Ice conditions in the 412 lakes area are in excellent shape. Most area lakes are solidly over a foot of good clear ice and up to 18 inches on some bodies of water. The ice for this time of year is as good as we have had in years. The minimal amount of snow and good ice is making for easy access and travel. Reports for all species continue to be very good and have been consistent since early ice.
Finding the proper locations for fishing for your desired species is the most important factor when it comes to not just fishing, but catching fish. If you are using all the right lures and baits, but you aren’t on top of fish, you may not do much catching. Yes, some of the high action baits and aggressive techniques can call fish in from some distance, but that is not as sensible as figuring out how to get on the structure, edge, or location that is holding fish.
Two considerations exist for maximizing your time on the ice. The first is locating the spot you want to fish. The second is being able to interpret what is below you when you get there. Both benefit greatly by good quality electronics.
Now, you can get apps for smart phones that have mapping structure, and that can be one way to solve the location issue. Other options include handheld GPS units. If you already own a GPS unit or a combination GPS/sonar unit, you can adapt it for your ice fishing. If it is one of the newer units with a built in GPS antenna, your adaptation is very easy. If it is an older unit that requires the remote received you will have a little more work ahead of you to make that work. You can remove the power cord (or buy an extra, much less work), and attach it to a 12v plug. It can be plugged into your power outlet in your vehicle and powered up to use your GPS with your mapping. The older units will need the power cord and the antenna set on the dash.
If just setting out with a portable and no vehicle, the units can be powered by a battery. You will need more than the small vexilar type battery. To stay light, you can use a motorcycle-type battery. If weight isn’t an issue, one of your boats’ deep cycle batteries will work. Alligator clips make attaching the female end of the 12v plug easy. Almost all hardware stores will carry the cell phone/cigarette lighter type plugs.
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The modern flasher units, liquid crystal display units, or the modern digital reading units all do a great job of interpreting what is below you. New units can run a little over $200, but higher end units with more usable features can cost up to $500.
Ice fishing is the perfect fishing situation to use underwater cameras. Let the lenses down slow when getting it close to the bottom so it doesn’t silt the bottom.
Cameras and sonar units can verify your structure content and let you know the presence, or lack of presence of fish. These units can also help you interpret the mood of the fish and what is working, or not working to get them to bite. It’s not like you can’t catch fish without modern electronics - you can - but boy do they help!
Maybe you’ll get some gifts over the holidays that you will get out to practice with on the ice for the rest of the hard water season.
(Laabs runs Brad Laabs’ Guide Service in Detroit Lakes.)
