Finding lush aquatic vegetation when ice fishing can be like striking gold. Get on the right veg at the right time, and you can experience stellar catches of yellow perch, crappie, walleye, northern pike, and several other fish species. On the flip side, certain wintertime scenarios see fish push away from plants. Here is how to make sense of when to lean in to weedy areas and when not to.
It’s a timing thing
In the Forage Factor (see Nov.-Dec. 2023 issue) I discussed how plankton activity around dawn and dusk can stimulate feeding throughout the food chain. During these times, an area with vegetation near a drop-off plunging into deep water is a reliable place to catch predators taking advantage of the food surplus. This applies to bluegills and crappie filter-feeding on plankton as well as walleye, whitefish, lake trout, and pike prowling for larger meals.
Think of large weedbeds near deep water as food shelves active fish use for getting an easy meal. These dine-and-dash sites may occur along the outside edge of weedbeds, which offered good first ice action. Isolated weed clumps close to deep flats and basins also deserve attention.
Not every aquatic shrub rooted beside a drop off is going to be a productive location, however. Good fishing areas tend to contain several habitat elements. Fish tend to concentrate and move around using points, turns along a drop-off, old creek channels, and other structural pathways.
A little green goes a long way
Tall, thick weedbeds containing sizeable plants, like cabbage or milfoil, aren’t the only green spaces you’ll find fish in winter. Some of my best spots for yellow perch and walleye are mid-depth flats lined with short, thin sand grass. Chara is another good find. Crayfish and other invertebrates love hiding in the nooks and crannies of this short-growing, tumbleweed-like plant.
Perch gravitate to the above areas to feed on various edibles, which attracts larger predators, including walleye, pike, and lake trout. A sparse blanket of vegetation can also be an important find when ice fishing for brook and rainbow trout.
When fishing short-growing vegetation on shallow flats in clear water, take the time to look into the water or use an underwater camera to study the area’s makeup. I suggest this because sometimes specific pieces of habitat have an X-factor quality where fish congregate. When sand or mud flats have limited patches of sand grass, these rare green zones can hold more fish than other areas.
Conversely, when grass or other weeds abound, look for isolated rock piles, boulders, sand patches, depressions, and other anomalies on the bottom.
Veg as a jumping-off point
I’ve encountered many instances where vegetation was not the final destination where fish ended up getting caught. Instead, plants provided a clue of where to look next, and helped me find fish holding in nearby deeper areas. This has played out for walleye and pike relating to humps and other basin structures, crappie, and bluegills found at the soft-bottom base of various drop-offs, and yellow perch cruising mid to deep flats.
Finding decent deep vegetation was important last March for my kids and I on a lake we had never fished before. We started by dunking an eight-foot weedbed and catching some small sunfish. Once we moved beyond the greenery, we caught more and bigger pumpkinseeds and crappie. This included finding a flat just beyond the clumps in 12 feet of water as well as working another nearby soft-bottom flat in 19 feet.
Late ice, too, can see many fish gravitate to vegetation again. Warm, inflowing meltwater, containing oxygen can rejuvenate the shallows and stimulate activity throughout the food web.
Compounding this is the fact many fish spawn in spring in shallow water. Increasing daylight signals winter’s impending end, prompting pike, walleye, and panfish to stage near and within shallow, often weedy, areas.
Signs of spring
Late ice anglers may find fish returning to the same places where they were at early ice. This is especially common in tributary-fed bays holding massive weedbeds, plenty of food, and suitable spawning grounds. If fish aren’t in the bay, look for them around nearby points, sand bars, and drop-off bends framing the fertile shallows.
Other productive late ice locations may be distinct from early season hotspots. In my experience, extremely shallow areas within reedy bays are not popular locales in December or January. Yet, these sites are prime panfish areas during the final weeks of the ice season. Standing cattails and other reeds, as well as broken plant stocks lining the bottom, create a cover-rich environment. These areas warm up fast, attracting panfish looking to feed on minnows, nymphs, and other invertebrates. Fishing can be fantastic in these areas, but be aware ice conditions can change fast, so safe ice fishing practices are essential.
Presentations for fish buried in vegetation
Straight-falling lures are critical to avoid unwanted snags when fishing in thick vegetation. Vertical and horizontal jigs tipped with live bait or a plastic are good options.
A straight spoon with a conservative falling action is another must-have.
I’m a fan of rattle spoons. The vibrations help attract a fish from far away. The sonic output also helps stimulate the acoustic senses of nearby fish with an obstructed view due to the cover.
Jigging a rattling lipless crankbait in an opening within a weedbed is also something to try.
You’ll learn pretty quick if there are any aggressive walleye, pike, or big panfish nearby.
High-action lures can be used within weeds, and sometimes the flashy, tumbling action of these baits helps attract and trigger fish. The trick is controlling their action to prevent them from constantly getting hung up in the weeds.
Using portable sonar to monitor a lure’s position throughout the jigging sequence is a big advantage in this regard.
When using live bait under a tip-up or dead-stick rod in a weedbed for walleye or panfish, it’s important to limit a minnow’s swimming range.
I often use a light teardrop jig, followed by a split shot about six inches above the hook. This rigging allows the minnow to kick around enough to get noticed but keeps their leash pretty short and stops them from being able to hide among plants.
Presentations for fish outside weedbeds
Most ice lures work well when fish are relating to the open-water areas found along the outside edge of a weedbed or the water above the top of weeds. These areas offer more space for baits to perform, allowing you to use gliding lures and flutter spoons with little need to restrict their action.
One way to attract fish suspending over a weedbed is to flash the hole. This technique is done by jigging a metallic spoon, like a nickel or gold Williams Ice Jig, from the lower portion of the ice hole to a foot or so below the ice. The light reflecting off the spoon and the ice attracts and stimulates fish.
Deadsticking a minnow along a weedline is a reliable way to catch walleye and panfish along the edge. Drill a hole just outside the weedline, so the bait is easily seen and unable to hide in the greenery.
Looks can be deceiving
Vegetation doesn’t need to be golf-course green to hold fish in winter. My rod has been bent by various species that were foraging around brown-leaved, still-standing plants. Fallen down, brown, slimy plants are likely to be less appealing, but appearances can be deceiving and there are always exceptions when forage is a factor.
Waters with limited weed
On deep, infertile lakes, humps, rock reefs, points, and islands are often key fish habitat, which combined with pelagic baitfish, significantly influence predatory fish behaviour and their locational preferences. Don’t write off weeds when fishing these lakes, but also don’t expect plants to produce fish in the same manner as when fishing fertile lakes where a lot of surface area holds aquatic vegetation.
The way fish relate to aquatic vegetation throughout the winter varies, and can be influenced by the waterbody you’re fishing, the target species, fauna type, phase of the ice-fishing season. To catch more and bigger fish from fertile lakes and rivers, anglers are well served to determine the location of popular weedbeds, and then consider these features and foraging sites when devising angling strategies.
The general trends
Early season is good. Healthy autumn greenery = first ice hotspots. Go where you caught walleye, pike, and panfish from the boat in November and December. First ice has little impact on life underwater. A bonus is many productive areas are near shore, where safe ice tends to form first. Another perk is the fall feeding binge can extend into the initial weeks of the hard water season.
Mid and late is blah. Productive first-ice spots ripe with greenery lose their shine after a few weeks. Fish leave weedbeds and move to deeper areas after the early ice period.
During mid-winter, expect to find a lot of perch, crappie, walleye, and pike positioned around drop-offs, deep flats, or mid-lake structures, like humps. Fish that remain near weeds are, in my experience, smaller specimens.
There are no absolutes when talking fishing. Some fish populations will have already made the transition to deeper habitat by late autumn.
It’s also inaccurate to think of weedbeds as mid-winter ghost towns. Smaller fish may stick around, and bigger fish may revisit.
Give a spot a break
Productive spots within a weedbed can replenish with new fish in time. When a hot hole goes cold, move on but return later. You’ll know pretty quick if new tenants have arrived.
Dealing with snags
You’ll sometimes snag a plant. If this happens, first gently shake the bait a couple times. Then hold it still. This may be enough to free the lure. The manoeuvre also has the potential to trigger a bite. Several times I’ve had panfish peck a snagged jig off a plant like it was picking fruit off a tree.
If it’s a doozy of a snag, the plant might get uprooted. This commotion is likely to spook fish. Relocate to give the spot some time to settle down.
Originally published in the Jan.-Feb. 2024 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS
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