Planer boards are one of the most useful fishing tools any troller can own. From walleye to salmon, brown trout to stripers, there is almost no limit to the species that can be targeted more effectively with the help of planer boards.

            Planer boards bring much to fishing, but overwhelmingly the biggest advantage of using these trolling aids centers on the ability to target fish that are completely unaware of the presence of the boat. Presenting lures and live baits out to the side of the boat allows anglers the unprecedented advantage of fishing for undisturbed fish that are feeding naturally. Flatline trolling or trolling directly behind the boat often spooks the fish long before the lures reach them.

ARE FISH REALLY AFRAID OF BOATS?

            Anglers often debate if fish are actually afraid of fishing boats. Certainly at times anglers can catch fish by trolling directly behind the boat. It’s also true that fish can’t reason that inside the fishing boat are anglers who’s intentions are to catch the fish.

            What fish are intimidated by is size. Fish live and die in a predator dominated world with simple rules. Big fish eat small fish. To a school of walleye or salmon, a fishing boat represents something big enough to eat them. Plain and simple.

            If you know what to look for, it’s often possible to see signs that fish are spooking away from the boat. Have you ever noticed diagonal lines on a sonar screen? These lines that angle away from the boat are formed when fish rapidly swim out of the transducer cone and away from the boat. This is clear evidence that fish are often spooked by the presence of the boat, making planer boards all the more valuable.

PLANER BOARD TYPES AND APPLICATIONS

            Planer boards are available in several different designs including those designed to be used in combination with a planer board mast system, in-line boards that attach directly onto the fishing line and mini in-line boards that also attach directly onto the line, but are intended for fishing with small or lightweight lures and baits.

            Effectively, all three types of planer boards accomplish the same goal of getting lures and baits out away from the boat. Some general guidelines apply to using planer boards, but which types is best suited for various kinds of fishing applications often boils down to personal choice.

            Boat size in part dictates which type of planer board is most practical. For example a mast planer board system is most efficient when fished in combination with four or five fishing lines per side of the boat. To accommodate this many lines requires a boat big enough to handle several anglers.

            While a mast system can be used on any size fishing boat, these trolling aids are most often seen in use on larger boats capable of handling four or more anglers comfortably. Most anglers fishing with a mast system are going to be employing large planer boards consisting of two or three boards mounted parallel to one another. Two board planers are the most common choice, but three board planers are a little more stable for fishing in rough waters and can handle the additional drag of fishing up to five lines per side of the boat.

            State fishing regulations also play a role in what planer board type is most practical. For example, in a state like Minnesota that only allows each angler one fishing line, using an expensive planer board mast system to deploy a few lines isn’t practical. On the other hand, in states like Michigan or Wisconsin that allow up to three lines per licensed angler, a planer board mast system allows for the maximum number of fishing lines and lures to be used.           

            The various kinds of in-line planer boards tend to get the most use in smaller boats that routinely fish with six or less lines. There are exceptions however to this general rule. In recent years charter captains and salmon fishermen have shown a  distinct preference for using in-line boards when fishing lead core line or copper line rigs. By selecting different lengths of these weighted lines, anglers can stagger their lures in the water column and easily stack two or even three in-line boards per side of the boat without fear of tangling lines.

            The line fished furthest out to the side of the boat needs to be the most shallow running of the board lines. This way, if a fish is hooked on the outside board, the fish can be reeled in over top of deeper fishing lines without having to clear other lines before fighting a fish.

            A common three board set up for fishing lead core and copper lines involves a line with five colors of lead core (fishing approximately 20’ down) deployed on as the outside line. The second line features 10 colors of lead core line (fishing approximately 40’ down) which becomes the middle line. A third and deeper line is deployed closest to the boat using 300 feet of 45 pound test copper wire (fishing approximately 60’ down) to target deeper fish.

            This common three line set up spaces the lures about 20 feet apart in the water column, saturating the water with lures and allowing fish hooked on shallower running lures to be reeled in without having to first clear other lines. Of course, the amount of lead core or copper line used can vary so long as the angler keeps in mind that shallow running lines need to be set on the outside of the spread and deeper running lines positioned on the inside of the spread.

            In general, in-line boards are popular with walleye anglers who routinely fish from 18-22 foot boats that are capable of handling two or three anglers. It’s important to note however that in-line boards can be used to target a wealth of species including northern pike, musky, stripers and even bass.

            The newest in-line boards on the market are the mini versions that are designed for fishing small or lightweight lures and baits. Mini boards are not large enough to effectively pull deep diving lures or weighted lines out to the side of the boat. These smaller cousins in the in-line family of boards are also not buoyant enough to make them effective for fishing in rough water.

            Mini boards shine best when fishing in calm water, shallow water and/or in combination with lighter tackle. Recently, I filmed a segment of Fishing 411 TV featuring both the Off Shore Tackle Side-Planer and Mini-Board in-line planer boards. We were targeting trophy class post-spawn northern pike that often scatter out on shallow water flats to feed. The lures of choice were shallow diving stickbaits that were used to troll over the top of emerging weed beds. Both of these board designs are ideal for fishing with crankbaits that have little resistance in the water.           

            The larger Side-Planer was rigged to stay on the line using two heavy tension OR16 Snap Weight Clips. When a fish was hooked, the fish and board were reeled in together until the board could be physically removed from the line and the fight continued. This standard rigging method is popular with walleye anglers who prefer to keep a steady tension on the fishing line at all times.

            The mini-boards were rigged using a lighter tension OR10 release on the tow arm of the board and a snap swivel at the back of the board. When a fish was hooked, the line would pop free from the tow arm release and slide down the line via the snap swivel. A bead and swivel was added in line a few feet in front of the lure to prevent the board from sliding all the way to the lure. Rigged in this manner two or three lines can be stacked per side of the boat without any need to clear lines should a fish be hooked on an outside board.

NICHE TROLLING

            Planer boards are a niche in the trolling world that provides anglers the ability to fish a few or a lot of lines out away from the boat. Depending on the type of planer board used, just about any fishing lure, live bait, sinking line or even diving planer can be fished in combination with planer boards to gain invaluable outward lure coverage. Getting out away from the boat covers more water and contacts fish that have no clue a fisherman is in the neighborhood.

            Of all the trolling methods, mastering the use of planer boards may well be the single most important step a troller can make. Just about anything that swims is susceptible to being caught with the help of one planer board type or another.

        I’ve been blessed to have fished in a lot of very cool places. From world class brook trout to walleye, trophy pike, monster musky, king salmon, steelhead, right down to jumbo perch and panfish, I’ve done my part to sample as many fishing opportunities as possible. I’m often asked to share my favorite fishing destinations and to be frank, that chore always leaves me uneasy. Fishing success is so often based on weather and timing, that simply recommending a destination is a slippery slope. It’s possible and ultimately inevitable that even the best fishing destinations are going to turn sour sooner or later.

        Case in point. A few years ago I flew into Kag Lake Lodge in northwestern Ontario. I’ve been to “the Kag” several times before and always enjoyed great fishing action for walleye and northern pike. On this particular trip the weather was lousy. When we arrived the camp manager announced that it had been raining steady the previous seven days. My reply was “good, I’m glad you got the rain out of your system”. For the next seven days it rained cats and dogs. The wind blew a gale and fishing literally sucked. My point is simple. Even world class fishing destinations like Kag Lake are only as good as the environmental conditions that so often dictate fishing success.

        So what is an angler to do when even great fishing destinations are likely to let you down? The answer is simple. I plan my fishing adventures to coincide with the best times of year for the species I’m after and trust that the weather will cooperate. Life is full of risks and fishing is no different. It’s virtually impossible to plan a fishing trip a year in advance and know with certainty that the trip will be a success.

        One of the best ways to hedge your bets is to plan trips that are several days long. That way if the weather is bad a day or two, the whole trip will not get washed out. This rule goes double for bodies of water that are large enough that wind and waves play a major role in even getting on the water.

         During the past two seasons I’ve scheduled 13 days of fishing on Lake Nipigon in northwestern Ontario. Of those 13 days, I was able to fish on Nipigon only five days. The remaining days were too windy to risk a fishing adventure.

         Another option is to have a fallback plan should the weather influence negatively on the primary fishing agenda. That Nipigon trip just referenced is a good example. Because I knew that Nipigon is subject to big waves, I took along some stream trout fishing gear including waders, spinning outfit, appropriate tackle and a small landing net. When the wind made it impossible to fish Nipigon, I took advantage of the spare time to fish for stream brook trout that were not effected by the windy weather.

        The moral of the story is go prepared to fish other species and locations should the weather force a change of plans.

LAKE ERIE CRANBERRY CREEK

           Over 20 years ago I made my first visit to Cranberry Creek Marina near Huron, Ohio to fish for walleye in the fall. Every since that first visit I’ve kept coming back to sample not only the fall walleye fishing, but also great spring fishing for walleye, world class perch fishing and smallmouth fishing that’s second to none.

          If I could only visit Cranberry Creek Marina twice a year, I’d plan a trip in late May or early June to target walleye that transition from the Bass Islands, east to Lorain about that time of year. Trolling spinner rigs on bottom and suspended in the water column routinely produces some of the best walleye fishing on Earth.

          The second visit to Cranberry would be in late October or early November to sample the awesome fall crankbait bite this region is famous for. Trolling deep diving crankbaits like the Reef Runner 800 series or Rapala TDD11 series routinely produces walleye in the 10-14 pound range. There is just no where else I know that an angler has a better chance of catching a double digit walleye than Cranberry Creek Marina in the fall.

LAKE NIPIGON BROOK TROUT

           For the angler who has never caught a brook trout over 20 inches, I recommend visiting Lake Nipigon in northwestern Ontario. The minimum size limit for brook trout on Nipigon is 22 inches! Because this fishery is intensely managed and access to the best fishing areas is limited, brook trout grow to super large sizes. The time to go is late May and early June when the surface water temperature is cold enough that the brook trout are foraging along the shorelines of the many islands. The moment the surface water exceeds 50 degrees, these highly temperature sensitive fish start to seek out deeper water, making them much more difficult to find and catch.

          I recommend using an electric motor to slowly cruise along island shorelines just far enough off shore that a spoon or spinner can be casted to fish that are typically found within a couple feet of shore. The name of the game is covering water to try and contact as many brook trout as possible. A good day on Nipigon yields eight to 10 brook trout in the 20-26 inch range! Duplicating that feat anywhere else is going to be very difficult unless you can afford to fly to the Arctic Circle and fish in waters that get zero angling pressure.

LAKE ERIE STEELHEAD

         Lake Erie is better known for walleye or smallmouth bass than steelhead. The truth is, the north shore of Lake Erie along the Ontario shore is the best off shore steelhead fishing on Earth. In August and early September you can expect to catch limits of steelhead by trolling spoons in water from 60-70 feet deep.

         At this time of year the steelhead are feeding on young of the year smelt that are routinely found in deeper and cooler water. Rarely will these fish be caught any closer to the surface than about 40 feet down. Downriggers, diving planers and lead core line are the most popular methods for getting spoons to the depths steelhead are most likely to be hunting.

         A good day of steelheading on the north shore can produce a four man limit of 20 steelhead and nearly twice that many hook ups! The fishing is good from Wheatley Ontario all the way to Long Point.

BENTON HARBOR SPRING SALMON

          Long about late March or early April, people who live in the snow belt start to get a little stir crazy. One of the best ways I know to beat cabin fever is to target spring coho salmon in southern Lake Michigan. From Benton Harbor south to Michigan City, this region of the lake produces some amazing cold water trolling action for coho that average 18 inches in length. These two year old fish are awesome fighters and super delicious on the table.

         Even better the numbers of fish available is staggering. When the spring coho run is at it’s peak, most boats are going to catch their five fish limit in a couple hours!

         Because the water is very cold at this time of year it’s not necessary to fish very far off shore or to target these fish in deep water. The majority of the spring coho are taken in water less than 40 feet deep.

         Trolling small crankbaits on planer boards is a popular way to target these fish. Small trolling spoons fished on mini-disks or diving planers is also a good way to cash in on coho gold. 

         This fishery also produces a few bonus brown trout, some steelhead action and the occasional lake trout. Some impressive king salmon are also taken while targeting coho.

SUMMING IT UP

         These fishing adventures are just a few of the trips I look forward to enjoying every year. One of the great things about living in the Great Lakes region is we have more fishing opportunities than an angler can enjoy in a lifetime. My goal is to sample as many as possible and report on the best.

         For more information on the destinations outlined above, check out the Fishing 411 YouTube library of fishing adventures. All of the fishing adventures listed above and many others are outlined with the goal of encouraging other anglers to get out and enjoy the excitement and fellowship only sport fishing can provide.

            Winter bluegill fishing is something I look forward to with much enthusiasm. In part I like ice fishing for gills because catching high quality fish is challenging. Secondly, I personally feel that a bluegill is the best tasting of all table fish.
            Catching  bluegills in the eight, nine and 10 inch range is getting surprisingly difficult. Because these fish are so easy to find and catch in the spring when they spawn, lots of lakes get over pressured leading to fisheries that rarely produce good numbers of adult sized gills.
            Also, a lot of lakes simply don’t have the right ingredients to generate big bluegills. Forage is the key thing to keep in mind when scouting out bluegill lakes. Because bluegill feed primarily on aquatic insects, a lake has to have an abundance of bugs to choose from. Lakes with lots of soft bottom, silt and mucky areas produce the greatest concentrations of aquatic insects. Lakes that are made up primarily of sand, gravel or rock bottom substrate are generally poor bluegill lakes.
            Finding adult bluegills is a lot like hunting for trophy whitetail deer. Most places don’t produce trophy bucks because hunting pressure prevents the deer from living long enough to reach bragging size. The same is true of bluegills.

CONSIDER SELECTIVE HARVEST
          My family loves to eat bluegills, but over harvesting is one of the biggest problems associated with managing bluegill fisheries. In my home state of Michigan an angler can legally keep a very generous 25 bluegills. My personal self imposed limit is about half that or 12 fish per trip. I’ve settled on this number because a dozen nice bluegill is plenty to feed my family of four. By limiting the number of adult bluegill I harvest on any given fishing trip, I’m helping to maintain a healthy age class balance of fish in the lake and increasing the odds of catching quality fish on every trip. 
             I also strongly feel that “fresh” fish tastes better than fish which have been frozen. By bringing home just enough bluegills for a meal of fresh fish, and not trying to stock the freezer, I’m insuring that no fish gets wasted. Nothing bothers me more than fish that ends up  buried in the freezer, freezer burned and wasted    

A BLUEGILL HARVESTING SYSTEM
           The success I enjoy catching bluegills in the winter is made possible not by one or two elements, but rather by a fishing system that allows me to routinely harvest fish trip after trip. This fish harvesting system involves a very specific type of rod, reel, fishing line, tear drop jig, bait, fishing electronics and a light enough shelter to allow a run and gun fishing approach.

ROD TALK
           Ironically, I’m not a big fan of the expensive and ultra high quality ice fishing rods that have hit the market in recent years. I like nice things as much as the next guy, but high quality graphite is a very fragile material, especially when exposed to bitter cold conditions. Paying $30.00 for an ice fishing rod only to break it the first time out is not my idea of a good investment.
            My theory regarding ice fishing rods for bluegills goes a different direction. The rod doesn’t need to be made from expensive graphite to be effective. I actually favor inexpensive fiberglass models that feature a light enough action that the rod tip telegraphs the strike. In the old days I used spring bobbers to accomplish this goal. These days I’ve abandoned the spring bobber in favor of using rods with very light action tips and enough backbone to deliver a strong hook set. 
           It helps if the rod tip is also brightly colored so it contrasts against the background of snow and ice. This simple feature makes it much easier to detect very subtle movements of the rod which in turn are indicating strikes.
           For open air fishing, a rod in the 36-48 inch range is perfect as it allows the angler a better opportunity to pick up slack line on the hook set. Unfortunately, these longer rods don’t function very well inside a portable shelter. Inside an ice shanty, I fish with 30 inch rods that are the best compromise of length and action.

FISHING LINE
           Bluegill fishing calls for thin lines no larger in diameter than two pound test. I’m a big fan of high visibility fishing lines for their ability to help spot line movements that indicate strikes. Vicious Panfish comes in a bright yellow color that’s just about perfect for bluegill fishing.
           High visibility line is a great tool for detecting strikes, but I don’t want to tie my tear drop jigs directly onto line that I feel fish can see. Instead, I tie on a 24-36 inch leader of clear two pound test line and tie the tear drop onto the clear leader.

SMALL REELS
            A bluegill rod for ice fishing needs to be equipped with an ultra light spinning reel. The size 10 or 15 reels are ideal for bluegill fishing, but the majority of the reels that come on ice fishing combinations are literally goint to fall apart in one or two seasons. My advice is to spend at least $30.00 on a reel that will provide many years of trouble free service. Anything less is going to fail the angler at the worst possible moment.

TEAR DROPS
           The world of ice fishing tear drops is cluttered with about a thousand choices. Personally I break tear drops down into to simple categories including ones that hang vertical in the water and ones that hang horizontal in the water.
            Interestingly enough on some days bluegill tend to favor the vertical presentation and on others the horizontal look triggers more strikes. I rig up rods both types of tear drop jigs so I’m always prepared on the ice to make quick changes without having to take the time to cut and retie.

FAVORITE RIG
            My favorite bluegill tear drop rig is actually two tear drops tied onto the same leader. I start by taking about 36 inches of two pound test clear line and snelling a vertical tear drop called the Bait Rigs Cobra Panfish jig onto the line in about the middle of the leader. Next I tie on a horizontal tear drop onto the bottom of the leader leaving a space of about 12 inches between the two jigs. 
            The rig is finished by tying a loop knot at the opposite end and also tying a loop knot on the main line coming from the rod tip. By connecting the two loop knots, I create a two hook leader that allows me to have both a vertical and horizontal presentation at the same time.
            When the gills are active, I routinely catch two at a time. Most of the time however, either the vertical or horizontal tear drop catches the lion share of the fish. If I determine they prefer the vertical tear drop, I switch to a rod rigged with two vertical tear drops. If the horizontal jig is catching the most fish I switch to a rod equipped with two horizontal jigs rigged like a drop shot rig.

SONAR
             The argument over which type of sonar is best for ice fishing continues to rage on. Some guys favor flashers, others prefer liquid crystal graphs and still others find that video has key advantages. Personally I think it boils down to what an angler is effective using.
             I grew up fishing flashers and have lots of confidence in them. The blips of light tell me everything I need to know to find and catch bluegill through the ice.
            That stated, a lot of anglers are more comfortable with the liquid crystal graphs that provide an easier to interpret picture. So long as you can identify fish and where your bait is in the water, both flashers and LCG units are effective tools.
            Video has the advantage of actually confirming the species and also indicating bites that are so subtle the rod tip doesn’t even move. This is clearly an advantage in catching ultra light biting bluegills. The problem with video is it only looks one direction, whereas flashers and LGG units provide the angler a 360 degree circle of coverage.

SHELTERS
            The way to catch bluegills is to remain mobile enough to move and keep moving until you find fish. An ice shelter provides creature comforts, but if that shelter is heavy enough or complex enough to set up that it prevents the angler from moving at the drop of a hat the outcome is obvious.
             When the flip style shelters hit the market a few years ago I fell in love with them for their ability to keep one angler warm, comfortable and mobile. Then things got ugly as these same companies started producing bigger and more complex shelters. Pretty quick the market was flooded with “portable” shelters that are about as portable as a one car garage!
               A one persons shelter is just right. Two person shelters are too big and heavy to transport easily. The bigger three and four man shelters are great if you want to fish in one spot all day, but useless for serious bluegill fishing.
             My son Jake and I each have a one man shelter. Two shelters easily fit in the back of a pick up truck and each is roomy enough to store our related gear including propane heater, rods, tackle box, sonar, gloves, creepers, etc.
             Because everything we need for a day of bluegill fishing fits nicely inside our one man shelters, we can hit the ice, divide and conquer. Jake and I carry portable radios so we can communicate what’s working and what’s not, so we both end up on the fish. 

FINAL THOUGHTS
           This strategy for catching bluegills amounts to a system that involves some pretty specific gear and a fishing approach that’s based on being mobile enough to move and move some more until fish are located. Time and time again the run and gun approach has allowed us to find quality bluegills. At that point the real fun begins.

            If by some strange force of nature I was forced to fish through the ice without the benefit of sonar or underwater video, I’d rather hang up my stocking cap than fish without electronics! That’s a strong statement, but a testament to how essential sonar has become for ice fishing applications.
            When I was a kid learning to fish on ice, we didn’t have the luxury of sonar and spent the majority of our time fishing tight to the bottom. When the bluegills, crappie or perch were on the bottom all was good, but just as often these fish suspend in the water column. Unknowingly fishing below a school of panfish is the kiss of death as these fish are simply not going to move downwards in the water column to feed. The anatomy of a fish allows them to see things above them, not below them.

PRIMARY SONAR BENEFITS           

            There are three primary benefits to using sonar for ice fishing. First and foremost using sonar confirms the location of fish. No matter how good the lure or bait might be, if no fish are present fishing in that location is a waste of time.
            Secondly, sonar confirms the precise location of fish in the water column. Because the sonar clearly marks both fish and the lure, it’s easy for the angler to raise or lower the lure to be in the best possible position to get attention from fish.
           Thirdly, by closely monitoring fish marks on the sonar it’s possible to actually determine the activity level of fish. I often tease fish into biting by presenting a bait right on their nose and then slowly lifting the bait up in the water column simulating food that’s about to get away. It’s amazing how often I can pull a fish up off bottom several feet before it strikes.

SECONDARY BENEFITS OF SONAR

            In addition to finding fish, confirming their location in the water column and also determining the activity level of those fish, sonar gives us other important clues that can lead to fishing success. With the help of sonar it’s possible to confirm the location of key cover types including weeds, submerged wood or rocks.
            It’s also possible to identify soft bottom areas compared to hard bottom areas. Certain species like bluegill that feed heavily on aquatic insects are much more likely to be found on soft bottom areas that support the maximum amount of insect life.
           The presence of baitfish can also be confirmed with a sonar unit, further helping to provide valuable pieces to the puzzle. Collectively the information we gain as a result of using electronics while ice fishing can be the difference in success or failure. Not all fishing electronics are created equal however.

FLASHER UNITS

            Flasher units were the first commercially produced sonar units to hit the market in the late 60’s and they continue to be useful fishing tool for the modern ice fisherman. Flasher units provide realtime information about the presence of fish, the relative size of these fish, the location of these fish in the water column, bottom composition and much more. The problem with flashers is they require a trained eye to spot all this information.
            To the casual observer, a flasher unit is little more than a bunch of different colored blinking lights. With a little coaching, anyone can learn to read a flasher effectively. 
             All flasher units offer various depth zone setting. To get the most from a flasher the depth zone setting must be matched as closely as possible to the actual depth. Taking this simple step insures that most of the available screen is being used to display information.
            Secondly, the gain or power setting must  be adjusted properly. If the gain is not set high enough, important information may not appear on the screen. If the gain is set to high, the screen will become cluttered with too many false signals that are impossible to interpret.
            When the unit is first turned on, slowly turn up the gain or power switch until a clear bottom signal appears. Drop your lure into the hole and check to see if you can spot your lure as it sinks. If the lure doesn’t appear on the flasher dial, turn up the gain slightly until the lure appears as a thin band of light.
             In general it’s important to have the gain adjusted so the bottom signal is strong and so lures and fish mark clearly. It’s counter productive to turn the gain up too high as clutter on the screen makes it impossible to interpret important signals. Learning to balance the gain setting is part of using a flasher. In deeper water more gain is required than in shallow water. Also in soft bottom areas the gain must be set higher than in hard bottom areas that do a better job of returning echos.

LIQUID CRYSTAL GRAPHS

            Liquid crystal graphs are hands down the most popular sonar units among anglers. Unfortunately, LCG were designed with open water fishing in mind, not ice fishing. From a stationary position typical of ice fishing, the arch shaped marks that routinely appear on the screen of a LCG unit do not occur. Instead the marks indicating fish show as continuous thin lines on the screen.
           The reason marks show as lines is simple. Normally a LCG is used in a boat that is moving in the water. As fish move in and out of the cone angle of sound waves, they record as the familiar arch or what anglers call hooks.
            Because in a ice fishing situation the sonar unit is in a stationary position and often the fish below the ice are relatively stationary, the fish doesn’t quickly come in and out of the cone of sound waves.
            Essentially the information an angler needs is being displayed on the LCG screen, it just looks different than when using the unit in open water. Unlike a flasher unit, a liquid crystal graph does not offer data in real time. It takes a few seconds for the data to be displayed on the LCG screen.
            Some modern LCG units also feature digital flasher screens that function almost exactly like a true spinning flasher unit. The data from a digital flasher unit is displayed in real time. Units like the Lowrance Elite 5 allow anglers to split the screen and view both the flasher screen and LCG screen at the same time, providing both perspectives.

VIDEO

            Video units are the newcomer on the ice fishing scene. Essentially waterproof video cameras that show anglers a wealth of information, a video camera can document the presence of fish and identify the species in question. Video can also confirm details about weed types, bottom composition and even help detect strikes so light the angler can’t feel them.
        The biggest disadvantage of video electronics units is they only look in one direction and have a relatively narrow field of view. A flasher or LCG unit has a 360 degree cone of coverage. The blind spot video units suffer from is exactly why I prefer to do my primary fishing with sonar and use video only to confirm certain specifics like fish species or cover types.

            That stated, there are times when fish are biting especially light and using a video unit can confirm when a fish actually has the bait/lure in it’s mouth. This is especially true when targeting perch or other light biting panfish found in deep water.

SUMMING IT UP

            Incorporating sonar or underwater video while ice fishing gives anglers a fighting chance at locating fish and keeping their baits in the strike zone. Without electronics anglers are literally fishing blind and that’s never good.