The first thing you’ll want to consider is what lake you’re going to fish on. Early in the season I on the smaller lakes because they ice up faster than the larger lakes and you can get on them earlier in the year. I like to make sure that there is at least 2 inches of ice before I venture out onto a lake fishing.

Once you have chosen a lake to fish on, you’ll need to decide what part of the lake to try. Early in the winter when the ice is still fairly thin on the shallower areas of the lake. I will usually fish in anywhere from 2 to 5 feet of water when ice is under a foot thick. Try to find areas adjacent to weed beds and cabage areas. Many fisherman don’t think you can catch fish in the shallow water during the winter, but I have caught pike in 2 feet of water when there is been a foot of ice and only one foot of water underneath.

The only method I use for fishing northern pike through the ice, is tip up fishing. Here in Wisconsin where I live you are allowed to have three lines per person. So if you have three or four people in your group fishing together you can cover quite a bit of area with tip ups. You can spread them out at various depths, and if the fish seem be biting better at a certain depth you can move them all to that depth. You can also experiment with different dates on different tip ups to find out which bait the fish prefer.

As for baits for northern pike, my three favorites are.

1. Golden shiners, golden shiners are very good bait for northern pike if you can find them, in some areas they can be very difficult to find.

2. Sucker minnows. Sucker minnows are also a good bait for northern pike. I think the sucker minnows are easier to keep alive in shiners.

3. Silver shiners. This is my favorite bait for fishing northern pike. I like use a medium sized silver shiners, not the really large or small ones.

If you follow the tips in this article you should have no problems catching northern pike this winter. Good luck fishing.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2470210/early_season_icefishing_for_northern.html?cat=14

Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

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