Winter Strategies for Spring Success

By: Garett Svir

Photography: Kim Svir

The ice season has come to an end but don’t throw out the larva or put away the ice fishing jigs quite yet. You might find success using winter strategies for spring success. After ice out, crappies will start to make their way from the deep water haunts of winter to shallow black bottom bays. It’s not spawning time. These fish are searching for the buffet line. Black bottom bays soak up the heat of the sun like a sponge and hold bug hatches necessary to start the food chain. Crappies sneak in on warm days for a quick meal long before the spawn begins. While minnows are a great producer once water temperatures have warmed, ice out slabs require finesse presentations. I think the experiment stemmed from my unpreparedness for the coming season. Winter jig boxes and larva somehow made their way into the boat one spring morning. Now I never leave them behind and don’t think you will want to either.

Predictable locations make searching for crappies at ice out fairly basic. Bays located on the northern end of lakes warm up first and see the first signs of life. Feeder creeks can also hold insect life and draw in crappies for a quick bite. Soft bottom shorelines on the northern end of lakes are also areas worth exploring. Look for anything that will transfer heat into the water like tree branches, cattails or wood dock pillars. We pay close attention to the temperature reading on the graph when scoping out areas. It’s amazing what a difference a few degrees make to crappies this time of year. On one outing last year after searching out several bays we learned an important lesson in temperature. The first bay we fished was void of fish. Normally, after striking out, we would start to search different types of areas and abandon black bottom bays altogether. On this particular day, we decided to check out a similar bay in the other basin of the lake. We headed to some overhanging tree branches in the far back section and were greeted with a water temperature 3 degrees higher than in the first bay. We found crappies stacked up against tree limbs and when we didn’t get snagged, we hooked fish. Just that small change in temperature made all the difference. Another important lesson we learned was that while It’s easy to overlook the really snag infested areas; these areas often hold some of the largest specimens. Looking through old fishing log books, I also uncovered that many of my biggest crappies have been caught right after ice out, long before the spawn.  

Stealth is equally as important in the spring as during late ice. We use the electric motor to slip into bays and deploy the anchor quietly. Excess commotion will push shallow water slabs deeper into unreachable cover. Cold fronts may also push fish deep into heavy cover or into the deepest part of bays. Fronts will sometimes push fish out of bays altogether but don’t fret because they seldom go far. The first break line outside of the bay will offer crappies the security they need to wait out a front. Once the weather stabilizes, fish will make their way back to the buffet line.

Float fishing brings out the kid in all of us. If your childhood was anything like mine, many hours were devoted to watching a float and patiently waiting for it to slip beneath the water’s surface. My level of excitement hasn’t changed much since those early days. I still love the anticipation of float fishing. Ice out crappie fishing is a great opportunity to release that inner child. The round bobbers of your childhood may lead to light strikes going unnoticed but adult versions do exist. I started using small clear floats that attach with surgical tubing. My favorite is the 2.4 gram Drennan Crystal Loafer. These floats are used by tournament anglers in the UK because of their incredible sensitivity. These floats can be perfectly weighted to achieve neutral buoyance. The goal is to have enough weight so only the orange top of the float is above water. If a crappie as much as thinks about sampling your offering, these floats will alert you. Crappies are still biting just as light as when you left them a few weeks ago during late ice. Many anglers abandon small presentations at ice out and go straight to large bobbers and minnows while anglers in the know stick with cold water presentations.

Jigs for early season success should be small. Some of my favorites are the 3 mm tungsten jigs from Fiskas. They cast with ease and weight floats to that sensitive level of neutral buoyancy. I also like the 2.5 mm Hole-In Jig from Fiskas. I tend to tip these with micro plastics and use a slow retrieve to swim them back to the boat. Hole-In Jigs, by design, stay perfectly horizontal without having to position knots. The poor crappies don’t have a chance. Some other stealthy options include 1/64^th oz calf tail jigs. Calf tail jigs take on a life of their own under water. They can be tipped with a single wax worm and fished in a stationary manner or worked back to the boat without bait. Experience has taught me that cold water crappies prefer a smooth gliding motion over jerky up and down movements. Experiment with float depth and speed of retrieve until you crack the code.

It feels great to be back in the boat, feeling the heat from the spring sun, but before you race to put away your ice fishing gear give winter strategies a try. It’s a great technique to tempt cold water slabs and make you a more versatile angler.

North Shore of Lake Superior Spring Photo Essay

Well it's almost steelhead season on Lake Superior's North Shore. Great time to look back on some of last years adventures..

Lake Superior Pack Ice

Lake Superior is a beautiful place this time of year!

Tournament Strategies to Improve Your Panfish Game

Tournament Strategies to Improve Your Panfish Game

By: Garett Svir

Competition drives anglers to fish at the top of their game. Human beings are competitive by nature and when anglers compete, great ideas are born. Tournament anglers learn how to manage inefficiencies. They find fish that other anglers overlook. They learn how to catch discerning fish, and not just accept that they are not biting. In a winter panfish tournament, success is measured by ounces rather than pounds. Missing a single bluegill could be the difference between cashing a check or leaving empty handed. Even if you don’t want to approach your next ice outing like its tournament day, the techniques that are developed in the heat of battle can help all of us have more fun on the ice this winter. Here are some tournament winning strategies that will make you more successful on the hard water this winter.

Schooley Reels- Michael Thompson, from the USA Ice Fishing Team, has been using Schooley Reels since the 1980’s. He likes the fact that these reels do not twist line. The twists that are caused from line being spun around a fixed spool can be a panfish deterrent. Picky panfish want a jig that will rock and kick seductively but not spin. Schooley Reels have a plastic spool that revolves on a pin and wraps line on straight without twisting it. They are also extremely light weight and comfortable to jig with. The cost effectiveness of the Schooley allows an angler to rig multiple rods and switch presentations quickly.

Mormyshka Jigs- These jigs have been a guarded secret among tournament pros for a long time. Instead of having an eye where line is tied on, these jigs have a hole that runs through the center. The line is then snelled around the hook at the base of the jig. This imparts an action that is irresistible to bluegills. These jigs also stay horizontal and eliminate the need to reposition your knot after every fish.

Tricked out Buckets- Michael Thompson’s fishing bucket is not something you will find in a sporting goods store. It is rigged up with a Ram mounted Vexilar. The flasher is mounted in an ergonomic position that allows him to see how fish are reacting to his presentation and watch his line for bites in the same field of vision. Looking back and forth between line and electronics could cost an angler that tournament winning bite. A clip on the bottom of the bucket holds excess transducer cable in place for ease of moving between holes. This is taking efficiency to an entirely new level. He can walk up, set his bucket next to the hole and begin fishing right away with no set-up required. According to Thompson, you are not catching fish when your jig is not in the water so a tournament angler must learn to limit down time.

Michigan Rigs- This season, I have become obsessed with Michigan rigs. It’s really nothing more than a drop shot rig for ice fishing. I start out by attaching a piece of leader material to my line with a blood knot. This leaves me with two tag ends. I pick the straighter of the two ends and attach a fly. The other end is then trimmed off and discarded. On the bottom of the leader I attach a split shot. Where it’s legal to use two hooks, a small horizontal jig like the Genz Bug can also be very effective. I’ve been using a #14 soft hackle from Jeff’s Jigs and Flies. com with great success. The slightest shake of the rod handle will bring these flies to life and allow them to swim perfectly in a horizontal manner.

Shallow Cover- I have had some of my best day’s bluegill fishing in less than 7 feet of water. Predator fish, along with heavy fishing pressure, will often push the biggest bluegills into heavy cover. The key is to find small open areas near green healthy weeds. An underwater camera allows an angler to search out these openings and judge the quality of the weeds. I have also noticed that bluegills will often use specific “highways” to navigate through cover. I’ve had days where we hooked fish all day in a highway through heavy cover while anglers 10 feet away never seen a fish. Finding these pathways is not magic. It comes down to lots of drilling and camera work.

Speed Fishing- Tournament anglers’ fish fast. Fishing with a partner allows one angler to drill and the other to scope things out with the flasher. If no fish are present, the transducer is swung in the hole like a pendulum in all directions. If any suspended lines are seen this will give you an idea which direction to drill. The goal is to cover as much water as possible and connect with aggressive fish. Tungsten jigs fish fast and allow anglers to punch through slush without wasting time slush scooping holes.  

Consider fishing a tournament this winter. Competing with other anglers will get you thinking like an innovator and will improve your panfish game. Just make sure to share some of those great concepts with me. 

Ice Fishing Photos

Bluegills Secrets Reveled

Bluegills Secrets Reveled

By: Garett Svir

Photography: Kim Svir

It’s 5 am and you’re up brewing coffee. Lake map in hand you make last minute decisions before heading out to load gear. Mother Nature’s icy grip has taken hold as you head out to temperatures well below freezing. Armed with an assortment of jigs and plastics you make your way out into the frozen tundra. Big bluegills can do crazy things to a person. They can consume your thoughts. If this sounds like a normal weekend to you, then you just may have what it takes to ice a bluegill over 10” this winter. Big bluegills can be tough customers. The best eye sight in the business coupled with an uncanny way of tasting a bait before committing can make them very difficult at times. When it comes to winter bluegills it seems like 10 % of anglers are hooking 90% of the fish. So what are their secrets? I decided to pick the brains of two of the best in the business… Dave Genz and Dave Young.

Dave Genz is considered the founding father of modern ice fishing. The winter fishing system that he developed has forever changed the way that anglers ice fish. Instead of dragging a small house out onto the ice to stay comfortable, we can now stay out of the elements and remain mobile with the advent of his Fish Trap. His inventions were born out of necessity on his quest to catch more and bigger bluegills.

Genz fishes more by feel than by line watching. It is something that he refers to as cadence. “It’s just like fishing with a crank bait, you want the fish to feel it in their lateral line” says Genz.  He has learned to feel his jig pounding in the water. When he can no longer feel the jig pounding he sets the hook knowing that a fish has inhaled his offering. He prefers clear line in 2 pound test over the high visibility stuff. Genz expressed that sometimes a person has to cut the bluegills a little slack. He informed me that when the bite gets tough and you find yourself missing fish to briefly drop the rod tip and immediately set the hook. This is something that he learned by years of bobber fishing. “Sometimes you have to let them take it” explains Genz. When he started using Vexilar 25 years ago he used to write articles about how to catch sniffers, those picky fish that would not bite. He wrote about finesse presentations and dropper rigs. He has now changed his school of thought regarding this and opts to drill more holes and search out active bitters. “I want to make that first drop down a new hole” he explains. He firmly believes that those first drops down a new hole produce his biggest bluegills of the season. “At the end of the day that strategy will produce more fish” says Genz. You want to have the mindset that a small percentage of the fish in a particular body of water are bitters, and that it’s the anglers job to search out those bitters. When asked about structure he expressed that his favorite spots for bluegills are deep weed edges. He prefers to search these areas over deep basins because he can usually find less pressured fish. “Deep basin areas can be good early before the crowd develops” he explains. Once the crowds hit an area, it is beneficial to strike off to find less pressured fish.

You may remember Dave Young from the television reality series Ice Men that aired on the Versus Channel. Young is considered an authority on tight line fishing for finicky bluegills. Spending 35 years on the hard water, Young has also seen it all. He knows how to get it done in tough conditions. Young has spent countless hours showing others the art of tight lining. When he is teaching someone to tight line, he does not let his students use a flasher. He believes that this can be a distraction for anglers new to this style of fishing. “An angler must first learn to watch their line and detect subtle strikes” he explains. This also forces new anglers to fish the entire water column and they will often catch fish that come in quickly from outside the cone angle of the flasher. The amount of concentration that Young employs is unmatched. He jokes of bringing Advil with him on tournament day because he gets headaches from concentrating too much on his line. If you watch Young with a jigging rod it almost looks like he is jigging in a circle. When questioned Young stated, “A jigging style is like a finger print and is unique to every angler.” You can still believe that I am going to add circle jigging to my bag of tricks this winter. “I am watching my line as far down into the water as I can see it” tells Young. This allows him to see even the slightest irregularities in his jigging sequence. He’s watching the small kinks in his line that appear while jigging. If he notices the kinks in his line straighten out, he sets the hook. He is also looking for his line to go slack. This alerts him that a fish has grabbed his bait and swam up in the water column. His line of choice is 2 pound test Stren in high visibility yellow. He likes the way yellow shows up against snow and ice. He developed an ice rod for HT and pairs it with a small plastic reel called a Schoolie. On tournament day, 28 rigged rods will make it onto the ice. This allows Young to switch presentations quickly without taking the time to re-tie. Throughout the interview he stressed the importance of versatility. “Some times I work fish from the top down and other times I work them from the bottom up” he explained.

The play book is open. The best in the business have revealed tactics to help you ice more bluegills this winter. I hope that some of those bluegills make it back down the hole. I recently learned of an organization called Recycled Fish. They are encouraging anglers to release their largest bluegills to keep big fish genetics in our favorite lakes and ensure big fish in the future.  Become more than a sportsman, become a steward of our lakes and take the sportsman’s stewardship pledge at http://www.recycledfish.org.

Gear Review: Nettie's Natural Soaps

The crew at Slab Seeker Fishing recently had the opportunity to field test a soap named Hook, Line & No More Stinker from Nettie's Natural Soaps of Onalaska, WI. This soap is made with all natural ingredients and is infused with anise, a known fish attractant.  We wanted to test this on some of the Great Lakes toughest customers, the king salmon.  We all know how particular salmon can be when it comes to left over scents on your hands. While this was in no way a scientific experiment, we washed regularly with Hook, Line & No More Stinker and had plenty of salmon to show for our efforts.  

The soap also did a great job of removing the fish smell from our hands at the end of the day. I think I may send this to a few great lakes charter captains that I know. Being good Stewards of our environment, I also loved the fact that this soap is made from all natural ingredients. An affliction us trout bums are commonly plagued with is dry hands. This is bound to happen when dealing with a combination of salmon roe, wind and water.  I felt as though this soap must have contained a natural moisturizing agent because at the end of each day, my hands were left feeling a lot less dry than usual. We are going to give this one the SSSA (Slab Seeker Seal of Approval).  

Nettie's Natural Soaps is still in the inventory development stage so we cannot provide contact information at this time. When Nettie's Natural Soaps gets fully up and running, we will provide contact information so you can try these fine products. 

Disclaimer: All Slab Seeker Fishing reviews are the honest opinions of Slab Seeker Fishing. While we receive no monetary compensation, we did receive free products to review. If you have a product you'd like to have reviewed by Slab Seeker Fishing, please contact us at slabseekerfishing@hotmail.com