Seasoned Anglers Categorize Their Choices

The more time spent ice fishing, the more likely we begin to use certain lures and lure presentations to the exclusion of others. We use systems we’re comfortable with and that we’ve had success with in the past.

Tip-ups remain a popular tool for walleyes. And many ice anglers anchor baits below floats or deadsticks. Unquestionably, though, today’s best ice anglers focus primarily on jigging, because it’s the most efficient way to fish and the most consistent way to catch numbers of walleyes, including larger fish.

Lure choices are made, based on factors such as size, profile, color, flash, and vibration. Once these choices are made, they’re fine-tuned during each day of fishing, as well as over the season, and finally, over many seasons. Along the way, we learn how to work lures properly to trigger strikes.

We asked three fine anglers, In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange; guide Kerry Konald of Mobridge South Dakota; and professional fisherman Dale Stroschein of Sturgeon Bay about their preferred presentations. These three anglers are keenly aware of available lure categories—flash lures, swimming lures, and jigs—and keep a selection from each category on hand. Often, though, based on their experiences, they begin to rely heavily on one category versus another.

Sir Swims-A-Lot

For the past 25 years, Doug Stange has been searching for better ways to catch walleyes through the ice. He has helped anglers understand seasonal periods that transpire during the ice season and how walleye behavior often changes relative to those periods. He also has been primary in addressing how to read walleye behavior via the use of sonar. And he has written extensively about lure categories and how to use them. It’s no secret, though, that Stange uses swimming lures whenever he can. More than any other angler, he has helped popularize this style of bait.

The Jigging Rapala; Nils Master Jigger, Nils Master Jigging Shad, and Baby Jigging Shad; and the Bad Dog Humpback imitate the profile and swimming action of baitfish. Used with a proper combination of lifts, drops, jiggles, and wiggles, swimming lures come to life below the ice.

“Looking back over the past fifteen years, swimming lures have been slow to catch on, until the last five seasons or so,” Stange explains. “Now, almost every walleye angler has some in his tackle box. How often they’re used is another story. All I can keep saying is that in the right hands, they’re the best bait style most of the time, even in waters often characterized as ‘spoon only’ or ‘livebait only’.

“The problem with swimming lures is that they require a feel for what needs to be done to make them come to life. I’m not saying that spoons don’t take skill to fish effectively. But it’s much easier to drop a spoon down, reel it up a bit, dance it around, and catch an occasional walleye, especially in water brimming with fish. Swimming lures, on the other hand, take practice. But the effort’s worthwhile when you get it right.”