Dennis,

Ice fishing is very common here in North Dakota. I go ice fishing pretty often.

If winter fishing for Northern Pike, stay in the shallow bays, and close to the shore. Sometimes 3 feet of open water below the ice is all you need. Jig with a minnow, or dangle a dead smelt on the end of your line. Use a bobber to keep the bait about 1 foot off the bottom.

We use a heavy lead weight with an alligator clip on it to help us find the bottom depth. Attach the weight to your bait hook. Once the bottom depth is found, raise the line a foot and attach a bobber. pull the line up and remove the weight from your hook and fit up with your favorite bait. When the line is once again dropped into hole, it will place the bait at the proper depth.

We usually fish with two different systems. We use a short pole for jigging live bait. We use a "Tip Up" for stationary bait fishing....such as with smelt. A "tip up" sits over the hole and signals you when a fish takes the bait. A red flag pops up, letting you know that a fish is taking line. Run over to the "Tip Up" and start hauling in the fish.

Regular fishing line is very difficult to work with during the winter. We use a black dacron line, coated with teflon. It makes things a whole lot more enjoyable. It won't ice up, and it's a whole lot more visible on the ice. It's OK to use a short leader of clear fishing line, if you prefer.

I still fish the old-fashioned way. I drill a hole and put my bait on the line. I catch fish, but I don't catch as many as the guys who use fish finders, locators, or underwater cameras. I find that when the fish aren't biting, it's a whole lot easier for me to pack up and move somewhere else when I'm not moving everything cabelas sells in their fishing department.

There should be a minimum of 3 inches of ice before walking out onto any lake. Sample holes need to drilled as you move out into any area where there may be a current, or flowing water. A minimum of 8 inches of ice is required to support a vehicle....but I prefer at least a full foot of ice before driving out on any lake. Currently the ice thickness here is 22 inches. It's good and safe, so long as we don't attempt to drive near any area where the ice heaves, due to expansion. Stay away from those areas!

Hope this helps.

Joel

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