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Hot Topics On Ice
Panfish
MICRO seasons, or seasons within seasons, make a world of difference when locating fish. Two, three, or more micro seasons may occur under the ice, depending on the latitude and longitude of the body of water, the type of water, and the length of the ice season.
In all kinds of lakes and reservoirs, panfish move during winter. These movements may be from one area of a lake to another, or from one depth level to another. It may seem odd, since water-temperature profiles change little from ice-up to ice-out, but panfish migrations in winter are the result of environmental changes--changes in the food chain, changes in oxygen levels, changes in weedgrowth, changes in light levels, and many other factors.
In some cases, the ice season is divided neatly in half. In shallow, dish-shaped eutrophic lakes, panfish tend to move into central basin areas during early winter, though some remain on deep weedlines if green weeds exist. By late winter, they often move up in the water column, even right under the ice layer, or to current areas in search of water with more oxygen. Where this happens, the early-ice bite is hot, and the midwinter bite is not. Sometimes these lakes produce again just before ice-out.
In larger mesotrophic lakes, patterns may be more complex, with three or more micro seasons occurring. In clear lakes with deep weedlines (10 to 12 feet or deeper), some panfish stay on green weededges or in weed pockets on flats all winter. Those that go deep early often move to mid-depth flats adjacent to the deepest main-lake basin areas, not necessarily to the deepest portion of the main basin.
The variety of forage options allows panfish in larger, deeper lakes to roll with the punches, moving on to greener pastures as forage types thin. Ice-fishing can be good on these lakes all winter, but some thinking is required to find fish. Thousands of fish may be concentrated in a group, but only in specific areas and long distances from other groups.
Deeper lakes also manifest a phenomenon we call
the "tumbleweed effect." As weedbeds on main-lake bars and shelves
die back, the detritus rolls (not quite literally) down the slopes
with the mixing action of late-season thermodynamics. Forage,
including insect larvae and fish fry, along with other food, tumbles
particularly into inside turns (or pockets) along large bars. Panfish
often hold on these deeper flats (20 to 45 feet) in winter,
especially near the base of weedy main-lake bars.
Dividing The Seasons--Dave Genz, an In-Fisherman consultant on ice-fishing topics, uses information like this to divide his ice season accordingly. "At first-ice, smaller, shallower lakes without a lot of weeds are key spots," he says. "If the lake has a relatively deep neck or narrows between two small basin areas, it will be a prime area. In round lakes, panfish migrate to basin areas, making it necessary to search the whole basin. Since depth changes are slight in these lakes, a drop of one foot can be significant. Overall, however, changes in bottom composition tend to be more important than changes in depth, with changes from hard-to-soft often being key spots.
"In most cases, panfish suspend from three feet off bottom to halfway up, typically over 20- to 30-foot depths. By midwinter, these fish can't be found. The oxygen content of the lake is low by then, and fish could be up near the ice, which causes additional stress from lower temperatures. These fish aren't chewin', or the majority of fish in catchable sizes have been harvested.
"The hot bite on shallow, eutrophic lakes lasts for two to three weeks, until significant snow covers the ice, reducing sunlight penetration and plankton counts. Fishing might be reasonably good for an additional week or two, but by midwinter I avoid these lakes."
Almost simultaneously with the fade of that bite, another micro season begins in meso lakes. "Green weeds in larger bodies of water are productive during early winter," Genz says. "Search the deep edges of weed flats for green, standing weeds, especially in areas I call bar-and-point narrows, where a shallow offshore hump or bar is separated from shallow shoreline contours by a trough at least 20 feet deep, preferably a little deeper. Actually, anywhere you find green standing weeds on the main lake, panfish will be there, but areas like bar-and-point narrows and flats adjoining creek inlets concentrate more fish. This main-basin meso lake bite really turns on about three weeks after ice-up."
The midwinter season is notoriously tough for panfish, perhaps because few anglers are aware of changes taking place under the ice. It's often necessary to leave small lakes that produce well at early-ice and find bites that are just heating up in larger lakes. "People say the fish stopped biting, but the truth is that the fish went home in buckets. Most of the year's crop of panfish is gone.
"At midseason, I search mesotrophic lakes for green weeds that haven't died, searching for depressions on shallow flats where the weeds around the rim have died. As the weeds die, panfish herd into the depression. These depressions, however, have to be at least 18 to 20 feet deep, or deeper than the weeds grow.
"Later on larger meso lakes, new weedgrowth begins under the ice. How much weedgrowth is relative to snow depth and light penetration, so this pattern varies from year to year. Look for large shoreline flats, where contour bands widen. The wider the contour bands, the more gradual the slope. The largest, flattest shelves with new weedgrowth are especially productive during late-ice."
Late Season--Every panfish species also follows a general rhythm of micro seasons. Crappies, perch, and bluegills that go deep move between turnover and ice-up, each according to its own schedule. Some perch and bluegills might move back up the slope to hold near green weeds on shallower flats late in the season, while many crappies begin to suspend vertically, remaining in deep water.
The late-ice season often brings panfish into shallow areas most anglers avoid until after ice-out, when they believe the fish arrive. "As the ice thins near shore, areas of open water occur," Genz says. "And as snow levels recede, there's more sunlight penetration. Both receding snow and increasing sunlight penetration increase oxygen levels late in the season, opening shallow areas to repopulation by panfish under the ice."
Dave Genz's favorite jigs, the System Tackle
Pounder (top) and Fat Boy are just two from among dozens of options
available from various companies. Key company contacts include:
Bad Dog Lures, 507/374-2955; Comet
Tackle, 614/432-5550; Custom Jigs &Spins, 708/729-9050; HT Enterprises,
414/533-5080; Northland Fishing Tackle,
218/751-6723; Shearwater Tackle, 612/323-9829;
System Tackle, 320/240-9086; Tackle
Marketing (TMI), 218/628-0206; Turner Jones'
Micro Jigs, 417/883-6723.
In some cases, crappies and bluegills invade reed beds in late winter. "Prime lakes for this are clear and clean, with deep reed growth--down to five feet," Genz says. "These deep reeds are especially productive where other weeds extend into the reed growth. They don't have to be green weeds. I usually continue to drill and look until I pull up some kind of weeds with the auger, or where I can see weeds lodged in the ice."
Panfish also move into shallow bays and "lakes within lakes" where they would have chosen to spend the winter if oxygen levels had been high enough. These are the same bays where bluegills stay throughout spring and where crappies feed after ice-out, before moving off to spawn.
Perch begin making prespawning movements under the ice. By late-ice, they may concentrate on main-lake weed flats and be as shallow as six feet, but more typically between 8 and 15 feet. Thicker weeds aren't better. Remaining growth with pockets usually keys better fishing.
Presentation Perspectives--Observing changes that create micro seasons leads Genz through an odyssey of lake types and locations throughout the year. He starts north and follows the hot first-ice bites south, then chases late-ice back into the far north. But, while moving here and there to find the best panfish bites, his presentation and technique tends not to vary. "I don't carry a lot of different baits," he admits. "I want to know what the hot local jig is, but that's not necessarily what I use. After all these years, I just want a small but heavy jig so I can feel it."
Genz likes the System Tackle Fat Boy and Pounder ice jigs, which he helped to develop. He primarily uses a 1/64-ounce jig and always starts with a bright color. "I begin with orange or chartreuse about 90 percent of the time," he says. "Glow is important in low-light and dark or dirty water. Whether it's glow green, glow orange, glow red, or glow blue might make a difference at times, but I generally start with green or orange."
Genz uses maggots, either Euro Larva or larger poppers. "Panfish may move a lot, and the need to observe seasons within seasons is real, but if fish are present and biting, it's not rocket science. Finding them might seem like rocket science sometimes, but it's not if you stay mobile and avoid falling into ruts."
Copyright 1997 In-Fisherman, Inc.
