Make the most of your time this season! By: Jeff Gustafson
find the schools of crappie or the small rock piles on the flats that are going to attract perch and walleye than it is to do this kind of searching on the ice. I’ll mark these spots with a waypoint, then transfer them to a GPS on my snowmobile.
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My first trips on the ice are in December, so those are my target species early on. Lake trout season opens January 1 in Northwest Ontario and once that rolls around, I like to chase lakers just like everybody else. The walleye fishing is great early on because the fish on the well-known, obvious humps and points have had a good amount of time where they haven’t been getting pressured by anglers. Schools of crappies are bigger and tighter than they are after they receive pressure, which will reduce their numbers and break up the schools.
s I get older it seems like the open water seasons go by faster and faster. I spent more days in my boat this past year than I ever have, fishing right up until the end. I live for spending time on the water and while I love the time I get to spend in my Lund, I’m also a big fan of ice fishing. Always have been. Though I don’t get to spend as much time on the ice as I did before I pursued my professional bass tournament career, I still get out on the ice a bunch and have some fun. Here are some of my top tips As far as baits go, I keep it pretty simple with for fishing early season, mid-season and late old standbys like a Northland Buck-Shot season on the ice this year.
EARLY SEASON SUCCESS While the late ice time frame is probably my favourite time to be on the ice – we’ll get to that more later, early ice offers us some great opportunity to get out there and catch a bunch of fish. During a normal season, the first few weeks of safe ice usually give us easy access because we don’t have to deal with deep snow, extreme cold and slush. It’s much easier to get around and the fishing is good. Most schools of walleye, crappie and perch haven’t seen a lure in a couple of months so they are typically Early in the season less snow on the ice makes it easier to fish & get around. eager to bite. Spending time in my boat late in the fall gives me the upper hand when we can start getting out on the ice because most fish can be found in the same locations. It’s much more efficient to idle around in a boat to Winter 2024
A Rattling Spoon tipped with a minnow head is my top bait for perch & walleye. sometimes you need to add a little bit of finesse with the small jigs.
I am always willing to try the new baits that hit the market each winter and because the fishing is so good around Lake of the Woods, most of them work. There have been great advancements with the baits we have access too, especially jigs made from tungsten, which are smaller and heavier than traditional lead. Paint jobs are getting more realistic and better as well. The one aspect that trumps the bait you choose to drop down the hole and everything else, is that you have to find the fish. You can have the magic lure but if there are no fish around, you’re probably not going to be bending your rod a lot. (Continued on page 4.)
Spoon for the walleyes and perch, while the combination of a small spoon or a tungsten jig tipped with plastic works for me on the crappies. I like the spoons because they get down to fish on the electronics quickly but Just Fishing . 3
