Fight the Slush

Chuck "Shooster" Hasse

I got in an ice fishing discussion with a Rack Pack buddy of mine, Chuck Hasse, over email the other day. Chuck fishes Leech Lake pretty religiously and definitely knows his head from a hole in the ice. He brought up some awesome points about how extreme snow and poor ice conditions can negatively affect fish activity. I felt the points were great, and also related to other lakes so well, they should be shared with everyone.
Below is Chuck's thoughts and approach to tackling Leech Lake, but as you read through, you will see that this information and tactics will roll-over to other lakes like Lake of the Woods very well. 

"I would say 90% of the fishing we do on leech is done on the sand flats. The key is to find the weed growth adjacent to sand/gravel bottoms. These are typically the routes that fish follow and are using to feed on baitfish, crayfish, bloodworms, etc. Each year, weed growth varies from spot to spot depending on temp change, snow cover, and sunlight. All of which have a direct result in an area being very good for active fish one year, but poor the next."

"The amounts of snow on the ice affect a number of things. Oxygen levels and weed growth are the main two. The less sun that gets through the ice, the faster weeds die off and faster oxygen in a lake becomes depleted. Once you start depleting the oxygen levels, the fish start to become more lethargic. Once they are lethargic, you need to do some massive searching to find some active fish."

"It’s a constant stream of searching for the most part, but once you find them, you can typically stay on a bite for quite a while, sometimes even for a month or two until conditions change. But this year is met with more challenges. Leech is 115k acres, so if that area is restricted by snow, slush, water and poor ice conditions makes it very tough on everything to be able to stay mobile."


"It’s just a chain reaction of all the effects snow and slush have on a lake of that size."


So, if you are struggling to find the fish on your favorite ice fishing haunt, whip out the lake chip, get mobile (if you can) and go on the hunt.