T
he midwinter doldrums seem to be starting a little earlier this year. Shantytowns spring up all around the best early ice hotspots, and this commotion combined with natural, seasonal fish migrations can mean disappearing fish. Now is the time you need to go mobile. Follow ice addict Paul Fournier’s example: He decided to set out for areas few people have been and most have forgotten about, and find some big, aggressive panfish.
“The first thing I did was draw a 60-mile circle around my house,” Fournier said. “While I may not live in the most lake-filled region, this gives me a surprising amount of water to fish, and if three or four of these lakes pan out, I will be very happy.”
While 60 miles may seem like an arbitrary number to many of those that are willing to travel days to catch big panfish, Fournier insists that it serves a purpose.
“This window gives me time to hit these waters before and after work, but more important, it keeps me focused. I’m a lot sharper if I don’t have to drive hours to get on the ice.”
Fournier pours over every bit of information on a particular body of water before he even adds a lake to his “Hit-List.” For info gathering, he looks at the Minnesota DNR’s Lakefinder website, Navionic’s web app, and lake surveys and reports.
“I like to see which lakes have been updated in the last few years. The more recently the surveys have been updated, the more trustworthy they are.”
Once he decides a lake is worth a personal investigation, he reviews topographical and plat maps.
“These maps help me discern whether lakes that have not been mapped have the ability to hold fish, and how I am able to access them. A lot of the lakes I am trying to search out are on minimum-maintenance roads. With the little snow and serious cold weather we’ve seen this season I can drive almost anywhere to find new spots.”
When he first arrives to check out a possible hotspot, Fournier fishes fast to cover lots of water and get a taste of what the body of water has to offer and how cooperative the fish are.
“My first two baits are the Tungsten Toad and the Frostee Spoon,” he said. “They allow me to fish really fast. Even though I am fishing shallow due to the lack of snow, I want to get down to the fish quickly. The Tungsten Toad sinks faster and punches through weeds better than the lead version.”
While Fournier openly talks about a few of the lakes on his new Hit List, as an angler he’s obliged to hold back a little Intel.
“My goal this season is to put a couple 15- or 16-inch crappies on the wall from this new list,” he said.
His 6-mile circle includes a major metropolitan area, and trophy sized crappie are hard to come by on most of these hard-fished waters, yet while he’s talking I notice a tiny upturn in his lips as he glances down at a lake map partially hidden from my view. My bet is that he’ll have that mount before ice-out, mostly because he’s willing to explore new waters and put out the effort to find a hidden jewel.