Nothing is as exciting to me as the rush I get from first ice. That first step on the ice is the beginning of a great new season with endless opportunities on the hard water. One giant step for Walt, one giant leap for new innovations. But, the last few years, I’ve cheated.

I can admit it to you now. I’ve gone ice fishing out of my boat!

What’s a guy supposed to do when the perch, bluegills and walleyes are stacked? And when it’s a nice day, temperature are above freezing, and my favorite lakes haven’t frozen over yet.

So, I pull out the boat and head to the ramp. Only a few die-hard muskie and walleye anglers have gotten there before me, and I head out fishing. On Petenwell Flowage, panfish relate to wood. Typically, I’ll fish anywhere from 8- to 18-foot depths and focus on and around “fish trees.”

In lakes, weeds are the primary focus points. Weed edges, shallow weedy bays and deeper green weeds. A lake like Big Green Lake in Wisconsin is super deep and freezes up late. It has a fine weed pattern that sticks around because the weeds stay green longer in the ultra-clear water.

I’ll use my trusty St. Croix Panfish Series rods. My reels are spooled with 5-pound, bright green PowerPro line and 4-pound fluorocarbon leaders. With this super-sensitive combo, I’m ice fishing out of the boat! I’ll use a Custom Jigs & Spins number 8 Glazba with a little redworm or a small minnow. I’ll try an RPM3 balance bait when the fish are more aggressive and a 1/8-ounce Slender Spoon with a minnow head on more active crappies and perch. The boat doesn’t get winterized until it’s winter!

But then, on to ice fishing. With a quick, hard freeze, I’ll go for it on three inches and take that first careful step. Thankfully, I’ve never fallen through—probably because I always bring along my trusty, rusty, 30-year-old spud bar. In case you don’t have one…you need one.

The technique that has worked for me is to take the bar and slam the ice ahead of where I intend to step, and then keep slamming all the way out to the spot. Be sure to have a rope attached to the bar’s end and slipped onto your wrist, so that if the bar blows through, it doesn’t shoot through a thin spot. Should you encounter thin ice…back away slowly to a safe area from which you came.

Channels, backwaters and sloughs freeze first. A sheltered channel will freeze quicker than you’d imagine, sometimes freezing up a month sooner than the main lake. I’ve ice-fished before Thanksgiving in some protected channels, before the lakes froze up after Christmas. I used to fish in Nielsen Channels and the T-Channel in northern Illinois when I lived around there. I was often the only guy out there since no one realized that there really was safe ice. I’d use Demons and Ratfinkees with a few red spikes and travel light—no locator, just a rod, bucket and spud bar.

My Milwaukee electric drill with a StrikeMaster auger is a back saver for me. I’m too old to drill twenty holes with a hand auger, even when the ice is only a few inches thick. With my drill/auger combo, I can drill 50 holes in a day on the ice—sometimes even more if I feel frisky. I also never leave home without my GRAFF-USA FloatGuard Suit, the lightest and safest suit on the market.

When the ice gets firm, I’ll round out my gear with shallow-water rods and a pile of jigs, some bait, a flip-over tent and the Garmin LiveScope. I’ve got the tent set up where I can move it to the hole, scope out fish, switch rods and fish without pulling everything out.

Early-season, shallow-water angling requires a mix of jig and spoon styles. This is where lightweight flutter spoons really shine. Spoons like Custom Jigs & Spins’ Demons, 2-Spots and Rockers are old-time favorites. I’ve had a lot of success with the Nuclear Ant tipped with a wax worm or two. The CJ&S ant is unique in that it has Finesse Plastic legs that undulate and a long-shank hook that holds a lot of bait. By “bugging up” the ant, it will flutter on the fall…tempting those sneaky bluegills.

I’ll use tiny tungsten jigs like 3mm and 4mm Chekai. I’ve got some prototypes I tested out last year in a variety of Wonderglow colors that were smoking hot. I like to use a plain red Wedgee on those tiny jigs and tease the larger pannies into striking.

Most panfish can be caught near the bottom of the water column, but crappies seem to suspend and can often be right under the ice. A long jigging rod of 36 to 42 inches, and a small Ratso in black, red or purple jigged right below the bottom of the ice, can be just the ticket for whopper crappies.

If you are chomping at the bit to go ice fishing right now, pull out the boat and try out some small channels and backwaters. They will freeze earlier than the main lake and can produce some great panfishing.

Use care in venturing out onto early ice and be sure to take along the fishing knowledge you’ve gained from reading MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.