STEP UP YOUR GAME!
As we got on the lake, I stopped my skidoo, uncovered the sleigh, rummaging around in the mess of gear, turned upside down inside after a long journey. I managed to find my Sonar unit, unloading the Humminbird Helix from the sleigh. Hopping back on the machine, I cradled the portable sonar unit on my lap and powered it on. Going to the GPS map section, I scrolled to where I wanted to go and started across the lake, watching the screen as I went. The blip on the map covered several miles of deep water, until we found the reef we were looking for.
USE YOUR MAPPING ON THE ICE
It was a spot where the bottom quickly rises, from 60 or 70 feet, sharply up to 40, and in some spots, all the way up to eight or ten feet. I slowed as we reached the edge of the reef, and found a sharp break where bottom levelled out briefly at 40 feet of water. It was also surrounded by little dots on my map. Each represented a location we had caught a lake trout over several open water seasons. We were right in the heart of a hotspot. Hopping off the machines, we drilled some holes and started fishing.
This was a classic area for big lake trout and it didn’t disappoint!
THE EVOLUTION
Electronics have evolved significantly in recent years. These changes are giving today’s anglers some major advantages over anglers who stood on the ice 20 years ago. Flashers were a game changer. I remember getting my first Vexilar FL-8 about 15 years ago, and was amazed by what it did for on-ice productivity. Flashers are still the go to for most but there are more options.
THE UNDERWATER WORLD
Several winters ago, I headed south from Thunder Bay, crossing the border into Minnesota, stopping in Ashland, Wisconsin. I met up with friend, Chris Shaffer from Pautzke Bait. We were going to spend a few days ice fishing Superior with Nate Baron of Up North Guide Service. Nate fished the waters of Chequamegon Bay in Lake Superior. Our target species were BrownTrout and Splake in the crystal clear waters of Superior. It’s an absolutely stunning piece of Lake Superior, with incredible shorelines, caves, and ice formations. We were filming for Pautzke Outdoors, targeting these trout with Fire Dyed minnows.
ANOTHER WEAPON IN THE ARSENAL
For both filming and fishing purposes, Shaffer brought along an underwater camera, and what an eye opener! Fishing this gin clear water, it was certainly something to see, watching browns, splake and other unknown fish flash by. While I still fished with my flasher, it added a whole other element. By using the camera we got a free show in the shelter.
CHANGE IN GAMEPLAN
In recent years, around Thunder Bay, I spoke with a hardcore ice angler who spends a great deal of time on Lake Superior targeting Whitefish. Now whitefish on Superior are something I spend a great deal of time chasing, but not like he does. I run around, hole to hole with my flasher, looking for fish, and won’t be caught on the ice without it when looking for whitefish.
He now leaves the flasher at home, and instead it’s been replaced in his sleigh with an underwater camera.
He’s found numerous areas, with sandy, flat bottom on Superior that hold whitefish, but he’s looking for something special. He finds areas with aquatic vegetation emerging from the sandy bottom, and finds these areas with his camera. He gets near the area he’s looking for, drills a hole and sends the camera down, panning around, looking in the clear water for vegetation nearby.
Once he locates vegetation, it’s only a matter of time until the schools of whitefish move in, looking to feed amongst the weeds. It sounds like an exciting way to fish, and leads me to believe there will be an underwater camera in my ice fishing gear this winter.
FLASHERS STILL GREAT
I have been a dedicated flasher user, starting out with a Vexilar FL-8, and a number of years ago making the switch to Humminbird’s Ice 55. It’s a great unit, that catches me unknown numbers of fish I most certainly wouldn’t otherwise catch. As much as I love the Ice 55, I’ve recently tried something new.
AUTOCHART LIVE FEATURE
I have a Humminbird Helix GPS/Sonar unit on my boat, and have taken full advantage of the Autochart live feature over the last several summers. This feature allows (on certain Helix units) the user to create detailed depth maps of the water you’re fishing. It uses the GPS and sonar unit, creating accurate depth charts as you cover new water. It’s a great feature in the boat, and has been an absolute game changer for me, especially when jigging for walleye or trolling for big lake trout, but its effectiveness can continue all year long.
HELIX FIVE
I rigged my Helix 5 up in a portable ice fishing unit, and it gave me access to every waypoint I’ve marked in the boat, as well as the depth maps I’ve created with Autochart live. Now I turn the unit on, look at the map, and park right on the spot; whether it’s a waypoint I’ve caught walleye at, or marking a mid-lake reef or rockpile. No more blindly drilling holes, looking for a reef or certain depth. I can park on the spot and get fishing.
MARK THE HOTSPOT
It’s also great for those times when one hole produces fish 10 times better than any other. Those unexplained places that must have something special going on below the ice, and are hard to find exactly that same spot again; this now lets you. You simply mark a waypoint, allowing you to get right back to that spot.
SPECIAL ICE FISHING FUNCTION
They’re visible in summer as well, but are noted as an ice fishing specific waypoint (as you can turn the Helix unit to Ice mode). It functions very much like my typical winter flasher, with a very similar flasher option, however my preference has been using the larger sonar screen with the “real time sonar” feature. It allows you see fish and your bait in real time, in a slightly different format, while seeing the traditional sonar history. Once I adjusted to it, I prefer it over the traditional flasher mode. I still bring along my Ice 55, but this Helix is slowly taking its place in my sleigh.