Ice Fishing Before a Winter Storm on Mille Lacs for Walleye – IDO TV S17 E5

You have been asking for a MILLE LACS episode so here it is! James Holst and PJ Vick target a pre-frontal walleye bite on Mille Lacs before a winter snowstorm rolls in.

Great to see the spot on the spot in this episode. That extra bit of info will help a ton of fishermen learn how to find fish on their own.

As a novice ice fisherman I would like to have heard why that 12’ – 20’ depth was the key starting point.
Identifying structure isn’t that hard, I am just never sure what depth I should start at.

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Don’t want to speak for James and PJ but Mille lacs is unique in that it stays fairly shallow a good distance from shore. Like 3 to 7 ft. So they went to where the first major drop off started. Roughly 12 ft. This is where a major structure comes into play. Think of it as a steep hill or cliff like structure. If you listen close they talk about moving out a bit deeper during the day to 20ish ft and were moving back up shallower closer to the break line in the afternoon evening. They were moving down the break and hitting certain points or inside turns on the break that will congregate more than a fish here and there.

Tom schmitt wrote:

As a novice ice fisherman I would like to have heard why that 12’ – 20’ depth was the key starting point.
Identifying structure isn’t that hard, I am just never sure what depth I should start at.

To answer your question in another way start shallow or deep and work to the opposite depth. I prefer to start shallow especially if I am starting in the morning and work deeper as the fish slide off the structure during the day. Then slide back up as fish tend to move up shallower again in the evening to feed. Always an exception to the rule in fishing but working various depths from shallow to deep or vice versa will help you eliminate water and contact some fish in certain depths.

So it’s not necessarily depth as much as it’s first real break if nothing up or down that break move to 2nd real break, etc until you hit the basin?

Are you asking specifically about Mille Lacs or lakes in general? Every lake and situation is different.
My first response was specific to Mille Lacs and how I believe James to be working that general part of the lake I think he was fishing.
Second was just fishing in general. It could be a break a rock pile a weed line a flat etc etc. If you don’t know where to start as a general rule I start shallow and work deep or deep and drill shallower.

I was asking an in general question. I usually take a giant guess and then look shallower or deeper.

Tom schmitt wrote:

I was asking an in general question. I usually take a giant guess and then look shallower or deeper.

Rip’s advice is good, and more Mille Lacs specific. My general process is to pre-scout the lake I’m fishing on Navionics. Go to the structure I want to start on, drill a few holes and check it out for marks. If I’m not marking anything keep drilling out a grid of different depths in that area until I mark something (much easier with a buddy following the drill w/ electronics). Once I mark something fish until you get them to bite or keep moving. If I feel like I’ve covered the structure well enough to know there’s not many fish there, move to a different piece of structure, can be 100 yards away or a mile or more.

So it sounds like I’m on the right track. Now I just need to improve the actual fish catching part.