Dan Stefanich, Josh Lantz and Joe Henry show off some the reasons
Lake of the Woods is a great place to search out and ice fishing gujde.
Crappie Guides on Ice
by Richard Simms
I’m a Southern Boy at heart, and in geography. This is a bad pun, but in my home state of Tennessee, it is literally “a cold day in hell,” if we ever see any ice on a large body of water. And even if it does happen, it will NEVER be enough to fish on safely.
Therefore, as a lifetime angler, I always had a hankering to fish through frozen water. Three years ago, I finally scratched that itch, heading for the Land of 10,000 Lakes, otherwise known as Minnesota.
Everyone knows that all the northern states are all about walleye – the equivalent of largemouth bass in the south. What many folks don’t realize, however, is that when fishing under the ice in many places, crappie are likely second in demand.
It is certainly possible to ice fish on your own, especially if you are the adventurous type. There is a ton of public water (or ice) and you can equip yourself for a relatively small cost. Some Minnesota state parks even offer equipment you can borrow. Visit this Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources website to learn more.
If, like me however, you are new to the ice fishing game, some guidance would be very helpful. Not just to catch fish, but to stay safe. Ice fishing guides are plentiful in Minnesota and numerous other northern states. But you might have to search a little harder to get past the walleye guides to find the folks who specialize in crappie.
On my northern crappie foray, my friend Scott MacKenthun hooked me up one day with Adam Griffith, Griffith Outdoors owner and guide. Griffith is also one of the members of the YouTube Channel, Crappie Chronicles. Griffith and his partners specialize in chasing trophy crappie – fish over 18-inches in length. Their videos showcase some of the best crappie fishing across the ice belt, within a 60-mile radius of Downtown Minneapolis.
Going farther north is the massive Lake of the Woods, a mind-boggling reservoir 85 miles long and 56 miles at its widest point – lying in Minnesota, Ontario and Quebec.
Joe Henry, Executive Director of Lake of the Woods Tourism, says, “People don’t realize that we have such a good crappie fishery.
“When you talk ice fishing, the majority of the crappie fishing is up at the part of the lake called the Northwest Angle,” said Henry. “What most people do is they stay at a resort which is still in Minnesota and when they target crappie, they’ll actually slide over the border into Ontario, up in the islands area.
“The best way to find a guide is to contact one of the resorts (in the Northwest Angle) because they know the local guides who are dialed in on the best crappie spots.”
Of course, most of us ice newbies assume ice fishing is miserably cold – and yes, it can be. However, Henry points out that it doesn’t have to be. Many resorts and guides rent out hard-sided houses on the ice.
“If you’re going out to a hard-sided house, you can just wear a pair of boots, a warm jacket, a pair of gloves and you’ll be just fine,” said Henry. “When you step into that heated, hard-sided house it will be a comfortable 70-degrees and you’ll take your jacket off, hang it up and it’s like you’re fishing in your living room.”
Henry adds, however, if you’re with a guide who is running and gunning across the ice on a snowmobile in search of crappie, that’s when you need to be bundled up.
“You need to have good quality gear because it could easily be below zero,” said Henry.
Good ice-worthy coveralls or suits, boots, gloves, hats and facemasks can cost some money. However, after buying some of that stuff for my own ice-fishing adventures, I’ve been shocked at how often I’ve dug out my “below-zero” clothing to wear in Tennessee. It may not be essential like it is up north, but it still feels good on a 20-degree morning with a 10-15 mph wind on the deer stand.
Sonar and flashers have long been important ice fishing tools. But now, just like in the south, forward-facing sonar (FFS) is becoming all the rage under the ice.
“Oh, 100 percent,” said Henry. “You take that (forward-facing sonar) down there under the ice and those suspended crappie stick out like a sore thumb. It really saves time for an angler or guide to a home in on where those crappies are hanging.”
Griffith isn’t the kind of guide who likes to stay static, however. He is usually ready to run & gun in search of Minnesota monsters.
He also knows there is a lot more to ice fishing then simply dropping a lure or bait through a hole.
“The biggest thing I teach about ice fishing is cadence – how you jig your jig,” he said. “You have to learn to read the fish’s attitude.”
Watching the flashing line of a fish on his Vexilar flasher, Adam could tell if a fish is “pulsing” or excited.
Pointing to the mark on his flasher, he said, “See how that one is coming in and he’s pulsing like that. That’s his fins doing that. That means he’s excited and he’s probably going to bite it.”
Which of course it did and a healthy fish came flopping through the ice.
“Raising and lowering your jig can allow an angler to actually gauge a fish’s interest and adjust your presentation accordingly,” said Adam. “Once you learn to do that and read their mood, you’re going to catch ten times as many fish.”
Mackenthun taught me that one of his favorite baits is called a spike, a live, euro larvae that resembles a maggot. They come dyed in a variety of colors. Mackenthun taught me how to rig multiple tiny spikes for what he called “a Medusa Effect.”
But maybe fishing on ice isn’t your thing. Minnesota guide Jean-Paul Tessier admits it’s not his thing either.
“I don’t take a lot of people fishing for crappie in the winter time,” said Tessier. “I fish mostly on south end of Lake of the Woods so in the winter I’m mostly targeting walleye, perch and pike
“I really go after the crappie here are in the Fall, before freeze-up,” he said. “Most of the crappie we find up here are off of the structure, using forward-facing sonar.”
Tessier’s “go-to” lure is a XXL Drop Jig from Clam.
“I go out there and I can put a little Mackie plastic on the back of that sucker and I can catch them in the winter or the Fall,” he said. “By the time my clients are leaving the boat they want to know where I got that jig. I’ve been using them for 10 years.”
Of course, you can find a few northern crappie guides on the CrappieNOW Find-a-Guide Page. Next to that, Google is your best friend. Below are a few we found just to get you started.
Most importantly, you don’t have to wait until the leaves are green to broaden your crappie fishing horizons. Everybody needs to try doing it on the ice at least once in their life.
ICE FISHING CRAPPIE GUIDES
From Chattanooga, Tenn., in addition to being the CrappieNOW Editor, Capt. Richard Simms is owner of Scenic City Fishing Charters, Inc. He began his outdoor career as a Tennessee game warden later choosing journalism (and guiding) as his chosen profession. Check out his book, “An Outdoor State of Mind.” You can contact him at Richard@ScenicCityFishing.com.
