GPS On-Ice - Uses and Abuses

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Featured - The Marcum RT-9 Sonar/GPS/Camera Combo

GPS On Ice – Uses and Abuses   

“Quit fishing a memory Joel,” quipped a grinning Brad Hawthorne, who in his own right is an incredibly successful ice guide and general thorn in my bibs.  That stung, because he was right.  Trading jabs down the break, we both punched holes relentlessly from sand to rock near some forgotten island on Lake of the Woods.  No matter how high in the air I held my GPS unit, or whether I shook it, smacked it, or pressed all the buttons, it wouldn’t seem to put me right between the two truck-sized boulders we smacked walleyes on mere weeks ago.  Furthermore, when we did find the “spot on the spot,” my hand-held GPS unit wouldn’t put fish back there either. 

We’ve all been guilty of letting a waypoint somehow distort our real-world thinking, causing us to ignore everything right in front of our faces in favor of some digital confidence.  Obvious evidence, along with at times general courtesy, is thrown to the wayside so we can attempt to reclaim the “spot” that once was ours.  Eventually, the very things that make such a location great for fishing are forgotten in the effort just to get back to that prime piece of underwater real estate.

So take it from someone who has learned the hard way, on-ice cues and clues will trump rose-colored GPS screens just about every day of the week.  Your GPS unit is nearly worthless without sonar and many times an underwater camera, to verify depth, substrate, and a host of other variables that aren’t directly or otherwise visible.  The valuable information you gather from each of these tools work in concert to give you more than just a spatial location, but great intel about that specific spot.  Baitfish presence, weed-growth, slope direction, visibility, and other factors will cue you in on current conditions, which are far more important.        

Still, there’s something to be said for areas that continually produce because of a perfect train-wreck of factors all combined to predictably draw fish year after year.  Still, we need to up our GPS game, and here are a few tips to doing just that:

Collecting Waypoints – Many issues start here, and are based solely on operator error.  The process sounds simple, but not so fast.  GPS technology requires ample satellite coverage first and foremost.  In fact, for survey-grade accuracy, many technicians that collect GPS data for a living do so during a planned part of the day with the best satellite coverage, thus having the best accuracy.  While you don’t need to head to the lake at a pre-ordained time of day, you can do yourself a favor by giving your GPS unit enough time to acquire satellites and reduce the EPE (Estimated Positional Error) or PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision), both of which are often listed on your screen.  A GPS unit that’s powered up, then taken to immediately drop a waypoint, tends to suffer poor or higher EPE, meaning that when you go back to find that exact spot on the lake, you’ll likely have a hard time because you were never accurate in your digital collection of it to begin with.

Finding Waypoints – Similarly, trying to navigate to a waypoint with a degraded signal only makes finding it that much more difficult.  Additionally, moving, then stopping, then moving again creates issues with many GPS units’ tracking abilities.  Moving at a reasonable pace, either on foot or by machine, in a constant manner allows for the best tracking and representation of where you’re actually at in relation to a waypoint of interest.

Managing Waypoints – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to re-learn, even recently, that poorly labeled and saved waypoints can distract and confuse you.  While out on the ice, every year, fishing trip, and associated details tend to blend into one as you try to determine the difference between waypoint “328” and waypoint “rock.”  Famed guide Tony Roach once told me that his dad used to save waypoints on Mille Lacs mud flats such as “Arnies8pounder” and “Tonys10pounder.”  Given the success of the Roach clan, eventually even all these points start to look like noise and become difficult to assess from afar.  Point being, be descriptive about the spot, maybe even indicating depth, while deleting points that turn out to be false leads.

Refining the Spot – Here’s where sonar/GPS and camera combos become incredibly useful.  Use GPS to get you close, sonar to get you closer, and the underwater lens to put you right at the heart of it.  How often have you been fishing where the guy in the house over is pounding them, while your sonar screen is blank?  This type of precision is especially useful when parking on a significant but small piece of structure, especially for a longer period of time.  I know I wouldn’t plop down a wheel-house or other permanent without being extremely confident of what I was sitting on.  Of course this involves at times a serious hole drilling session, especially in stained water with its limited camera visibility.  That said, of all the very best ice bites I’ve ever been a part of, this kind of digital finding then mechanical drilling and checking, has always just been a part of the game. 

Our generation’s crutch has become the GPS unit, though there’s still so much great information to glean and explore, especially from a safety and navigational perspective.  The generations before were ultra-concerned with depth, thinking that if they found fish in 14 feet of water on one part of the lake, then naturally they’d be at the same depth on the other end of the lake.  Often, they were right, just as we are to assume that fish caught on one spot today, may be there in years to come.  That said, it’s best to treat our GPS information as just another piece of the puzzle and give equal weight to our sonar and visual, in the quest to repeat the bite.  

Shelters Simplified - Straight-Forward Advice on How to buy

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

In the ice belt, there are two types of anglers.  One type owns a shelter, and the other that waits until spring to wet a line.  Visit your local fishing hole, and you’ll see only a handful of folks out on the open ice sitting on a 5-gallon bucket.  Pick a day where the mercury flirts with zero, and you’ll see nary a soul out and about.  Much of that phenomenon has to do with the technological advances in portable flip-style shelters, along with the advent of more economical hub versions all with the same goal; to keep you more comfortable while out fishing.

Permanent houses certainly have their place on the ice-scape, but can be limiting in terms of mobility, ice-thickness, and price.  For those of you interested in a portable option, there’s a big fork in the road these days between the flip-over type of shelter and the hub-style ones, with the latter definitely leading in terms of price point.  That said, don’t let cost alone be the factor that decides what you fish out of when the wind howls and temperature plummets.

Both styles are effective at keeping the wind off of your back, but that’s where the trail splits.  Flip-style shelters, and their built-in sled, provide a means of transport for all of your gear, as well as a home-base for hole hoppers.  Whether you slide out the extendable supports of the shelter and set-up shop at a single location, or you simply use the shelter portion as a means to park on fish only once they’re found, flip-style shacks offer the ultimate in flexibility while out on the ice.  They’re also the more durable solution overall, especially if you’re towing your equipment with a snowmobile or ATV.  For those that traverse great distances with an ice machine, it’s a compact unit that aids in your mobility and flat-out offers more features.  Hence the higher price-tag.

Hub-shelters, while being price leaders, are also more lightweight without the attached sled and hardware.  If you will be hand-towing your shelter, especially any distance, there’s a lot of weight savings to be offered in a small hand sled holding your packaged hub house.  They can also be quite spacious, and great solutions for families.  If you need to hold as many bodies as possible in a shelter, a large hub-style house may be in your future.  You supply the sled and seating, but get a great deal of square footage for the money.  However, with no attached sled or supports, ice-anchors must be deployed in windy conditions to keep it on the ice.  Given their relative low cost, I know a good deal of anglers that keep a hub-shelter in their towable flip-style while out fishing.  They have it on hand for larger groups and can split off from the main group while still maintaining comfortable fishing conditions.

No matter which type of shelter has your attention, there’s a few guidelines to purchasing a quality one:

Structure – Look closely at the framing within your shelter of interest.  If a hub, does it feel sturdy and fittightly into the hub devices?  Can you rotate the hub device left or right to effectively tighten or loosen the fit of the shell over the frame, or is it fixed in one position?  For flip-style shelters, what kinds of frame materials are being used?  I prefer those with square aluminum frames to prevent binding, twisting, and collapse, while shaving weight from the final product. 

Shell – The highest quality hubs these days have high loft insulation standard as part of their shelter.  For both flip-style shelters and hubs, you’re looking for as few seams as possible, and very little light penetration.  Pin-holes and see-through spots on seams equal more moisture transfer and condensation, all while providing less loft and air trapping capability.  Avoid this at all costs, and look for a shell that has high loft and floating layers that ultimately equal better insulation and a warmer end product.

From here, those interested in a flip-style shelter should look a little further:

Seating – Look to the overall comfort of the seating system by first sitting in it, but don’t stop there.  Look underneath and see what it’s made of.  Heavy steel options are durable and cheap, but add precious pounds to the final product.  Bench seats are great options for adding kids or smaller fishing buddies along for the ride, while bucket seats provide the ultimate in individual comfort.  Bench seats should fold and stow conveniently, while bucket seats should swivel a full 360 degrees, do so quietly, and also flip up to be able to get at your gear underneath.

Sled – This is going to be the foundation of your entire shelter, so don’t skimp for something flimsy.  Roto-molded sleds are considered more durable than those thermally stretched over a mold, as they have even thickness of plastic distributed at all points of the product.  That’s especially important for the corners or front of the sled that attacks the ground.  Also, look to how items are attached to the sled.  Tow bars that are bolted through the sled create pressure points and individual opportunities for failure, with molded hitch pockets being a more premium option. 

Though we’re very used to products these days with life-cycles measured in months, there’s every reason to expect that a quality product should last you as many as 10 years or more if properly cared for.  Stick to those 4 S’s in your selection process and you’ll be rewarded no matter which style of shelter suits your way of fishing best.

Ice Sonar FAQs for Beginners AND Experts

Ice Sonar FAQs

Think you know your ice electronics? Even if you're a seasoned veteran of the sonar world, here are some bits of advice that can help! - Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Every year, a new set of anglers both young and old, learn to use ice fishing sonar or flashers for the first time.  That said, I encounter many anglers on the ice each year that still have their ice sonar on default factory settings from when they bought the unit 10 years ago.  Whether you’re brand new to the game, or it’s old-hat, here are some answers to age old questions and some new ones to keep it interesting.

How far down should I drop my transducer? - Conventional wisdom has it that for the best reading, you should put the bottom of your transducer just below the ice in the center of the hole.  This ensures that your jig falls into the conic beam (cone angle) that forms at the transducer and fans out radially in expanding width the deeper you go.  Practically speaking however, you want your ducer off to one side of the hole, and a bit up into the hole while still maintaining a clear reading.  Too far below the bottom of the ice and centered in the hole, you’re asking a fish to tangle in the transducer cord.   

How deep is it?  While most people really want to know at what depth they’re fishing, rarely does it matter.  This is because now with a flasher, all of your depths will be relative anyway.  You’ll see your bait and its location in relation to the bottom.  Move to shallower and deeper water, your frame of reference will still be scaled by your bait and its location to the bottom and possibly fish. 

Why don’t I see my jig?  There can be any number of reasons, from improper depth range, to low gain setting, to the transducer being too far to one side of the hole and not pointed straight down.     

How high should I turn my gain or sensitivity?  The rule of thumb here is to turn it up and down, until you find the point where your jig just barely appears as a solid, crisp target, threatening to disappear.  Too high and you’re picking up unwanted signals from the rest of the water column.  Too low, and you can’t see your jig in relation to the fish that are after it.     

Why don’t I see my jig until I’m a few feet below the transducer?  Directly below the transducer represents the smallest portion of the cone angle, specifically, the tip of the cone.  For you to achieve a reading here, you’d need to place it directly inside of this small area, and rarely to we drop it directly below the ‘ducer.  The further below the transducer you are, the more likely your bait is to be within the cone angle.

Why can I drop my bait “below” the bottom?   To better understand sonar, you need to mentally grasp the footprint of your sonar cone, right where it makes contact with bottom.  We all know that the lake bottom isn’t flat as a pancake, so it stands to reason that one edge of your cone angle may be sounding at 15 feet, while the other edge may be in 18 feet of water.  The steeper the break (tighter the contours) you’re fishing, the more accentuated this effect is.  The return you see on your screen shows the shallowest portion of the cone, meaning that you can appear to drop your bait below bottom.  One of the best ways to counter this effect is to switch to a narrower beam or cone angle when fishing steep slopes.  You can also zoom into bottom if that’s the primary zone you’re fishing, giving you a better view of that specific area. 

When should I use zoom? -  As far as I’m concerned, that zoom button should be locked in the “on” position for most angling situations.  With digital sonar technology, zoom means more than a magnifying glass on the strike zone, it actually enhances the ability of the sonar engine to send, receive, and display minute differences in targets.  It’s the detail you can see when a gill flares its fins before a strike, when picking out sizes of crappies suspended down 20 feet in 50 feet of water, and when fishing belly-to-bottom walleyes that just barely flicker to reveal their presence at the outside edge of the cone angle.  Get used to running your sonar in the zoom mode no matter what depth you’re fishing and for what species.   

How do I get “better” with my ice sonar? – While practice makes perfect, make sure to practice with a purpose.  If you have access to an underwater camera, the very best thing you can do is to study your lure and a fish’s reaction to it both on the camera and sonar simultaneously.  While it is becoming increasingly easier to tote lightweight and portable cameras around ice, your sonar becomes a much more efficient tool when you realize what subtle movements your bait and the fish that are relating to it can mean.  Simple concepts like the swing of your jigging stroke become much more apparent when you can translate the real view (camera) to a representation of it (sonar).  In deep water, while your target appears to move a very small amount on sonar, your pull may be an actual 3 feet. 

Your ice sonar is a great tool to help make you a better angler, but only if you take the time to learn how to use it properly.  We can pound a nail with nearly all sides of a hammer, but one way works markedly better than the others.  

Wandering Walleyes

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In Depth Media Productions

Featured - Marcum RT-9 Sonar/Camera/GPS Combo

Most of us who fish walleyes today don’t remember Buck Perry’s Spoonplug or structure fishing instruction, myself included.  Though it was before my time, I, like most anglers in my generation definitely came to appreciate the teachings and technology to follow.  The idea that 80% of the fish live in 20% of the water gave way to detailed contour maps and eventually GPS/Sonar units that brought us there, along with a bevy of baits and techniques that helped us fish it more effectively.  That said, especially for ice anglers there are many esteemed walleye factories that “Buck” that trend, with broad basin areas and walleyes scattered and stretched to the horizon.  Famed fisheries like Upper Red Lake, Lake of the Woods, and Winnipeg simply don’t align with our structure specific view of finding ‘eyes, at least in the traditional sense.  Here’s how to track down and catch those fish that roam more than they remain.

My first trip to Upper Red Lake was a confusing one.  We were after crappies, but no matter where we drilled and how we fished, there were far more walleyes to be found.  Thousands of anglers were all over the crappie boom that resulted from an empty biological niche the heavily overfished walleye population had left.  However, by the time I had gotten there, the walleyes were doing quite well, and though they were to be immediately released for some years to come, those fish were coming on strong.  Hole after hole, move after move, walleye, not crappies came to the jig.  It got to the point where we became far more efficient at the walleye game, and began to take note of some of the finer points that were working well. 

First, we’re talking about fish that are truly spread out over a vast area.  Just as you’d cover ground in a boat and troll across the wide open expanse, so too we drove and drilled, covering areas in a quarter mile grid.  Every few hundred yards we’d spread out and drill, catch what lived below those holes, and move on, drilling and fishing without rest unless multiple fish per hole started to come in shorter bursts.  That’s part of the key to fishing basin areas in general, don’t camp out unless you’ve found schools of fish and the all-important bait they’re chasing.

Another key is paying attention to small details and differences from location to location.  Remember that these areas are generally as flat as a pancake, and boring below water as a desert is above.  Fish are spread across a relatively equal depth range for miles and miles in all directions, making tiny differences in substrate and bottom depth of great importance.  On many occasions I’ve found broad areas or swaths that for whatever reason seem to be better than the surrounding area.  Often, with enough underwater camera work or later in open water with the boat can we crack the code.

One such time was on Lake Mille Lacs, which is known for its varying structural components that range from rock and gravel, to sand and mud with all kinds of shapes and sizes to the many humps, saddles, and piles that line its lake bottom.  Still, even here, we were on a basin perch and walleye bite over mud in an area that stretched literally a mile or more.  All of it looked the same on the map, but a summer recon trip told the story that has this spot being great even today.  In the middle of the basin, but in direct line with an underwater rock and gravel point, is an area with sand lenses.  These small pockets and lines of sand are interspersed throughout the mud, and for some reason this patchwork of differing substrate seems to hold far more invertebrates than many parts of the lake.  I couldn’t see it without looking at bottom hardness on my open-water sonar, but marked the area well and returned in the winter.     

Simple mobility alone isn’t enough to keep the bite going however.  I’m convinced that especially in a generally plain area where fish are used to roving about for food, you need to call fish in to your setup.  Basin walleyes are very used to covering territory, as they’re not relying on structural elements and the biological activity that’s perpetually present there to constantly bring them food.  They have to work for it, they have to find it themselves.  That makes aggressive jigging patterns with search baits like Slab Raps, Rippin' Raps, or other noisy lures ultra-important.  In basin situations when you’re both covering ice, and you expect the wandering walleyes to cover it too, there are few baits too loud and proud.  Rattling spoons and baits in bright colors are great here, even when they fail to elicit a strike.  While it’s difficult to stay mobile with live bait, sometimes you have to fish two holes at a time, calling them with the dinner bell bait, and catching them on a plain hook with a free-swimming minnow below a bobber.  When the bite is like this, I’ve learned the hard way to never argue with the fish, you’ll never win.

Now that you’re an aggressive ice-pounder that fishes fast, when is enough, enough?  How many holes must you punch, and how often must you move?  I let the fish decide that as I drill my way across the ice-scape.  If walleyes are only being caught when you mark one, drop on it, and catch it, you’ll find a direct correlation between the number of walleyes you catch to the numbers of holes you drill.  On days like these, which is so often the case, fish need to be drilled on top of, and directly fished.  Keep moving and moving until you’re either too tired, or have ceased to be angry with the walleyes.  On days where you’re calling in fish from a distance, or there are active pods of fish chasing bait, you’re much better off making small moves directly adjacent to where you’re already being successful.  The quarter mile hops aren’t required unless that area is dead.  Rather, spread out radially away from the last point of activity and be ready to saddle up and re-drill should you or a friend find them again. 

This kind of fishing is fun and rewarding, with your effort often being the primary obstacle to the number of fish you’ll catch that day.  Pay attention to the details, but don’t be afraid to keep moving should the grass prove greener, or ice be whiter just a short drill away.   

The Case for Custom Ice Rods

Like most of us, my first ice rod was a jiggle stick.  I’d set the hook on suspended crappies, learning at a very young age that the tangled line resultant from hand-over-hand fighting was easily avoided if we’d just turn around and run.  While looking back over my shoulder, I knew I could stop when we saw those panfish come flying up and out of the hole.

Reeling them in eventually became more practical, and fun, such that a new ice rod became a necessity.  It needed a reel seat, and a few guides, but beyond that I was just happy to get a hand-me-down from my grandpa.  Rug-beater that it was, I caught a pile of gills with that thing.  I preferred to fish out on the open ice and feel for bites rather than use a bobber.  Which means that while fishing for panfish with a rod better suited for pike, I missed as many as I caught.

Such is the case for many anglers today that fish ill-equipped rods for species they were never intended to target.  As my own rod-buying habits brought me up the chain, both in terms of cost and in features, I came to know what I liked, but more importantly, which features suited the way I fished.

Think of a custom rod as just that, a tool that can be infinitely customized to the species and situations you fish.  Just like you wouldn’t use a screwdriver to pound a nail, it makes sense to fit the tool to the direct application.  For most people, custom rods sound nice, but their price tag prevents them from owning one, or owning as many rods as they’d like in the full arsenal.  Much in the same way a fine guitar helps you play better because you want to play more, or a fitted-shotgun makes you shoot straighter because it’s specifically designed for your person, custom rods when fished correctly will yield more fish. 

Due to long lead times however, and the fact that so many of today’s custom ice rods are simply built to a few lengths, powers, and actions, the word “custom” today more appropriately means “customized.” St. Croix has been doing technique specific rods customized for the way certain baits fish for about anything that swims going on many decades now.

Maybe you’re unsure which action, length, shape, and model to get?  Let me go through a “rod-building” session with you for my own style of fishing a particular species to give an example.  I’ll focus on St. Croix Custom Ice (CCI), as they offer a wide variety of modifications that make the most sense for the fishing I do.  Perhaps I’m interested in finding a good walleye rod.  The first thing I need to do is answer a few questions about the way I fish for ‘eyes.  Let’s say that I primarily fish for walleyes in less than 20 feet of water, out on the open ice, using a good variety of 1/16 oz. to 1/8 oz. jigs and spoons.  I’m 5’10”, am not much of a pistol gripper, but I do prefer to put a finger on the rod-blank for bite detection.  For those reasons above, I’d be looking for a medium to medium light blank with a fast action taper, in 32”-36”es, with recoil or other ice-resistant guides, offering a split or smaller grip.  The St. Croix CCI Perch/Eye Spoon (CC28MLF) with those specs fits the bill perfectly.

Break that information down, and you start to see how a custom rod is a precise tool for exact scenarios.  While standing on the ice, 36” lengths for my height are perfect to jig low to the sheet, preventing wind from hampering bite detection, and giving me plenty of length to absorb wide head-shakes from bigger fish.  If fishing primarily in a shelter however, I’d go no longer than a 32” rod to prevent catching the tip on canvas during a hookset.  The medium light fast action fishes 1/8 oz. spoons primarily well, loading up the rod enough to create great feel without overloading the blank.  A split grip seems more fancy than functional, but it allows me to grip the rod further forward and get a finger on the blank without it being too awkward.  Quite simply, it fits better in my hand.  The recoil guides allow me to fish in frigid conditions and clear the few ice droplets that form with a small flick. 

At this point you might think that I’ve taken this too far.  Surely you don’t need an artisanal rod just to catch a few fish?  To that I’d answer that there are some great semi-custom or higher end ice rods on the market that are mass produced, yet still made in enough configurations to satisfy most anglers in the majority of the ice situations they face.  That said, I can put a golf ball on the green from a hundred yards with my 3 wood, yet I can do so more consistently with a nine iron and some backspin.  It’s less about spending up to a dollar amount, and more about getting the right tool for the job. 

Some things to think about in analyzing your fishing include the following: depth, lure weight, species, sitting/standing/kneeling, inside shelter or outside, how you grip your ice rod, colors, and many others.  Of course, sifting through all of these variables and coming up with the ultimate combination for any one situation is also part of the fun.  Rod manufacturers are eager to give suggestions too, as more than likely if you’re trying to dream it, they’ve probably already built a similar one for another customer.  Keep it fun and start small.  Chances are, if you research and choose well, you’ll look to add more to the rod box in coming years and will know better what to look for with a bit of experience.  No matter which one you choose, give some honest thought to the above variables and you can’t go wrong.