Finding success — and fish — on the ice

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — Many years by the first week of January, Mike Wirth, Ward Stubbs and I are driving our pickup trucks on a foot of ice atop the lakes of west-central Minnesota.

As we headed north on I-35 a few days ago, we were wondering if we would find fishable ice. Even 30 miles west of Minneapolis, some lakes were wide-open while others showed areas of open water.

We had heard the reports of rescues on Red Lake and a fatality on Lake of the Woods when a tracked Bombardier broke through while transporting a group of anglers.

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We never saw an angler on the water or ice on the way, although I did see a bass boat at a convenience store. And we did have some inside information.

Just after Christmas, Wirth and Stubbs made the trip to the Alexandria region and found six inches of quality ice on a couple of the smaller lakes we like to fish. On the other hand, it had warmed into the 40s for a couple of days since then and rained hard enough and long enough to threaten the existing hard water.

So, we really didn't know what awaited us when we made our first stop a few miles west of Alexandria. As we stepped onto the lake, water gurgled through a hole in the thin, cracked ice on one side of the landing. The other side looked solid, though, and Wirth confirmed as much by driving a spud bar into the ice for the first few yards.

"There's at least four or five inches," he said. "We should be good."

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Still, it never hurts to be cautious no matter how much ice you find. We all have flotation bib overalls and ice picks in case we fall through (it did happen once to a member of our party). I carry a throwable boat cushion and a long rope in the event a rescue becomes necessary.

As it turned out, dragging our sleds for three-quarters of a mile was more dangerous (at least for me) than the ice on the two lakes we fished. Both showed a uniform five to six inches all the way to the areas we wanted to fish, and it was good, clear ice with little snow cover.

During the day, we had the lakes to ourselves. Shortly before sunset each of the three days we fished, one or two other anglers made their way out for the evening bite.

Our target species were crappies and bluegills, and we weren't disappointed. Our first afternoon, seven- to eight-inch bluegills kept us busy from the time we set up until sunset. Wirth and Stubbs caught several largemouth bass, including one over four pounds.

As daylight began to fade, Wirth asked his usual question.

"So when do the crappies show up?"

Almost on cue, the crappies took over and attacked our tiny tungsten jigs tipped with small plastic tails. We also caught a few using a minnow under a float in a second hole. Everybody had flurries of chaos, and while most of the crappies were in the nine- to 10-inch range, we had a dozen or so that topped 11 inches and Stubbs iced one that passed the 12-inch mark. All of them went back into the lake.

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We returned to the same area the next morning, and the power of the float showed itself. It's a simple rig consisting of a foam bobber, a bobber stopper tied to the line to dictate depth, a split-shot for weight and a small No. 4 or No. 6 bait hook.

An hour or so after sunrise, my float disappeared and I grabbed that rod and set the hook into a heavy fish. It peeled off a few yards of line, and I thought I might have a northern pike. Then it quit running and stayed below the hole. I could feel its big head shaking back and forth and I knew I had a good walleye.

A lot of things have to go right to land big fish with teeth on three- or four-pound ice fishing line and small hooks, but sometimes it happens and eventually the head of a 25-inch walleye filled my hole in the ice. After a quick celebration and photo session, I sent the fish back where she came from.

Less than an hour later, my float vanished again and I was hooked up with another big fish. This one turned out to be a 5-pound largemouth bass. The next morning, Wirth took big fish honors for the trip with a beautiful 28-inch walleye on his float.

Overall, we caught walleyes, northern pike, largemouth bass, crappies and perch on our float rigs. We had several other big fish on, but sometimes they win. We landed a few larger fish on our tiny jigs, too, and lost a couple, as well.

We really had no idea what to expect on this trip, and that's part of what made it special. The drags were long and tiring, but worth every middle of the night leg cramp. We didn't find a lot of quality ice, but we found a lot of quality fish.

Ice fishing season is really just getting started for much of the Midwest. Be safe and be careful out there.