Ice Fishing Help

Hey guys,
I have never been ice fishing and would really like to get into it. However I have no idea what I am doing. I’m hoping I can get some answers to these questions. Thanks!

Ice:
– How many inches is safe?
– What is the difference between white ice, blue ice, and black ice? Which do I want?
– Also, is it safe to go on ice that has snow on it?

Fish: I mainly want to fish for Northerns and maybe walleye.
– What is a good artificial bait? I was thinking maybe a 5″ fluke with a 1/4oz jig head for pike and just jig/twitch it. For walleye I was thinking jig a 2″ curlytail jig or a little Leo.
– The reservoir I want to fish is fairly deep, (100ft) with steep sides. Should I jig right off bottom? I’m assuming so for walleye but what about pike? Do they hold on bottom when it ices over?

Hey Tim,

Safe ice depends on how comfortable you are being on ice. Some people are comfortable on 3 inches others aren’t comfortable until there are cars and trucks driving on the ice. The image below is a generally accepted rule of thumb.

The strongest ice is clear ice. It is safe when there is snow on it but if you see dark snow that looks wet, don’t go near it. Snow basically just makes it harder to tell how thick the ice is without drilling a hole or having a spud bar. Also, get a spud bar and look up how to use it.

Lures and artificials tend to be much smaller for ice fishing than open water. I would say live bait is king for ice fishing but plastics have their place during certain bites. There’s way too much to write in one post so my best suggestion is use the search bar on this forum and type in whatever question you have. It should bring up tens of threads on whatever topic you are looking to learn about.

it would also be a good start to know where abouts your at!!!!!!

I would recommend you watch some videos about it. Like Mahto said think much smaller stuff than in open water. Most fish in winter can be caught with a small jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head. For pike throw out a tip up with a sucker minnow and wait for a flag, while jigging deeper.

Forgot to post the picture.

Well I’ve tried about 10 times now and I don’t know why the pic is t uploading sorry.

I think is the diagram you were trying to post Mahto. From the DNR’s website.

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I would suggest watching Jay Siemens ice fishing for beginners series on youtube. He made an in-depth video series specifically for beginners on what you want to look for getting into ice fishing. He is a great guy and knows what he is doing.

Thanks. That’s it. Not sure why I couldn’t upload it.

If you can watch In-depth outdoors which is on Sundays Fox sports north 8 am.
You will learn different ideas and techniques every week and also see the latest and best equipment used in the industry. James and his crew do this better than anyone in my opinion on TV. But if you can hire a good guide like Roach guide service to start out, nothing beats live-action with an experienced guide, or ask your experienced buddy that understands the awesome game of ice fishing focusing on safety, good equipment and ideas.