Ice Fishing with Plastic

Walleye pro Tommy Skarlis, Lindy Little Joe Pro Staffer, recalls a day that changed the way he looked at ice fishing forever.

Blame it on a man aptly nicknamed, "The Crappie King." Every day, the man with no name would venture out onto the hard water of a Mississippi River backwater in Skarlis' native Iowa. Every day, the King would return with a bucket full of big crappies.

Skarlis just had to find out how he did it, so, he became a sleuth. He shadowed the King and was surprised when he plopped down on a bucket over a hole in the midst of a community spot with about 20 other anglers nearby. Location was not the King's secret.

But, as Skarlis watched, the King caught five crappies to every one brought up a hole by anyone else in the pack. The King caught five, someone else caught one, the King caught five, someone else would catch one, and so on until Skarlis could no longer stand the suspense. He ventured nearer and asked, "Would you mind telling me what you are doing?"

"Ice fishing!" the King said as though addressing one of his subjects.

"Yes," Skarlis persisted, "but what are you doing different?"

That was when the King reeled up his jig. It was nothing special, just a common ice jig that looked like so many others on the market. The difference was what he had on it. It wasn't a maggot or a wax worm or a minnow.

"It was a piece of plastic he'd shaped himself. He had fashioned something that resembled a live wax worm from a plastic bait designed for summertime panfishing. Since then, 95 percent of the crappies I've caught have been on soft plastics.", Tommy added. Plastic baits work for walleyes, bluegills and perch, too.

Plastics have several advantages over live-bait alternatives;

• No need to stop at a bait shop before each trip;
• Plastic baits remove all concerns about keeping live bait from freezing. No more rock-hard wax worms or minnows caught in suspended animation;
• There's no need to re-bait as often. "While the other guy is digging through his clothes to dip into his shirt to get another maggot, I'm dropping down the hole and catching another crappie," Skarlis said

But, the real beauty of plastic baits, like Lindy's line of ice-fishing plastics (Techni-Glo and Munchies Tiny Tails - the Pin Tail, the Mini Spade, the Split Tail and Micro Mino), rests in the fact you can take advantage of the feeding frenzy ignited by catching the first crappie or two. Once you start by catching one, you can catch one crappie after another as other fish come close to investigate. But, if you have to stop to re-bait you can't keep the school interested, and if they lose their curiosity, they leave.

The fact the bait is artificial is a double-edged sword. Yes, transport and storage is a snap. But, the action of the bait is now all up to you. Dead-sticking with plastics is not an option.

First, make certain your jig and plastic are aligned properly. A bait that spins is a real turnoff to fish. Test it in the hole and watch how it works before you lower it. "A little spin is OK, but it's better if you have no spin at all," Skarlis said.

One way to make plastic appear alive is to "straight-line" jigs like a Frostee Jig or a Genz Worm dressed with plastic trailer down the hole and jiggle it three or four times. Stop, then repeat at 10-second intervals. You can add a tiny Thill float and use the same technique. Skarlis is looking for aggressive biters. No fish in 30 seconds to a minute? Move to the next hole.

If fishing stays tough, Skarlis likes to go to extremes. Finicky fish sometimes want the smallest jig/plastic presentation he can devise. Larger profiles may "match the hatch" and mimic the size of the forage fish crappies are feeding on.

You can also impart different appearances and action by varying the way you put plastic baits on jigs. Create an "L" shape by threading the head of a plastic bait like the Pin Tail onto the hook of a vertical jig, then pull it up the shaft and stick the point into the plastic body as it lies parallel to the bottom.

For another, try something similar to what bass anglers call a "wacky worm." Pinch the tail off a Spade Tail and put the hook through the middle. That leaves two ends dangling.

That's the how. Now, concern yourself with the where. After all, you don't have the "Crappie King" to follow. It helps if you took the time to scout the weed lines during open water with a GPS and sonar. That's much easier than doing it in frigid weather with an auger.

At first ice, location for crappies, bluegills and walleyes are similar. In lakes, check the green-weed edges in 4 to 14 feet of water. Look for the points and inside turns, especially those that lie in transition areas from sand to mud. The forage base will be richer there. Stay away from brown weeds that sap oxygen from the surrounding area as they decay.

In Mississippi River backwaters, look for the edges of weed patches, lily-pad fields, bull rushes or cane beds that break to deeper water. In reservoirs, check the points and breaks into old river channels. In farm ponds, fish the breaks into the old creek channels. Bluegills will be mixed in with the crappie.

For walleyes, up-size your jigs, such as the Fat Boy XL or Genz Worm XL, and check out the same green vegetation that held crappies. Change up jig colors, and don't forget to try the Glow in Living Color triggering power of Techni-Glo.

Oh, there's one more advantage to plastic baits over live bait. There's no chance your wife will wind up doing the laundry and washing the wax worms you forgot in your pocket.