Ice Team – Key to early season ice-fishing success: Avoid highly pressured fish

Ice Team Terry Tuma1st Reported on Terry Tuma Blog, and Ice Team Member: The odd winter that has shaped up in the past month means we’re still targeting early-ice walleyes and other fish species. Common action plans this period suggest targeting shallow fish. We’re brainwashed to constantly fish on the bottom, but please understand that predator fish will suspend in deeper water right now if there’s a food source present.

Ice team 150Yes, early ice opportunities often equate to shallow fish, but that given is dependent on factors like fishing pressure, food sources, and general fishing conditions. If a lot of people are fishing a shallow area, they will push fish into deeper locations. I’ve seen this many times with multiple species of fish, from walleyes and pike to perch and bluegills.

Other factors will cause fish to move. If there’s no food in these specific locations, fish still need to eat and adjacent deeper water just might contain forage. Noise also really comes into play on lakes with excessive traffic or lacking any snow cover. Again, more fishing pressure almost inevitably means more noise. Fronts also can push fish into deeper water. 

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