The key to ice fishing success

Have you ever been out on the ice, sitting at the same hole for a few hours, wondering why you haven’t caught any fish? You scroll through your Fishbrain feed and see piles of perch and trophy walleye being posted and you can’t figure out why everyone else is catching fish. You too are on the ice, toughing it out with a line in the water, you should be getting a piece of the pie.

The Secret To Success is...

The fundamental strategy for savvy ice anglers with big catch photos is staying mobile. Staying mobile means tactically planning and executing a strategy to cover a variety of locations in search of fish. You only have a 3-5 ft cone beneath the ice to present your offering. While it’s true fish can come to you, more realistically, you need to go to the fish. Approach ice fishing as if you were hunting by staying mobile to increase your catch count. 

Tips for Improving Ice Fishing Mobility

Map Out 3-4 Locations

You need to approach a body of ice with a game plan, otherwise the workload of hauling gear in cold climates is overwhelming. Map out 3-4 separate locations on the Fishbrain map that support substantially different structural features such as points, holes, humps and flats. Fish hold to structural transitions, but you don’t know which specific transitions they will hold to on any given week. Make sure you space the locations sequentially to reduce travel distance and down time. By pre-mapping, you solidify a game plan that is efficiently executed vs. holding to one spot.

Drill 10-15 Holes in Each Location

While fish align themselves to structure, you won’t know how they are holding relative to the transitions. Drill 10-15 holes in a zig-zag pattern at various depths across the structural feature. For example, drilling 5 holes on the edge of a drop-off, 5 holes as the depth declines, and five holes throughout the deepest section that flattens off. Fish like changes in depth and bottom consistency, but these changes lie shallow and deep. Drill at various depths throughout a structural feature to snuff out a spot on the spot.

Hole Hop for 5-10 Minutes

Fish each hole for roughly 5-10 minutes until you mark fish on your flasher or start feeling bites. It is incredibly important to have a condensed and portable assortment of lures that cover multiple species like the Tailored Tackle Ice Fishing Kit. This enables you to switch out your baits from your pocket as you travel from hole to hole at a far distance from your base camp. A lot of times you will be surprised with a different species than you target. It is good practice to sport a multi-species ice fishing combo so you can take advantage of a surprise walleye bite while your targeting perch.

If you are just getting started on ice fishing, check out our free How to Ice Fish PDF.