Guide to Late Ice

Guide to Late Ice

By Rod Woten

There are two phrases that will cause any ice angler to perk up their ears. “Early ice” and “late ice” are the two periods during the winter that ice anglers live for. Probably the biggest reason these periods are so popular with ice anglers is because the fishing can be phenomenal. Late ice has the distinct advantage that it immediately follows the mid-winter period when fish are often neutral or negative and the fishing can be very slow. This makes even a moderately productive late ice period a sweet reward to any angler that endures the tough bite of mid-winter. During mid-winter, ice anglers look forward to late ice the same way that children look forward to Christmas. While similar in many ways they are also unique in some small but significant ways.

Safety First!
Both early and late ice periods require an extra measure of caution. Extra caution is required during first ice because the ice may not be thick enough in many places. Even where it is thick enough, the ice has not been around long enough to freeze uniformly, so even though you may be standing on four good inches of hard, clear black ice, your next step may land you on one or two inches.

By contrast, late ice requires extra caution because the ice is beginning to deteriorate, sometimes at an alarmingly rapid pace. Most late ice has been through many freeze and thaw cycles. This causes the ice to become cloudy. Unlike like early ice’s hard black ice, which is the most structurally sound type of ice, cloudy late ice is not nearly as strong. As the weather warms, the ice starts to become porous, much like ice cubes left in a glass for extended periods of time. This is often referred to as “honeycombed” ice because of the honeycomb-shaped chunks that come up as an auger drills through it. The more honeycombed ice is, the weaker it becomes. At late ice, you can no longer really gauge the strength of the ice by its thickness. Even if you’re standing on twenty inches of late ice, the top eighteen inches may be honeycombed leaving only two inches of structurally sound ice underneath. For this reason, it is imperative that you wear a PFD during late ice and always use a spud bar to check ice thickness as you go.

A Natural Cycle
Generally speaking, most fish will follow a shallow-deep-shallow pattern during winter. As winter begins, fish will be in shallower locations enjoying oxygen rich water that is still relatively warm and support green healthy weeds. As winter wears on and the ice gets thicker, less light gets to those weeds and they begin to die off, which consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. Snow cover on top of the ice accelerates this process. This causes fish to slide out into deeper water where they can find more oxygen, slightly warmer temperatures, a food source of some type and cover from predators.

As winter begins to draw to a close, the late ice period begins. This is marked by several changes below the ice. Runoff from melting snow and ice begins to trickle into the shallow areas that fish inhabited at early ice and not only begins to raise the water temperature, but it also infuses more oxygen and nutrients into those shallow areas. As the snow melts and the ice begins to thin, more sunlight gets to those dead or dormant weeds and they begin to green up again. All of these things begin to make those shallow areas much more appealing to the fish out in deeper water, and they slowly start to migrate in that direction. Ever since the beginning of winter, the metabolism of the fish has been on a downward spiral, eventually bottoming out during mid-winter. The warming water and longer days stops and begins to reverse this trend, which is one of the reasons fish bite so willingly at late ice. They have been eating so little food most of the winter that all of a sudden, they realize they are HUNGRY!

Another really cool thing happens at late ice. The ice melts first around the shoreline. Once the ice is melted free of the shoreline, it actually rises and floats on top of the water. In those shallow areas that are beginning to re-awaken, any weeds that have frozen into the bottom of the ice sheet are now ripped from the bottom as the ice rises. This puts all kinds of extra nutrients and aquatic insects into the water and can start a feeding frenzy for those migrating fish.

Late Ice Tips & Tricks
Many of the things that are happening during the late ice period dictate where we look for fish and how we catch them. Gone are the days of fishing tiny jigs in an effort to finesse negative fish. Fish are on the feed at late ice, so I switch to more aggressive tactics and larger baits. For predator fish like crappies, walleyes and perch, I try to imitate bait fish. These fish will still eat baits that imitate bugs, but they are so hungry that they will absolutely attack baits that resemble baitfish. I can always downsize later if needed, but during the late ice period I’d rather start big.

It also means I start fishing shallower areas. For most fish, I can draw a line between where I find them in deeper water during mid-winter and the shallower water where I found them at early ice and somewhere along that line, I will find them in transition. Fishing shallower also means that I drill my holes closer together. During mid-winter, my holes were further apart in order to more efficiently cover the massive areas of deeper water where the fish were hiding out, but shallower water means much closer hole spacing to adequately cover those shallow areas. Break lines, points and drop-offs are some of my favorite places to search for these transition fish because they all have convenient access for the fish between deep water and shallow water which allows fish to slide between deeper or shallower water as weather and water temperatures dictate.

Shallow Water Tactics
For me, late ice means shallow water fishing. Not only because of all the good things that are happening in the shallows, but also because I’d much rather go through the ice in six feet of water than eighteen feet of water. One thing to keep in mind, however is that shallow fish can be very sensitive to sounds over their heads. Something as simple as a pair of ice cleats crunching around on the ice above can send them scurrying to quieter areas. Sometimes it even means drilling a few holes in an area and then leaving them alone for ten minutes or so to allow things to settle down before I start fishing.

Shallow water fishing in the winter also means I can sight fish in many instances. You would be surprised by the number of lakes that clear up enough during the winter to be able to sight fish in the shallower depths. The next time you’re on the ice in shallow water, you owe it to yourself to check if the water is clear enough to sight fish. The best way to check is simply lower your face to the hole, cup your hands on each side of the hole to block any light from entering and look down into the water. It’s amazing what you can see once all the light is blocked out. I like to think of it as being in a dark movie theater when the movie starts. Fair warning though, sight fishing can be super-addictive. It’s also a great way to learn about fish behavior, how they respond to different presentations and what your jigging action looks like under the ice. If sight fishing is something you really want to get into, you will want a fish house that is dark on the inside to block out as much light as possible and a couple of short sight-fishing specific rods to prevent pain in your neck and shoulders from looking straight down the hole as you fish.

Late Ice Is Nice
Even if you decide to sit out the mid-winter doldrums, you definitely don’t want to miss out on late ice. The bite can be the best it’s been all winter, but we must always keep safety at the top of the list. Late ice can deteriorate quickly, and unlike early ice, it’s hard to judge just by appearance. Wear your PFD or a floating suit and your ice picks around your neck, bring a rope and throwable PFD and check the ice as you go and you can take advantage of some of the best ice fishing of the season!