Trust Your Depth Finder For More Ice Fishing Success by Bob Jensen     The pond froze over early this year, at least two weeks early and in most years it would still be a month before ice comes to the small body of water that I see most days.  Although the ice isn’t safe yet, if the weather stays like it has been the past few days, we’ll be walking on the ice within a week.  This time of year, safety is the Number One consideration.  There’s no need to take an icy bath just because you want to catch a few fish through the ice. There are a few things to keep in mind throughout the ice-fishing season that will help you catch more fish from under the ice from now until ice-out.  The most important thing to do for ice-fi ...

Movin Out for January Walleyes by Ron Anlauf   Good ice came earlier this season than it has in recent memory and was welcome news for those chomping at the bit to get it all started.  In the northern part of the State anglers were even out before Thanksgiving on the shallower lakes like Red and the walleye action was red hot.  If there is a downside to the early start it might be the possibility of the notorious mid-winter slump showing up a little sooner.  Even so; January is still a great time to be on the ice and there are more opportunities right now for keeping your pole bent than at any other time during the hard water season.   Access is the key and by now you should be able get just about anywhere you want to go.  If that’s the case the next question is; where do you really want to go?  Deciding on a starting spot can be a bit of a head scratcher especially on bigger water like Red, Winnibigoshish, or Lake of the Woods.  There is just so much water to co ...

Passive Aggressive Walleyes                 by Ron Anlauf                         Good ice came early last season, earlier than it has in recent memory and was welcome news for those chomping at the bit to get it all started.  In some of the northernmost parts of the country; anglers were even out on the shallower lakes before Thanksgiving, and it’s been years since that has happened.  The attraction to the early season is action and lots of it, especially when it comes to walleyes.  They typically start out gangbusters and slow down steadily as the season progresses and some of the most exciting bites come early in the season.  Productive early season techniques include plenty of jigging spoons and are really hard to beat when you’re looking for fish.  A spoon tipped with a minnow head is qu ...