Spring is HERE

 Open water fishing is off to a hot start this month.  I have focused only on bass fishing thus far this spring with some great trips already in the books.  Here are my must have 3 baits for early bass season:

#1- Wig's Jig and Chunk: This has been a favorite of mine for over a decade now.  This hand-made jig available in all the right colors paired with a Hot Rod Baits chunk is always ready to be pitched this time of year.  I have rotated between the Black/Blue Flash and the Bluegill pattern.  Get some today: www.hotrodbaits.com

Do these 3 Things NOW to keep your Ice Season Rolling!

The ice season is sadly on the downhill side of the season and some lakes are showing signs of the February slowdown.  Fish tend to slow down in February as the ice builds and the crowds are thick at popular Iowa lakes/rivers. There are a few simple things that ice anglers need to do to get through this tough time and onto the late ice bite...which can be even better than first ice.

#1- FRESH LINE: Now is a perfect time to get some fresh line on your reels.  You DO NOT need to take all the line off and fill your entire spool with new line.  Most ice fishing line spools come with 100 yards of line on them.  That is enough to re-line 2 or 3 reels.  Leave plenty of older line on your reel and put the fresh right on top.  If you need more than 100 feet of line on your ice reel...you aren't fishing in Iowa.

#2- TRAVEL: One sure fire way to beat the winter slowdown is to travel to highly populated lakes.  Some lakes are better than others, some just have more fish in them than others.  Water quality, reproduction cycles, and angler pressure can all lead to this.  Research and find what lakes are "full" of fish, it will make a huge difference this time of year.

#3- TURN IT OFF: If you are using Forward Facing Sonar on the ice, it is time to turn it off.  Not all the time, but when you locate fish and use a Vexilar to catch them, do not leave the FFS in the water pointing at the fish you are trying to catch.  I have seen this over and over throughout the winter seasons.  Some fish will move from their location if you leave the FFS pointing on them.  The signal of a FFS unit is strong, the fish can feel the sonar and some will react negatively towards it.  Simple fixes include; pulling it out of the hole or pointing it another direction.  The signal frequency of a Vexilar unit will omit anywhere from 150 to 300MHz, while a FFS, like a Livescope will omit 600-1,100 MHz.  Yes, the fish can feel that and make the leave the area.

These are a few things you can do in the near future to keep catching good numbers of fish through the ice.  With the current forecast...you may want to bookmark this article because late ice may be here sooner than later.  :(

1 Often OVERLOOKED aspect of using a VEXILAR

 

Using a Vexilar while ice fishing is a typical thing anymore.  The Vexilar FL-8 was introduced in the 1980s and ice fishing has never been the same since.  The ability to see under the ice to locate fish, brush and weeds changed the game forever.  It is still the most popular device used on the ice today for anglers.  Even though it is the most popular ice electronic in the Midwest, anglers often forget a key element that a Vexilar can do for them while ice fishing.  

No matter what model of Vexilar you may have, this often overlooked information can be detected with your unit.  The easy things for all Vexilar users are visually seeing the bottom, brush, weeds, your bait and of course the fish.  On those great days of ice fishing as your jig starts to fall, the fish will swim out of nowhere and meet up with your jig, a little bump on the rod and up comes the fish.  Simple, and yet so satisfying.  Those days are few and far between.  Typically, locating fish and knowing whether there are fish under us or not while ice fishing is as far as most anglers get while using a Vexilar.  There is much more.

The most often overlooked aspect of using a Vexilar is reacting to the mood of the fish.  This is much more than following the fish "up and down" the water column.  Vexilar is a real-time sonar device and we as anglers need to use that information to our advantage.  Whenever our bait is down the hole we need to be analyzing the behavior of the fish.  Think of it as a Cause/Effect relationship.  If you are jigging your bait aggressively and a fish shows up...that action of your jig brought the fish nearby.  Use that information to catch it.  If the fish is getting closer (colors turning from green to yellow to red) then keep that jigging action going.  If that signal is not getting "stronger", (turning back from red to yellow to green) then make an immediate change in the cadence of your bait.  It truly is a cat/mouse game all the time.  The more you can focus in on what the colors on the Vexilar are telling you, the better you can adjust your cadence to get more fish attracted to you, and then get them to bite.  Some days all fish will react the same, mostly due to weather patterns or light penetration through the ice.  However, most days each fish has its own mood that we need to detect while it is under us.  Most do not give you much time to make this adjustment.  Be aware of the marks on your Vexilar and always think about the reactions of the fish, they are telling you what they like...and don't like. The more we can decipher this the more fish we will catch.

The ONE Ice Fishing COMBO Everyone Needs

 

Bluegills are known for light bites

Ice angling has changed so much in the past ten years, it is hard to believe at times.  One of the biggest advancements is electronics.  Vexilar keeps making their flashers better and better with each new release.  Their newest, the FLX-38 is a huge step above any other unit they have ever produced.  Forward Facing sonar (FFS) has completely changed the game on top of the ice.  These units can tell you exactly where the fish are...and more importantly where the fish "aren't".  However, one thing in the industry hasn't changed over the few decades which often causes anglers to miss out on opportunities while ice fishing.  I am referring to the rods/reels that we use.   

There are a lot of different rods out there to choose from.  Dozens and dozens of companies have a multitude of rod lengths, actions and handle preferences.  The "noodle rod" was all the buzz a few years ago and is still probably the most used rod on the market.  Again, every company has many offerings of this style of rod, however this is not the ONE ROD that everyone needs to have when ice fishing.  The one rod that I am referring to is a spring bobber rod.  This rod has a spring bobber designed into or along side of the rod blank.  There are far fewer companies that include a spring bobber option, the best I have found is Clam Outdoors.  They have several choices to choose from and they sell a good product.  A spring bobber isn't always needed, I may use it 1 out of 4 days that I fish.  It is a specialty rod that is made for jigs 4mm and smaller.  They really shine when using 2mm tungsten and light lead jigs.  If you are using some 4mm and larger jigs a properly balance noodle rod will work the same.  Back to the spring bobber...a spring bobber will help you see the lightest bites.  This has already helped me once in this young ice fishing season.  When anglers in the same area were reporting catching 5-15 fish, I ended the day catching dozens of fish...all because of the spring bobber.  The bluegills were hitting the jig so gently that other rods would not show the bite, thus the fish ended up just taking my bait.  As soon as I made the switch to a spring bobber, I immediately started catching fish at a higher rate.  It was like someone flipped a switch.  Again, it isn't like this every day on the ice, but when the bite gets soft, there is no better choice than a spring bobber.

The spring bobber is an extension of the rod to help you see the lightest of bites.

I hope this bit of information will help you get more fish on the ice this winter, as always, be safe out there.

Ice Season 2025/26 is HERE!

 

A limit of BLUEGILLS to start the season

The season rolled in quickly this year catching many anglers off guard.  Last weekend marked he first "safe ice" in Iowa for anglers to enjoy.  "Safe ice" of course is a relative terms and one not to take lightly.  Same lakes in Iowa are still wide open with water, while others have 8 or more inches on them in areas.  SAFETY is the most important thing to keep on your mind this time of year with the varying ice conditions.  I get asked all the time, "How do you know the ice is safe?"  I always say, "There is only one way to find out for sure, go test it."  Accessing lakes with a safety strategy and the proper safety tools is a must this time of year.  These include: a spud bar, rope, flotation cushion, and a Friend.  A spud bar will help you gage the ice as you hit it on the ice for every step.  This allows you a test that shows how hard/thick the ice is before you walk on it.  It is a must this time of year for exploring new ice.  The most important tool...is to take a friend.  Fishing alone this time of year, or fishing without a rope or flotation device is simply a STUPID thing to do.  Check the ice often...and you will fish another day.

The 2025/26 season started off on the Mississippi River for me.  I headed to a local community hole, Bussey Lake on Friday, December 5th.  There were many anglers out with reports of "catching" by the local bait shop.  The ice was solid in the area, ranging from 5-6 inches.  I started to pick up a few bluegills right away in about five feet of water.  I was not seeing very many fish coming through the area on the Vexilar FLX38, so I decided to hop around a bit to see what else was out there.  I quickly some water that was a bit shallower and had some nice weeds present.  Fish, especially bluegills love weeds.  I immediately started catching gills once I was in the weedline.  The fish were coming through at a regular rate looking for their next meal.  Not only do weeds hold a lot of small creatures for these river bluegills to eat, the weeds also provide great cover for the bluegills from predators like largemouth bass and northern pike that swim in the area too.  For the next 5 hours or so I sat on two holes of the Mississippi River backwater and caught gill after gill.  The weedline was one of the keys for locating fish today.  It allowed me to keep my limit of 25 fish, enough for a couple of meals for my parents and a meal for my family.  I also caught a half-dozen largemouth bass and a crappie on the day too.  It was a great way to start the ice season!