By Noel Vick with Brian “Bro” Brosdahl

Few see them. Others either dismiss the sightings as hooey or are cursed to believe but never catch even a fleeting glimpse of one. These, you might call freshwater poltergeists, can be as common as the ghosts of missing mariners on pirate vessels, but still scarcely witnessed. Believers see them. Brian “Bro” Brosdahl sees them, and then catches them like genies in a bottle.

Bro is haunted by humungous panfish. They keep him awake at night. Cause him to swerve to the shoulder daydreaming on the way to find them. Difference between Bro and other ghost hunters, though, is his success rate. Bro captures them on hook and on film. And then like any steward of bluegill-building programs, he releases everything over 8-inches.

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By Ted Pilgrim with Tony Boshold

Redefining “Classic” Ice Fisheries

Some of the best walleye fishing you can imagine is occurring in places you might never think to look. Historic numbers of fish up to 10-pounds, even larger, are today living and thriving in lakes and reservoirs that only five years back were nearly empty of these coveted freshwater animals.

In the scope of the past two to three decades, given all the ups and downs that have occurred within these freshwater environs, there’s a new “normal” in the realm of productive walleye fisheries. The fabulous fishing has for years remained something of a secret—until now. The secret is this: Some of the best walleye waters along the Ice Belt now lie within the cozy confines of shallow, sometimes small, often highly fertile lakes and reservoirs surrounded by prairie and farm country. The same holds true of waters in certain metropolitan areas. Rather than brimming with loads of puny yellow perch, walleyes in these waters munch on infinite schools of bullheads, small crappies, sunfish and even baby carp.

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By Scott Glorvigen

Going micro – even narrowing line diameter – puts midwinter crappies on ice 

In my mind, there’s no such thing as the ‘midwinter blues’ when it comes to ice fishing. Waiting it out until late winter isn’t an option, nor is the thought of lowering my expectations – a willingness to accept a mere few fish to show for a day’s efforts on the lake. This is especially true with crappies. They, perhaps more than any other species, can be located and convinced to bite when winter’s odds are stacked against you.

Finding fish is the obvious first order of business. On natural lakes, even reservoirs for that matter, there are principal physical features to seek out. Topping the chart are holes pocketing the basin – deep divots smack dab in the middle of flatness and nothingness. Time on the water has proven out that half acre to acre sized depressions present the greatest promise, too. Smaller ones simply can’t support a significant volume of fish; larger ones are too obvious and get pulverized by other anglers.

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By Ted Pilgrim with Tony Boshold

Champion Ice Angler Discusses his Favorite ‘Fish Finder’

Ice fishing ace Tony Boshold sees the big picture. Give the world champion angler an auger and an underwater camera in the morning, and later that day, he’ll have discovered the lion’s-share of a lake’s secrets. Many of the top anglers fishing the competitive ice fishing circuit these days utilize a MarCum camera—including reigning NAIFC Team-of-the-Year Champs Jacek Gawlinski and Zibi Wojcik. Yet fewer anglers than you’d think emulate Boshold and the Polish tandem – disappearing into the horizon, dipping the camera lens beneath an unending string of predrilled ice holes. That’s gradually changing, however, as underwater cameras earn the status of ‘standard equipment.’

“There’s only one way to discover and really learn the best spots in a lake,” says Boshold. “Fishing each hole takes time, but the camera gives me an instant thumbs-up or down. If fish are there, there’s no hiding from the lens—I see ‘em right now. And the other key is that MarCum’s high-resolution color LCD shows me fish and cover in detail you can’t get with other systems. Makes a huge difference. Lots of people think the camera is a great fish-catching tool— and it is—but it might be the best fish-finding tool on ice.”

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By Mitch Eeagan

Three pro anglers make a quiet habit of catching fish from clear waters

When lakes freeze over and fishing pros Mark Martin, Mike Gofron and Mark Brumbaugh can’t launch their Lund boats, you’ll surely find them ice fishing the inland waters and Great Lakes near their homes.

The distinguished angling trio, who reside in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio, respectfully, are surrounded by some of the clearest water in the country. These waterways have always been lucid enough to see bottom in 20 feet of water, even before the HEPA-filter-like zebra and quagga muscles invaded their way into the systems, siphoning waters even cleaner than before.

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By Paul A. Nelson

The best time to search for winter crappie spots is in the fall, when anglers can capitalize on the mobility of a boat and onboard sonar to cruise around marking spots mentally, preferably with GPS, too. Once the lakes freeze, though, assuming you didn’t conduct autumn reconnaissance, your tools are a lake map, GPS map chip to select probable areas, and then a whole lot of exploratory hole drilling.

Crappies in most lakes will already be near their winter locations by the time surface temperatures reach the low 50s, so there is a window of opportunity every year to do some homework in a boat before the upcoming ice fishing season.

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By Ted Pilgrim

Why “Live” Beats “Dead” on Ice

The rodtip of the deadstick springs suddenly and energetically to life. ‘Dead’stick? It seems at once a confusing mix of metaphors for a tactic so reliant on the vigor and vitality of a wild baitfish. Below the ice, dormant or just plain dead minnows take pike, maybe the occasional wintertime catfish. But hang a limp, lifeless shiner or chub before the gaping maws of a hefty walleye, and you might just as well present a wet sock on a hook.

Deadstick set in a holder, a bouncing rodtip acts like a beacon, simultaneously prodding the bait to continue its underwater dance, while also pinging the lateral lines of those predators driven by flag-white tails. That anglers refer to this seemingly passive activity as “deadsticking” seems a rather curious irony—even within the sometimes-illogical sport of ice fishing.

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By Tom Neustrom

It happened again, just like the last Minnesota Walleye Opener, and one before that. We were dosie-doe-ing amongst dozens of other boats, all square dancing over a giant piece of structure and dipping jigs. Not bragging, but like last time and the time before that, our Lund’s catch rate trumped the dance floor. Soon, other boats orbited us like moons circling a planet. Elbow room tightened, but we continued hauling in walleye after walleye while the invaders struggled to scoop up our scraps.

The ‘tail-pipers’ appeared to be using similar jigs draped with live shiners, too. But still, the barrel of our landing net stayed hot while they drifted by fishless – the difference not being with what they were using but rather how they presented it.

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By Mitch Eagan

Behemoths may not come easy, but the devoted know beastly pike are worth the time

Bait mangling marauders. Lure pilfering predators. Slimy line-shearing snakes.

Sad but true, the northern pike often gets no justice. But it’s only anglers that have deprived themselves of targeting trophy-size fish during the summer months that take up this preposterous position. While many anglers cast shoreward only and curse the hammer-handles for tearing up their terminal tackle, ardent Esox anglers probe the depths for giants, even though the time gaps between bites can sometimes be long.

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By Tony Roach

One of the most overused terms in fishing today is “reaction strike.” It seems like every time you turn around, someone else is talking about a scenario where a fish has been magically stimulated to bite. The truth, of course, is that fish strike baits for one primary reason—to eat. As anglers, we’re in the persuasion business—doing things with presentation that allure fish to bite when they otherwise wouldn’t. It’s actually a pretty apt description for the role of a lively baitfish.

I can make an awfully convincing case for the supreme reaction strike triggering power of a live minnow, such as a meaty golden shiner or a creek chub, for any fish species, including bass and trout. But for now, I’ve mainly got walleyes on the brain—a fish that’s so fond of eating live minnows that you sometimes wonder why anglers neglect to use them throughout the openwater season. We’re talking about a critter so delectable that it actually fishes itself. Get one swimming and darting in front of a big marble eyed titan and let the minnow take over from there.

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