It’s one of the most common phrases tossed around by anglers seeking to simplify their sport: Fish gotta eat.
True, however, meal frequency and quantity vary significantly from warm seasons to cold ones. Ice fishermen like Minnesota guide Brian “Bro” Brosdahl understand this as well as anyone and the most consistent of hard-water anglers are the ones that leverage the fish’s winter tendencies to their advantage.
With fish metabolism typically declining in the cold weather, their need for caloric intake decreases. They definitely need to eat, but the same fish that willingly dash around gobbling minnows and actively roaming weed beds to pick off aquatic insects greatly prefer smaller winter snacks that don’t sprint.
“In winter, things are cold and things are moving a little slower,” Brosdahl said. “When minnows flee, they can’t travel as far as fish with bigger tails.”
If “slow” is good, then “slow and small” is ideal. Little morsels that cannot outrun a crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, or walleye rank highly on the menu.
Think: French fry vs. loaded baked potato.
The Right Stuff
To that end, Northland Fishing Tackle recently released the Rigged Tungsten Pin Fry. Pre-rigged for convenience, these tiny ice jigs feature”fry” bodies that imitate bitsy baitfish, as well as young-of-the-year panfish and perch, with an authentic silhouette and a segmented tail that quivers with the slightest movement.
The baitfish body is paired with a Northland Tungsten Flat Fry Jig, which sports a thin profile that falls faster than rounded tungsten panfish jigs. Offered in 1/28-ounce (#12 hook) and 1/16-ounce (#10 hook) sizes, the Rigged Tungsten Pin Fry also features a flat head, which complementstungsten’s density for strong sonar returns that help an angler monitor the bait position below the ice.
This type of bait fits one of the most user-friendly and species-diverse ice fishing techniques and, whether you’re new to the hard water deal, or you’ve drilled more holes than you can recall, it definitely merits consideration.
Just ask Bassmaster Elite pro and Canadian ice fishing aficionado Jeff Gustafson.
“It’s a finesse bait that is built on a quality hook, so for me, it’s a top option for pressured or cold-front fish,” Gustafson said. “It’s small, but it’s strong enough to reel in quality fish. Some of the finesse jigs have hooks that are too small for fish over 10 inches in length.”
Brosdahl likes the bait’s simplicity, as well as its broad-reaching appeal.
“Tie it on, there’s no wrong way to fish it,” he said. “Drop it down at the fish’s level and, even if you held it still, you’ll get hit. Everything that lives in the lake eats young-of-the-year perch and minnows.”
When & Where It’s Right
Brosdahl suggests finding areas with remaining green vegetation and fishing the edges. Crappie and bluegill often hide just inside these boundaries to feed on aquatic insects, while avoiding predators such as pike and larger walleyes.
“Fish the features like points and pockets,” Brosdahl said. “In good clarity, you can see the weeds (through the ice), but when snow on ice, use an underwater camera.”
Start with a local lake chart and look for areas where the deeper basins transition into shallow bays and flats. Somewhere along these transition zones is where you’ll often find the best action.
Once you dial in a favorable spot, a handful of holes can keep a small group of anglers busy. Getting to this point often requires several test holes, so drill in a grid pattern that allows you to efficiently prospect an area.
Color Options
Northland offers the Pin Fry in several colors chosen with input from pros like Brosdahl. Options include: gold (gilded head with brown body), glow white (A highly visible color with a phosphorescent treatment that glows in darkness and pops during daylight.), fruit fly (pinkish-white body and bright pink/chartreuse head), tiger beetle (chartreuse & fluorescent), and wood tick (two-tone brown and off-white body with similar head pattern).
“Wood tick is my favorite color because it’s natural and good in a variety of water clarities,” Gustafson said.
Brosdahl likes the gold option, because minnows in all waters flash a little gold in the water, while glow white resembles the white bellies all small fish have. Regardless, he suggests experimenting with various colors and sizes to determine the day’s preference.
Slow & Go
When a warming trend has the fish in a snappy mood, Brosdahl might employ an aggressive jigging motion. Most days, he knows less is more.
“Make it look like it’s feeding by just jigging the rod tip in short, 1 1/2- to 2-inch jig strokes, followed by just a shake,” Brosdahl said. “Sometimes, just a ‘coffee shake’ — like when you haven’t had your coffee — is all you need to entice fish.
“When they get close (viewing the fish on a portable electronics unit), slowly lift it away and you’ll get some really dramatic strikes from every fish that swims in the lake.”
Gustafson adds this: “I can relate (the Pin Fry) to using a Ned rig in bass fishing. It’s a do-nothing bait but its simplicity and subtleness is what makes it so effective.”
Bait proximity is key, and when Brosdahl’s targeting crappie, he wants his Pin Fry holding above the fish.
“Sometimes, jigging even 2 feet above the school will pull active fish out of the school, whereas dropping down into them and setting the hook on a fish will scare the other fish away,” he said. “The best thing to do is to pull the aggressive crappie up as far as possible. If they hit 2-3 feet above, the school will stay intact for your next drop.”
Conversely, Brosdahl finds that sunfish species (including bluegill) often respond to the activity of other fish feeding. So, if he catches one, he’ll get his bait back down asap, to capitalize on the competition.
And when yellow perch are the main target, Brosdahl will “pound the bottom” by dropping his bait to the bottom, where it kicks up sediment, dislodges tiny forage and stimulates a perch bite.
Technique Tips
Presentation consistency always matters in fishing, but given the overall slower, more minimalist approach that ice fishing generally requires, precision becomes even more important. For that reason, Brosdahl recommends a test run.
“Put bait that bait in the top of the hole and jig it in the water so you can see what it does when you move the rod tip,” he said. “Then drop it down and recreate those motions.”
Also, Brosdahl stresses the importance of strike detection.
“Sometimes, a strike might drop the rod tip like an 1/8 or a 1/4 inch, or the rod tip might unload, as the weight of the lure disappears, because some fish — especially crappie — bite up,” he said. “You have to watch for down bites and up bites, or having your line go light. It’s all about bite awareness.
“Some fish inhale it. If a bass, a walleye, or a pike swims up to your bait, you’re gonna know. But walleye, crappie, and bluegill can be tricky.”
Good example: Bluegill often bite first to immobilize a minnow or bug, then they bite again to consume. With practice, you’ll come to recognize what looks like in your rod/line movement.
