Hard Water in July

Ice tactics in open water

Ice fishermen are interesting folks. They live for the four months of walking on water in pursuit of a variety of tasty fishes. When the spring rain comes, though, these same fishermen transform; ice shacks are parked and boats are readied, augers are stowed away while trolling motor batteries are charged, and boxes of ice tackle are shelved in favor of more traditional open water selections. However, savvy fishermen know to leave a few things out.

Especially for anglers targeting panfish and crappie, small ice jigs like the Genz Worm or Fat Boy tipped with a waxworm or a Tiny Tail plastic are absolutely deadly all year long. My personal favorite presentation is a Frostee jig below a Thill Gold Medal Super Shy Bite. For panfish, I'll use a Techni-Glo pink or gold Frostee with a #8 hook and tip it with a waxworm, but a small piece of nightcrawler or a whole cricket will work as well.

Bluegills are basically looking for anything that looks like a larvae or bug that has fallen into the water and the wide profile jig combined with something meaty and moving is a presentation that big 'gills cannot resist.

Another popular option for ice jigs in open water is the Genz Bug. This stand up jig head is deadly when teamed with a Tiny Tail and retrieved slowly along the bottom. No float is needed; just an ultra-light that will allow you to cast these tiny jigs. An especially effective presentation for Red-Ear Sunfish is to single-hook a half crawler on this jig.

For crappie, a Frostee with a #2 hook in Techni-Glo Blue or Chartreuse gets the nod with a small minnow nose-hooked. The vertical profile of the jig combined with a minnow flutters just right when jigged over the top of a brush pile. A close second for slabs is the chartreuse and orange Fat Boy tipped with a minnow and fished under a Thill Crappie Cork.

If more flash is your goal and you have a pair of pliers along, tie on a Techni-Glo Frostee Jigging Spoon or a Rattl'n Flyer spoon in 1/16 or 1/8 oz. size and hold on. Either of these lures is a great choice all year for perch or crappie. Tip them with Tiny Tails or waxworms or just fish them with bare treble hooks. Bouncing these along the edges of grass beds and in the tops of brush piles is a sure way to load the boat in a hurry with two of the tastiest fish that swim.