Overcoming Obstacles to ice-fishing success
By Dave Genz

In the past several years, I've found myself using the word "efficiency" more often, whether I'm talking to somebody out on the ice or answering questions at a seminar. There are some inherent obstacles to overcome in ice fishing, and youıll catch way more fish if you learn to be efficient in everything you do.

Ice fishing success, in fact, is all about efficiency. It's such a true statement. In everything you do ­ from drilling holes quickly and pulling out the slush so you don't have to take time to skim them, to making sure you kick the snow away to the downwind side, to quickly and efficiently fishing every hole you drill­­you should strive for efficiency until it becomes second nature.

Here are some of my latest thoughts on what it takes to be efficient on the ice.  Drilling holes is a huge thing. You have to drill a lot of holes to make up for the fact that you can't go trolling or drifting through an area that might be holding catchable fish. I drill a few holes at a time, quickly, and then quickly fish them all. A hole is your access to the water, so being able to drill holes easily is a huge part of efficiency. My Lazer auger shaves through the ice with barely any effort on my part.  o While drilling each hole, I use a technique that "pre-skims" so I don't have to scoop the slush out. As I drill down, the spirals of the auger bring up ice shavings, creating a mound. I carefully kick them away, all the way around, as I get close to punching through. After the auger cuts through the last of the ice, I make sure my feet are firmly planted and will not slip, then slightly rev the engine as I bring the auger back up and out of the hole. The slight revving causes the auger to automatically clear away most of the remaining slush. You end up with a "pre-skimmed" hole that's ready to fish out of.

I can't emphasize safety enough here. Don't even attempt this until you are confident in your control over the auger ­ and don't do it unless you have completely secure footing. It's definitely an advanced move, and you assume your own risk when you do it, but it's something that can make you much more efficient. Your fish house has to be your sled, too, if you're going to be mobile. I use a Fish Trap, and take pains not to spread stuff out all over the ice as I fish. Itıs amazing to me to see an otherwise portable shelter on the ice, someone fishing in it, with buckets, coolers, baskets, scoopers, and other stuff scattered outside of it. In order to move, that person has to spend five minutes gathering everything up. Keep the house portable by bringing less stuff, and keeping it all inside the sled, ready to move at a moment's notice. Your portable shelter should be thought of as base camp, even on really cold days. Drill a few holes at a new spot, and set your Fish Trap up over one of them. Get the heater going, fish for a few minutes, then leave the Fish Trap behind to quickly check the other holes before they skim over with ice. I bait up with fresh bait and head out with one rod and my Vexilar, kneeling down to block the wind from my line.

Hit each new hole for a couple minutes, keeping your back to the wind (did you remember to kick away the slush to the downwind side when you drilled the holes?). About the time you get cold your guides will begin freezing up on your rod, and you can head back to the Fish Trap to warm up and thaw out.  If you did well in any of the new holes, quickly move the Fish Trap over that hole, and continue the process.  Being efficient also means using a lure and bait that you can get up and down quickly. Tiny lures that fall slowly are not efficient, especially when youıre searching for fish. On some days, you might catch a few more fish by using a bait that sinks very slowly, but on most days it's all about getting your bait into the fish zone as fast as possible. I personally want to match up a rod, line and lure that let me get that Œkickingı motion going that Iıve written about so much.  Being efficient means spending most of your time fishing at the depth that is holding the most fish - or perhaps the biggest fish. That's why I rely on my Vexilar, and my Aqua-Vu, to diagnose the situation. These are complimentary tools in my book. I might start out using my Vexilar, then see some marks that I want to know more about. I'll lower the camera down to see what they are. Or, if the bite is really tough, I'll use both the Vexilar and the Aqua-Vu, so I can see how the fish are reacting to my presentation.  Once you establish the type of spot that is holding fish, and the depth, you are more likely to spend most of your time with a bait (that the fish are willing to bite) at that depth. Again, it's all about efficiency.  Fresh bait produces many more bites. Don't try to see how many fish you can catch on the same bait. That, by itself, is efficiency. But there's more to this story. You should practice putting fresh bait on, when your fingers are a bit cold, until you can do it quickly. If you have a fish down there that won't bite, and you want to reel up and put on fresh bait, you have to be quick about it or the fish will often leave.

It should be like a military operation. Line comes up, old bait comes off (and normally gets tossed down the hole, assuming it's legal to do so), new bait goes on, knot gets re-positioned (if necessary), twist is allowed to settle out of the line (if it's a problem), and the new bait goes down to the fish. It has to happen fast. You can't fumble around.  Being efficient, to me, has also come to mean artificially extending the productive hours by using more glow-in-the-dark baits. New glow paint technology has brought a lot of great new glow jigs onto the market recently, like the Techni-Glo line from Lindy. I love those jigs, and have seen an honest increase in my catch rate during that half-hour before sunset until dark period, on fish that are not famous for their low-light vision.  I've caught another 6-8 nice perch or bluegills after they supposedly "quit for the night" by zapping my glow jigs with the new Tazer light source. I wear the Tazer on my jacket, using one of those retractable lanyards that trout fishermen use to keep their clippers on their vest. It's another efficiency thing that makes my fishing more fun and productive.  (The new glow jigs are really great for catching walleyes and crappies after dark, too, or attracting any species of fish in dark-colored water at any time of day.) One final thought on efficiency. Before you head out, make a game plan.  Have a contour map of the lake you're going to fish, and ask at local bait shops where people have been catching fish. Try to find out depths if you can. When you hit the ice, go right to the biggest crowd and see what they're doing. Don't plunk yourself in the middle of the crowd, though. But find out how deep the water is and what the bottom composition is. Work the edges of the crowd, then go off and find similar spots that aren't being pressured.

Having a plan, and sticking to it, will help you avoid drilling one set of holes and sitting over them all day. Again, it's all about efficiency.  Editor's Note: Dave Genz's latest book, "Bluegills!" can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-328-0488. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Or send check for $11.95 plus $3 shipping to: Winter Fishing Systems, 5930 ­ 16^th Ave. SE, St. Cloud, MN 56304. (Canadian orders: make sure payment is in U.S.  funds, and shipping becomes $6.)  Recognized as America's leading ice-fishing authority, Genz is also captain of Ice Team, the only club in North America exclusively for ice anglers. To join Ice Team, call 1-800-ICE-FISH or check out www.iceteam.com on the web.

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