Mark Martin has been ice fishing since he was a kid, and the jigging methods he used then are still the same techniques he teaches his students and you.

First things first

The first thing I do when setting up, is to drill four or five holes for each person in the party. Spreading the holes out throughout an area over good structure, I make sure most are over the edges and tops of drop-offs, reefs and weeds. I also bore a few holes over the bottom of the drop-off, even if it’s 30 to 50 feet deep. Finding these areas is made easy nowadays with the aid of GPS and an SD card filled with Navionics mapping in its card reader. Once I start marking fish on my MarCum Sonar, and then find the active fish at a certain depth, I’ll stay at that depth for at least an hour.

I avoid making unnecessary noise. I drill all the holes I’ll be using for the day immediately, rather than during the fishing session.

Light causes movement. Early in the day, when the sun is still low, fish may be in shallow water. Walleyes are very skittish in shallow water, however. So, as the sun comes up or cloud cover moves out, the fish will move to the edges, into the weeds or into deep water. This means you must move with them.

If the action slows during the day, we’ll start fishing right along the bottom at the drop-off’s lowest area, or where the lake bottom connects to the drop-off. This can be a hotspot when the bite slows before or after the evening and morning twilight bite.

If holes have been drilled in advance, just walk to the new hole and start fishing without making a lot of extra drilling. When fishing with a friend or two, start out with each person trying a different lure and presentation. This can shorten the time needed to find out what the fish are looking for and can result in faster walleye catches.

Traditional jigging is the most common technique used to catch walleyes. A lead head jig, like Northland’s two-tone FireBall, a flash lure like a Northland Fire Eye or Blue Fox Tingler spoon, or swimming lure like Northland’s Airplane jig or a Jigging Rapala are all great choices.

A morsal of fresh meat or scented soft bait makes a big difference when ice fishing. The taste and texture of whatever you tip your hook with will produce more strikes and the fish will hold on longer, which gives you more time to set the hook.

Laws vary from one state or Canadian province to another, but where it is legal, anglers can use a whole minnow, a piece of cut up minnow, or perch eye. Scented baits, such as Berkley GULP Minnows or Minnow Heads will add flavor and scent to any ice-fishing presentation. On lures with multiple hooks, a small minnow or soft bait should be added to the barbs of the center treble hook.

Action and reaction

Overall, drop the baited lure to the bottom and lower the rod tip to the water level on a taut line. Raise the rod tip six inches and sharply lift it a foot before immediately dropping the tip. This causes the lure to flutter, fall or swim back down.

Jig once every two or three seconds for five or six times in a row, then stop to let the lure settle for a few seconds, and then start jigging again. Strikes often come as the lure falls or just as upward jigging stroke starts again. Watch the line closely and be ready for a hit. Braided line, like 6- or 8-pound-test Berkley FireLine, with a short leader of 4- to 6-pound-test Berkley fluorocarbon leader is the most sensitive.

When it comes to detecting a hit, you may feel the lure being sucked in, while other times the lure will just stop. Be ready to set the hook at all times.

Change it up

Bouncing bottom is much like traditional jigging except the jig touches bottom each time. The lure roughing up the lake’s floor stirs up silt, sand or mud, creating the illusion of a feeding or injured baitfish. This technique works best on any hard-bottom areas.

Place the lure at or near the bottom and twitch it up and down three inches at a time with a continuous motion. Keep the line tight while the lure thumps bottom. Pause occasionally, allowing the lure to lay on bottom or hold it just off bottom in a cloud of silt.

Tight-line twitching is a more delicate method. With tight-line twitching, lures don’t rise and fall. While keeping a constantly tight line, except for an occasional twitch, the lure just swims in a small circle over the bottom.

Swishing, on the other hand, is similar to traditional jigging, but has a side-to-side movement rather than up and down. Move the rod tip back and forth from one side of the hole to the other with a mere three-to-six-inch stroke at a time. This causes a rocking or pendulum motion with the lure while it swims side-to-side. Sometimes, an occasional vertical lift will add variation and tempt a strike. This is a great technique for beginners who have trouble feeling a strike with a more conventional jigging method.

Up, down and all around

Jigging makes a bait look like a nervous wreck. Just moving your wrist up and down rapidly one to two inches at a time will have walleyes seeing a lure dancing wildly.

Mix all these jigging methods up throughout the day. Just remember what technique’s been getting the most reaction from the walleyes and keep it up. If the action slows, it’s time to mix them all up again.

Learn more about the best techniques for successful ice fishing in the winter issues of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.