If someone seen people sitting on buckets ice fishing and asked, how do these people know where to drill holes to find fish? Some might think that is a stupid question, but if you never ice fished before, I totally understand why they would ask that. I also believe if people show an interest in anything to do with the outdoors, other people that know that sport should give them advice on that subject. So as far as ice fishing, knowing where to drill holes is a great question but not an easy one to answer in a few sentences. But here we go.

There are people that will drill holes and fish in an area where they saw other folks fishing before. Can this be a great spot?  This could be where those anglers normally fished in the summer and depending on the time of day or location, there may not be fish in that area, and those people may not know where to fish either. So maybe not.

Ice fishing isn’t like fishing in the summer where you just start your boat and move to a new location. You won’t hear this from many people but walking out to a spot in a foot of snow, then drilling holes (more on that in a bit) can be exhausting. This is why knowing where to drill those holes is so important. If you think about it, under water in the summer or under the ice, fishing is fishing, because all fish relate to structure and cover.

For the first-time ice fisherman or woman, I would suggest fishing a smaller lake or a lake that you are familiar with. Instead of drilling holes all over a lake trying to find fish, looking at a map of that lake will truly help. Viewing contour lines will show you depths, shallow flats, gradual or steep drop-offs, mid-lake humps and shoreline points. Other (HOT SPOT) maps will not only show where weeds, rocks, gravel, mud and sand bottoms are, but also where to find certain species of fish.

The time of day you are fishing could determine your location too. WALLEYE can be found near shorelines early in the morning before heading out to deeper water then WALLEYE will move back up to this location come (dusk) evening. This spot could also hold PANFISH near/in shoreline weeds and weed edges in the morning.

Here’s one thing to remember about weeds. Not all locations with vegetation holds fish. Late fall weeds start to die, and dead vegetation does not produce oxygen, and you will not find fish in this area. TIP: Drill a hole a test hole and drop a bare hook to the bottom and reel back up. If the vegetation is green put bait on your hook or lure because fish should be there. If the weeds are brown and smell bad, MOVE.

TIP; Fish will move when you drill holes, so drill a few holes and start fishing from the first hole you drilled. This gives fish time to settle down and relocate to that area. Don’t overlook trees. Remember those trees you fished in the summer? Drill two or three holes at different depths over that tree. Start at the shallow hole and then work deeper and if you snag, do not disturb the tree, cut the line and re-tie.

I would say a location with green weeds is the best spot on any lake for this reason.  Most species like weeds for oxygen and the cover to ambush prey. Vegetation with different depth/drop-offs to deeper water can be your HOT SPOT all winter.