem camera shy or won’t approach, you can always just use the camera to learn more about the substrate, cover, and surrounding area.

Patience Can Be Your Best Play – In today’s world of Livescope, lightweight lithium augers, and enhanced outerwear, it’s easier and more comfortable than ever to go right to the fish and keep after them.  During midwinter, while it always helps to be near fish, sometimes there’s no substitute for waiting them out and fishing quietly.  That includes deadsticks for panfish and zero-jigging techniques, live-bait, and a steady approach to staying near fish without swiss-cheesing the lake and pushing them all around.  Pick your spots, ensure there’s fish there, and fish silently through a feeding window to see if staying put might outproduce running around.      

It's hard to emphasize this point enough, especially for bluegills.  While crappies tend to tolerate pressure and fast fishing a bit better, big gills are a tough customer come midwinter.  Last week I was on some shallow water fish who spooked when an ATV came within 50 yards.  Bass swam through quickly during those scenarios as well.  An underwater camera was crucial to have the patience to read these fish, jig quietly, and let them come to us.  Had I been punching holes all over, it’s clear that at least for these fish on the lake I was fishing, all I would’ve been doing was herding them elsewhere.

Hub Shelters - Not Just for Fishing Anymore

From food prep tent to full-on ice camping shelter, hubs do alot more than just fish these days.

My first hub shelter was actually a turkey hunting blind.  I’ve been a fan of them ever since trying to sneak up on a turkey with a bow and arrow.  Try as you may, without the perfect screening cover, even when the bird does exactly as you wish, rarely can you draw your bow and release an arrow.  At least with fish you don’t have to worry much about concealment.  I digress.

From an ice angling perspective, they’re better than the Double-Bull hunting blind I carried onto the ice nearly 20 years ago.  For one, the fabric is better, and in most cases, completely insulated.  It repels water rather than inviting it, and is custom designed for the ice experience.  Many manufacturers have hub fabrics with sewn-in strap pockets, rod holders, and gear compartments; even overhead netting, holes to run a propane hose through, and reflective patches for easy avoidance on ice.  Truly, a far cry from the basic hub-style hunting blinds of old.

They come in oversized bags for easy in-and-out, and ice-anchors are standard issue, rather than an add-on.  Some modern ice fishing hubs even have ice-lock anchoring systems to keep your shelter glued to the ice in the fiercest winds, along with guide-wire-style straps on all corners to help do the same.  Window systems stand up to the cold weather, to either view-through in search of a tip up flag, or remove completely during nice weather or to vent. 

Ice anglers have flocked to them in droves for the amazing space they afford an angler, both while inside-of and fishing, as well as when packed away in the bed of a truck or car-trunk.  Which makes them nice for an after-work fish, as they don’t take up much room.  It also makes them nice to drag out in a sled, with or without an ATV or snowmobile.  You can use them to sit on a pod of basin crappies, or put it up shallow and use as a spear-shack because you can effectively seal up the windows and prevent light from getting in.  Did I mention they were lightweight and rather cost effective?  Both points make them increasingly popular across the ice belt.    

Yet, with all of these ice-specific advances, it’s amazing how versatile hubs really are outside of ice fishing.  Personally speaking, even when towing my wheelhouse, I’m never without a hub shelter, as there are simply dozens of use-cases.  In the few years I’ve used them in tandem, the hub shelter has been a scout house, card-room, kids escape from the grownups, adults escape from the kids, and so much more.

I’ve cleaned and cooked fish inside of a hub on ice as well, which is a godsend when you don’t want a cooked oil smell inside the wheelhouse, yet it’s too cold or windy outside to effectively cook.  Lots of people comment on using them as an out-house, which is a logical use, but if that’s all its there for, you’re missing out on several ways to get the most out of these things.

In extreme cold, it’s the perfect place to start a heater and thaw all kinds of items.  From frozen generators, gloves, hats, and facemasks, all the way to frozen tanks of propane.  It’s also a place to run a tip-up when exceedingly cold, provided you have an alarm or flashing bite indicator.  I mentioned generators, and as it turns out, a hub is the perfect place to run your generator overnight in extreme temperatures.  Exhaust can ice-up and freeze-out your overnight power source if out in the open, but with a slight venting, the heat from the engine and exhaust allows your generator to run all night without ever skipping a beat. 

Perhaps the fastest growing use-case for hub shelters is winter camping.  A quick search on the internet, and you’ll find Facebook groups devoted to it.  There’s great advice out there on how to add portable flooring, cots, and other camping comforts to make your experience that much better.  Just like with fishing, they’re easy to pack-in, extremely spacious and warm given their insulation, and again, very cost-effective considering what you get for your money.  Effectively, it’s a winter-tent that sets up quickly and can be used in tent-sites and hunting camps alike.  Which is exactly what I’m seeing more of when I look at photos of out-west elk outposts, spring turkey hunting camps, or fall bowhunting setups. 

I’ve seen them used as ice-rink warming houses, and even on sidelines of high-school football games.  I’m continually amazed to see the varied ways people use these while fishing and doing a host of other activities.  I’ve steered friends away from much more expensive ice shelter purchases, because a hub may fit their needs better.  You just might find that like them, you use it as much for other things as you do the fishing.    

Whether fishing or not, my kids like just having a shelter to themselves. It’s their place for time away from the grown ups.

Early Ice - First Break Walleyes

It’s been a few years, but I’ve always been a big fan of full-moon fall trolling on the big lakes.  What thermocline may have kept bait and ‘eyes out deeper all summer, gave way to incredible shallow water fishing come late October and November.  What surprised me however, was just how many anglers had that full-moon fever bite going, and never re-connected with it come first ice.  Those same fish didn’t make vast moves or change their feeding patterns too much.  They were just under a few inches of ice now.

It’s that same mentality you need to take with you to the lake come first ice walleyes, especially from a location perspective.  You’ll have plenty of time to pound off-shore reefs, deep mud, gravel bars, and rock piles.  Early ice is the time for fishing right off of shore, just below or on the “first break.”  By that, I mean simply that you should look for the first appreciable steep drop from shore, which could bottom out anywhere from 5 to 15 FOW.  First ice walleyes love to cruise the bottom of these edges in search of food, and when you’ve got some weed cover, substrate change, or other features to target, the spot is all that much better.

Large, main-lake points are favorites no matter where you go, to focus feeding attention of hungry ‘eyes.  They’re also angler magnets, so if you’re fishing pressured bodies of water, understand that you don’t always need to be on a prominent piece of structure to get it done.  More and more, I’m looking for small areas of interest.  A living-room sized patch of rock that doesn’t show up on the contour map, a quality weed-bed that’s more dense than the surrounding area, or even some hard-pan sand vs. nearby mud or muck.  Often, that’s all it takes to gather some near-shore walleyes once the lakes freeze over. 

Where most anglers miss out on the shallow water walleye bite, is that they fish it the way they would mid-winter walleyes in deeper parts of the lake.  They ice troll across the shallow flats, scaring the very fish they seek.  With fall trolling, we learned that there were nights where hundreds of feet of line behind the boat was what it took to get bit.  The same walleyes that don’t love hanging tight in your main-motor wash, don’t appreciate lots of hole drilling and overhead traffic.

For that reason, it’s best to have a few dead-set approaches.  While there are a few ways to skin that walleye, the two I employ are tip-ups and deadstick rods.  Tip-ups for early ice eyes are a mainstay and have been around for forever, so there’s not much new under the sun here.  Select some quality fluorocarbon line in or around 10lb test, select a good light wire live-bait hook, and rig up a small sucker or preferably shiner pegged with a sinker above the hook a few inches.  Put that sinker closer to the bait if a lively sucker, or further for less lively minnow species.  Set your tip-up on a very “light-trip” setting, preferably not under the notch unless needed for wind’s-sake.  Then you wait.

Tip-ups are great, but do have their problems.  Namely, fighting a fish hand-over-hand, especially if it’s a trophy.  Dead-stick rods on simple rod-holders have been a great solution to that problem and more, while offering several advantages over the standard tip-up scenario.  Why a specialized rod for this type of fishing?  Mostly because a dead-stick is unlike any other ice rod.  The action is extremely slow for half or better of the length of the rod, offering bite-detection and minnow-monitoring convenience.  Then, a hard-wall on the blank that goes straight to very stiff backbone – perfect for setting the hook. 

While dead-stick rods may tangle, any issues are usually seen quickly and above ice, rather than the below-water snarls that can happen on a tip-up without you knowing about it.  More importantly, a quality dead-stick will telegraph every movement of the minnow, all while offering you immediate clues both during and after the bite.  Set the rod in the holder, and watch your bait or several baits to to work.   

Sometimes the fish will grab the bait and sit right below the hole, which is easily seen on a deadstick as it very slowly loads.  That’s far less visible and harder to manage a hookset when that happens on a tip-up.  I highly recommend bait-feeder reel designs for these rods, as with the flip of a switch, free-spool is offered to running walleyes.  These quick runs are easy to detect for either tip-ups or dead-sticks, but the hookset and fight are usually superior on a dead-stick-setup.

Usually, I’ll either jig on the deeper side of the break and watch a deadstick rod right on it, or many times, simply put out the max number of lines I’m allowed in dead-sticks and wait.  As with most things walleye, the bite is best early and late, but cloudy days can make for spurts of great fishing throughout.  It’s a really fun way to fish if you’ve got a group of friends, as you can cover a long section of break, all while enjoying each other’s company until a rod goes off. 

Just make sure to tend the set, just as you would a tip-up.  Extreme cold weather doesn’t bode well for this type of fishing, but the good news is that first ice is typically pretty mild after that first blast of cold that locks everything up.  Check your baits, make sure the hole isn’t icing up too badly, and more than anything, resist the urge to drill too many holes and stomp around throughout the day.  These fish are sensitive to noise, as you may only be targeting them in 5-8FOW. 

Especially when your panfish lakes aren’t locked up well, or you’ve got good walkable ice near-shore but not the whole way out, this is the way to go.  Setup a few hours before dark, stake out your spot, and wait until some rods start bending or flags start flying.    

Early Ice Panfish Prowling

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.