Ice Fishing in a Real Winter

By Mark Strand

When it comes to understanding ice fishing from an Ice-Belt-Wide perspective, nobody has the years of travel and personal experience of Dave Genz. During the winter of 2010-11, Dave was able to reach into his memory banks for productive strategies when dealing with heaping portions of snow, and slush that bleeds onto the ice surface every time a new hole is drilled. We sat down with him for an interview, while this “real, legitimate winter” was still fresh in his mind.

Q: You were all over the map, as usual, making runs all the way to the end of the East Coast, into the West, and through the heart, and fringes, of the Ice Belt. What did you see out there?

Genz: What happened this year, for the whole country basically, is we suddenly had snow cover again. There was a lot of flooding, slush on the ice, that made travel difficult.

Q: What did it take for people to get around out there?

Genz: Snowmobiles and track vehicles, which are something relatively new–ATVs with tracks on ‘em were getting around well.

Q: But isn’t it really a problem, knowing how much these machines weigh, if you do get stuck in the slush? Getting a stuck snowmobile out is no picnic.

Genz: Snowmobiles are getting around better than ever. On the newer machines, the technology has advanced so much. The driver is moved farther forward, which gets more weight on the skis. The clutching systems are better. Everything is better. I didn’t get stuck at all, all winter; not even close, basically. I never even had to stop. I could even go slow through the slush.

Q: So you were able to get around out there, but there’s still the question of fishing effectively when you have to dig down through the slush to reach the soggy surface of the ice, then drill a hole, and then water flows up onto the ice and floods the area around your hole. How do you fish well under those conditions?

Genz: Yeah, well, you definitely have to deal with that (laughs). But when you find fish, you can still make ‘em bite, and we had some really good days of catching. One of the problems is that, even when you find a good spot, it’s tough to go back there and fish the next day.

Q: How so?

Genz: The water keeps running up and out of the holes you drilled, and the whole area gets all sloppy. Sometimes, the holes don’t freeze over because the water keeps coming out overnight. When you go back to that area and try to fish, every time your foot gets close to the hole it squishes slush into the hole. Your feet get wet eventually, because it’s such a mess, so rather than deal with that, we usually look for new spots, or go to a different lake.

Q: As much of a disadvantage as that seems, isn’t there something good in there, when you are forced to move on and find more spots?

Genz: Yes. It forces you to broaden your horizons, something I try to get people to do anyway. When you can’t just go back to where you caught ‘em yesterday, you have to get more than one spot going. After a few cold nights, those areas tend to freeze up and you can stay on top again, but one night usually isn’t enough. It makes you get out your lake map, and look for spots that have the same characteristics as the place you caught fish yesterday. Look for the same depth range, same type of structures, and if you found green weeds, you have to go searching for other places with green weeds.

Q: Does the snow cover and slush create problems that some anglers just can’t overcome?

Genz: It depends on how well you can get around. If you have a good snowmobile or an ATV with tracks, you shouldn’t have major problems. Or if you can walk short distances to your spot, same thing. But the conditions also cause a lot of people to look for lakes they can get around on. In some places, there wasn’t as much snow. On those lakes, there tended to be so much traffic that it beat the snow down to the ground and you could drive anywhere, even in a vehicle. So I saw more of that–on the lakes you could get around on, there were a lot more people at those spots. Hundreds and hundreds of people would gather, and then you’d hear the same story you always hear: the big ones ain’t biting anymore; you really gotta weed through ‘em to get to the big ones. Guess what? The big ones aren’t there anymore. They went home in people’s buckets.

Q: On a “real, legitimate winter,” what else do you see that anglers should watch for?

Genz: We always have much better success in deeper water, outside the weeds, once we get to the midwinter period on a year like this. Dead weeds don’t hold fish, at least biters, in the midwinter period. This winter, we had much better success fishing water from about 14-30 feet, on some of the same lakes we caught fish shallow on other years. When you get a lot of snow on top of the ice, the weeds die off sooner, and that forces the biters out of the weeds. There’s always an exception, like lakes with a lot of curlyleaf pondweed, because those weeds can start growing in February. On any lakes with green weeds, the shallows can be good, even in the middle of the winter.

Q: So what do you think this winter of snow means? Do you think it’s now an oddity, and that we should be back to relatively mild winters again?

Genz: We built up to this. (In 2009-2010) there was more snow than the year before. Then this winter, we got more again. Maybe we’re going back into a heavier snow cycle. When you look back at records over the long term, you can see ups and downs. So, yeah, I don’t see why we couldn’t have more years like this one.

Q: What else can you pass on from the winter of 2010-11? Anything in the way of equipment observations that helped you deal with the conditions?

Genz: Yes, the first thing I would say has to do with reels that have larger diameter spools. I’ve been using the Clam True Blue reels and noticed how much nicer the line behaves for ice fishing. Not only does the line coil less, which helps your sensitivity, but the retrieve is much faster. If you’re working a fish up, up, up, and then it bites and you end up with your rod over your head, just a couple cranks of the reel handle gets you back down in the proper fighting position. I lost fewer fish because of the reel. And the Ice Armor hooded vest is much better than any sweatshirt hood. It doesn’t allow the wind to pass through the hood, so it’s a lot warmer than a cotton sweatshirt.

Note: Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution. He has been enshrined in the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport. For more fishing tips, go to www.davegenz.com.

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Getting Kids Started:

It’s about Them and Their Fishing A frank discussion on what it takes to get more kids into the sport.

By Mark Strand

To Jason Mitchell, introducing kids to fishing and hooking them on the sport ideally takes place on the same day. It’s a
specialty that takes a commitment from an adult that goes beyond “letting ‘em come along." Mitchell is a veteran guide
from Devils Lake, North Dakota, who travels widely to fish and film Jason Mitchell Outdoors television. Still a relatively
young man himself, he has a huge soft spot in his heart for helping youngsters become attached to angling–including his
own kids, Olivia and Brennen. “It has to be about the kids and their fishing,” begins Jason. “Your child-to-adult ratio has to
be low. You can’t expect to take out more than two kids, and it’s best if it’s one-on-one. “And you have to be in a good spot.
It doesn’t have to be a fly-in trip; it can just be a good spot off a dock, or the best bullhead spot in the area. As long as you
can provide something with fins, some action, you’re off to a good start.”

Kids Own the Day

While guiding, Jason has seen firsthand what happens when parents want their kids to pursue big walleyes rather than the
faster action of smaller walleyes, or better yet, panfish. “If parents put their own desires in front of the kids’, it’s usually
a disaster,” he says. “Don’t go out there to impress these kids with your advanced abilities. Have their first trips be
something simple they can grasp. Something where they can have success. “Try to find a situation where it’s easy, in a
sense. Take them to a place where they can cast and not get into trouble, but let them make mistakes without criticizing
their technique. When you take a youngster fishing, that day is their day. You’re fishing for whatever bites. And you stop
when they want to, even if it’s after just an hour. Kids don’t have the threshold to stay out all day, even if it’s a nice day.”

After an outing or two, if a youngster is taking to the sport, then it can be time to broaden their horizons–but keep the training
wheels on. “You can take them out trolling crankbaits, or bottom bouncers, or jigging,” says Jason, “but it might take you to
detect the bites in those situations. As soon as you set the hook, hand them the rod. At the end of the trip, they don’t
remember you had anything to do with it. They tell their friends how many fish they caught.”

Let ‘em Bring Toys

On a youngster’s first fishing excursion, it’s common for them to want to bring a
gaming device or other toys. Rather than separating them from these security
blankets, Jason urges adults to “not ban toys right off the bat." From his guiding
experience, Jason has seen that it almost always works better to let kids bring
toys, and play with them. “I don’t think it’s a big deal if they want to bring some
toys from home,” he says, “if it eases the transition between living room and the
outdoors. A lot of times, the Game Boy is in the glove box by the end of the day,
and they aren’t paying attention to it anymore.”

Let ‘em Keep Some Fish

Some kids naturally want to let every fish go, some kids want to keep ‘em all,
and some kids want to keep one or two. As long as the fish are of legal size and
limits are adhered to, “I think kids should be able to keep some fish,” says Jason,

“and we shouldn’t judge the kids for which fish they choose to keep. If they spend the rest of the day with the livewell open,
looking at the fish, and then we fillet them and eat them, that’s all good stuff.”

Let Friends Come Along

While he feels that initial outings are best handled one-on-one, after kids have a good introduction to fishing, bringing a friend
or two can help kids have fun on the water. “Especially once they get a little older,” says Mitchell, “maybe fourth or fifth grade,
let some friends come along. Then it’s really cool. They love to do things with their friends. It’s a good way to get their friends
outside, too. Maybe all of them will like fishing, and it will become something they do together for many years.”

Mentors are the True Key

Jason, who is also a volunteer instructor for the nonprofit School of Outdoor Sports, believes that the key to developing
lifelong anglers is to provide them with quality mentoring. “Teaching kids to fish requires a commitment of time from people
who are willing to put their own fishing on hold,” he says. “You have to get kids on the water several times before they can get
a feel for it, have some success, get that feeling of accomplishment that makes fishing so important and special. “It’s so
important that they catch something. Those are the life-changing events. If they catch fish, that’s what they associate fishing
with, rather than being cold or hot or getting sunburned. It comes down to you taking one kid to your best spot and letting them
catch–or at least reel in–all the fish. If everybody did that once a year, we’d have a lot more new anglers.”

Notes: Jason Mitchell’s time on the water is difficult to match. He earned a renown reputation as a guide on North Dakota’s
Devils Lake and now hosts Jason Mitchell Outdoors television, airing 9 a.m. Sundays on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports
Midwest. www.jasonmitchelloutdoors.com

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(Keeping Your Bait) Out of the Mouths of Babes

By Dave Genz

There’s plenty of talk in the ice fishing world about going tiny, fishing with finesse, dancing downsized morsels in front of lethargic winter fish in order to coax reluctant bites. There are times that fluttering something microscopic can be a difference maker, says ice fishing icon Dave Genz – but on most days, he makes a living doing exactly the opposite.

“If all you ever do is use these smaller lures,” says Genz, “you miss a lot of chances to catch big fish.”

Dave argues that there are compelling reasons to start each day “fishing big,” then downsize if and when it becomes necessary – rather than the other way around.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

From a big-picture standpoint, the difference between the Genz philosophy and what you might hear from others is that Genz is unwilling to sit over the top of a group of fish and tinker with what it takes to get them to bite. On the contrary, he remains on the move constantly, looking for willing biters. (More accurately, he’s looking for fish that can be readily tempted by a presentation capable of triggering them. Presentation detail is everything in Genz’s Winter Fishing System.)

What we’re talking about here is another important detail that drives the Genz philosophy: while you’re on the move and looking for willing biters, realize that there are often little fish between you and the bigger fish you would rather catch. That tiny bait, so in vogue, which might be tempting to big fish, is downright intoxicating to the eyes of little fish. So successful ice fishing includes purposely selecting for bigger fish with a presentation that keeps many small fish at bay.

It’s a matter of keeping your bait out of the mouths of babes long enough for a brute to come in and take it. “A lot of times,” says Dave, “the small fish and the big fish run together. I have to keep the small fish from grabbing my lure, so the big fish can swim up to it and bite it. It doesn’t do me any good if a little fish has it in his mouth when the big fish comes swimming by.”

Reality, dictated by nature, is that there are many more small fish than big fish. Except in extremely rare instances created by temporary flukes of nature, there’s no such thing as a lake dominated by big fish. For every big fish there are scores of small fish waiting to attack your fresh maggots as soon as they lower into the zone of awareness.

It’s funny how a “big” ice jig doesn’t look so big in the mouth of a brute. Dave Genz with a bruiser bluegill taken on a #8 Lindy Fat Boy. It was packed with maggots, but the big fish knocked most of them off during the fight. (Photo: davegenz.com)

“What I do is start big (in the presentation department) and I can always downsize if I think the situation calls for it,” says Dave. The difference between his ‘big’ baits and smaller versions is not the difference between a golf ball and a basketball, though. “I start out with a size 6 or 8 (Lindy) Fat Boy, rather than a 10 or 12,” he says. “Same thing with the Lindy Worm. Same thing with the Slick Jig. I start with larger sizes than most people do.

“It can be the difference between putting six maggots on the hook instead of two. Or two wax worms instead of one. You bulk up the profile of the bait, and that helps you catch more big fish. I’ve been watching this for years, how the small fish struggle to bite bigger lures, to get it in their mouths. When you jiggle it, it scares them off, and the bigger fish have an opportunity to come in and grab it.

“All you sight fishermen know exactly what I’m talking about, because you’ve been struggling to pull (your bait) away from the little ones, and trying to give it to the big ones. With the larger screen on the new Vexilar underwater camera, I can really see what’s going on down there at any depth, and I’ve seen how much of a difference it makes to fish bigger lures.”

Efficiency Refined

For many years, Genz has been stressing the importance of efficiency in ice fishing. This very much includes using a jig or other bait that’s heavy enough to lower quickly to near the fish zone, at which point you slowly fish it down to where the fish are holding. If you can get up and down quickly, you can fish a large number of holes during the course of an outing, and find more fish.

Keeping your bait from being immediately eaten by a small fish is another aspect of efficiency, and that’s where bigger baits shine. “Bigger baits are heavier,” Genz says, “and fishing heavy, that’s one part of efficiency. Size (such as bulking up the package with numerous maggots, or a larger plastic tail) is about eliminating the small bites. It’s about keeping the bait in the water longer, to get the right bites. It could be perch, walleyes, bluegills, whatever.

“We tend to downsize so much these days. People that know me see that, when I’m fishing in the summertime, I use large minnows to keep from catching the small fish. Why shouldn’t I do that in the winter, so I don’t have to catch the small ones?”

The immediate argument you might hear trickling into your other ear is that fish tend to be lethargic, sluggish, finicky in the winter under a coating of ice. Except for perhaps trout and big pike, most fish are moving slower and eating much less in the winter, you might say, meaning that a smaller bait is necessary to get them to bite.

“If I was talking about fishing some huge bait, that might be the case,” says Genz. “But we’re just talking about using something large enough to keep most of the small fish from rushing in there and getting it in their mouth before the big fish has a chance. Just try it. If you’re catching a bunch of small fish, upsize your lure. You might have to go a couple sizes bigger than what you’re used to using.”

It really is a matter of efficiency. It takes time to reel up a small fish, unhook it, put new bait on, drop back down there, and start trying to tempt a big fish. “If a big fish wants to eat,” says Dave, “he can get there first if he chooses to. You just have to keep it down there long enough for the bigger fish to have a chance.”

The advantages to using larger baits are also evident after you set the hook.

“You want to keep everything in balance between the rod, the line, and the lure,” says Dave. “When you’re using a larger and heavier lure, you can use heavier line and a stiffer rod. It takes a stiffer rod to pound that heavier lure and keep it under control. So when you hook that big fish, you can get it up a lot easier than with light line and a softer rod.”

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