Locate potential areas, drill holes before prime time and be stealthy, advises Scott Petersen.

It happens every year: Ice fishermen keep a close eye on the daily weather forecast and the calendar at hand, anticipating getting out onto early ice. Once you determine that you are going to head onto the ice, please take extra precautions in making your first ventures out onto the ice safe.

Here are few things I do for my first trips: First up, I wait until daylight before I make my way onto the ice; I want to be able to see the ice in front of me as I am walking out my first few times. I use an ice chisel, testing ice conditions as I walk. I stop and give the ice a few pokes with my chisel as I make my way out. A must for me is to wear my float suit. I also have a pair of ice picks around my neck ready to use when and if needed. Picks will not do me any good stored away in my ice shack. If I get into a situation where I need them, I want them handy and ready to go.

In my early days before there were float suits, I always wore a lifejacket my first few trips until I could make sure that my path on and off of the ice was safe.

Remember, early ice is a walking affair. Before ice-up, I already have all my early ice scouting done. I am not a hunter anymore, so I fish open water up until ice-up. I spend an afternoon or two on a few smaller lakes that I want to target for early ice. I look for areas that are easy to get to from the landing. I also spend some time fishing these key areas to make sure that they are holding the right fish that I want to target early in the ice season.

I also pay special attention to the condition of the weeds at this time of the season. To hold good populations of fish early in the ice season, you need good, green weeds that are still up and alive. These weeds attract all species of fish during early ice. My goal is to come up with five or six key spots that I can rely on the first few weeks of ice, until other areas and lakes expand my ice options. During this scouting time, I may be using my boat electronics to evaluate these areas, but I also have my ice unit with me, putting key waypoints in this unit as well.

When I deem early ice to be safe on the smaller lakes, I head out to my pre-scouted ice spots. Then, I drill a few holes and get to work.

Early in the season, I keep what I bring out on to the ice to a minimum. I use a Nils Master 6-inch drill auger and only take a rod or two with me on my initial trips. Baits are also kept to a minimum; I carry a handful of baits, and if I take any live bait, it will be a small amount of waxies. My goal is to get to an area that I can have to myself. This will keep ice activity down and hopefully keep the bite going once it starts. I have been on the ice by myself and gotten a school of ‘gills going, only to be shut off by the ice activity picking up when the crowd starts to arrive.

If I am on the ice and activity picks up, I try to get to another area and start over, if that is a possibility; if not, I try to get away from the crowd and set up again on the outside edges. I have experienced fish also moving towards the edges to get away from the increased activity.

During my pre-scouting time, I also establish a couple of secondary lake choices in my mix. I scouted these secondary lakes and have key waypoints in my unit for them as well. These lakes are typically larger or deeper than my first round of starter lakes, giving me more room in the early season to expand options.

If I can’t get into the areas that I found during pre-scouting or if ice activities push me from these areas, I always carry a bottle of water with me. I walk the ice, pouring a little water here and there to create good surface contact for my transducer. Then I start to check and break down different areas. This allows me to look at new areas without drilling any holes in the ice.

To do this you, need solid ice, which is typical early in the season. Clear any snow down to the ice and pour a little bit of water on top of the ice. Now place your transducer in the water. If the ice is solid (no air pockets), you should get a bottom reading. If you do not, there likely is an air pocket in the ice; move over a foot or two and repeat. This a quick way to scout new ice location or try to match where you are on the lake to your lake map.

This is a great way to scout areas that I see on my map. This allows me to see bottom conditions, what these areas have to offer and if they are holding fish. I depend on this tactic while checking new waters during the ice season.

I hope these ice tactics help you get out on the early-ice bite this year.

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