Minnesota Ice Fishing: Hit the Hot Spots & Avoid the Dead Seas

January is the peak of ice fishing excitement because we are seeing safe ice conditions in most cold-weather places, the fish are beginning to bite, and if you’re tired of winter, its a great recreational activity amongst friends or to even fly solo. For those who have done it before, Minnesota ice fishing is some of the best that you can find in the US with their “Land of 10,000 Lakes” providing ample places to drop a line. We share some of the best places to go ice fishing as well as a few tips and tricks to bear in mind when you venture out.

Ice Fishing Coverage on AllOutdoor

Minnesota Ice Fishing: It’s for All Ages

For starters, whether you are a beginner or a veteran Minnesota ice fishermen, you are going to want to square away your gear before attempting to drill an ice hole. Check out our “Ice Fishing for Beginners: A Complete Guide to Get Started” to ensure you’ll have everything you need before hitting the ice.

Ice Fishing Gear
Ice Shelters
Clothing & Boots
Ice Auger/Drill
Extra Accessories

Also, it is important to know what fish species you’ll be pursuing while ice fishing because that can largely dictate what gear you may need. These are some of the most common you’ll encounter during Minnesota ice fishing:

Panfish: Yellow Perch, Sunfish, Crappies (jigging techniques with simple hooks and bait are best)
Walleye Family: Walleye, Sauger, Saugeye (jigging techniques along with rattle reels in ice shelters are popular)
Trout and Salmon: Trout – Lake, Brook, Brown, Rainbow | Salmon – Chinook, Coho (deep water jigging techniques)
Prized Fish: Northern Pike (tip-ups, spearing, rattle reels, and even jigging with large minnows)

Minnesota Ice Fishing: Safety

Before you land a limit of crappies, you need to ensure you can safely get on the ice and return home with your bounty. Revisit these ice safety tips that we shared in “Ice Fishing Safety: Tips & Best Practices to Stay Above Water.”

Triple Check/Verify Ice Thickness before Venturing Out
Drive Slow
Roll your Windows Down
Keep your Seatbelt Off
Carry a Knife (or ice spikes)
Know How to Self-Rescue if you Fall through the Ice

Minnesota Ice Fishing: Tips & Best Practices

If you’re stumped as to how you would like to do some Minnesota ice fishing, you need to answer the question of:

“How active or passive do you want your fishing experience to be?”

Some options like classic “jiggle stick” fishing places you in control of the motion of your bait, and you’ll play a large part in the success or failure of your fishing trip. Other methods like spearing, tip-ups, and rattle reels are more passive which can be good and bad. It’s up to you to decide.

“Jiggle Stick” (Winter Ice Fishing Rod)
Tip-Ups
Spearing
Rattle Reels

Where To Go

Red Lake

Red Lake – comprised of an Upper and Lower portion – is one of Minnesota’s most prized winter fishing lakes. With close to 3/4 of this lake being an Indian tribal territory, it is closed off to the public. The eastern half of Upper Red Lake is open to the public for fishing, and receives a lot of attention for its walleye bite during the winter. Not only are the sheer numbers of walleye caught impressive, but also the average size that you can often expect. Also, bear in mind that you can get in a lot of trouble if you accidentally end up on the tribal territory side. It is often best to use a guide or resort to keep you clear of trouble.

Area: 288,800 Acres
Shore Length: 131.76 Miles
Max Depth: 15 Feet
Fish Species: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, bullheads, burbot, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, largemouth bass, northern pike, rock bass, walleye, yellow perch, bigmouth buffalo, freshwater drum, golden redhorse, goldeye, quillback, redhorse, shorthead redhorse, white sucker, blacknose dace (western), blacknose shiner, brassy minnow, brook stickleback, common shiner, emerald shiner, fathead minnow, finescale dace, golden shiner, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, river shiner, spottail shiner, trout-perch

Lake of the Woods

Next, we take a look at one of the largest lakes Minnesota has to offer in Lake of the Woods. This lake also has odd boundaries as we share precarious portions of it with Canada. Be sure to bring a GPS or have your phone handy because you won’t want to accidentally venture into a different country in pursuit of northern pike or walleye.

Area: 951,337 Acres
Shore Length: 65,000 Miles
Max Depth: 310 Feet
Fish Species: smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, sauger, saugeye, lake trout, crappie, perch, whitefish, northern pike, muskellunge

Leech Lake

Leech Lake is a curious Minnesota lake because of its varied structure – both the shoreline and the underwater vegetation plus shelves and drop-offs. It is a host to a multitude of rough fish and minnow species because of all of the lake’s nooks and crannies. Additionally, this bounty of small fish makes for great food for more prized panfish like perch, crappies, and sunfish. If you hit a bit deeper water there are still walleye and northern pike to be found as well.

Area: 103,039.6 Acres
Shore Length: 232.62 Miles
Max Depth: 150 Feet
Fish Species: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, cisco species, hybrid sunfish, lake whitefish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, bowfin (dogfish), shorthead redhorse, white sucker, banded killifish, bigmouth shiner, blacknose shiner, bluntnose minnow, brook stickleback, central mudminnow, common shiner, emerald shiner, fathead minnow, finescale dace, golden shiner, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, logperch, longnose dace, mimic shiner, mottled sculpin, northern redbelly dace, sand shiner, shiners, spotfin shiner, spottail shiner, tadpole madtom, trout-perch

Lake Winnibigoshish

Lake Winnibigoshish – or “Lake Winnie” as its affectionately called – is the smallest of the four lakes were suggesting, but don’t let its modest size fool you. It still is known for people catching their limits of panfish. With plentiful resorts around the lake, there are lots of options for guides and advice as to where the fish might be biting (for a modest fee, of course).

Area: 56,471.63 Acres
Shore Length: 69.78 Miles
Max Depth: 69.8 Feet
Fish Species: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, hybrid sunfish, lake whitefish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, sunfish, tullibee (cisco), walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, bowfin (dogfish), shorthead redhorse, silver redhorse, white sucker, banded killifish, blackchin shiner, blacknose shiner, bluntnose minnow, brassy minnow, common shiner, creek chub, emerald shiner, fathead minnow, finescale dace, golden shiner, hornyhead chub, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, logperch, mimic shiner, mottled sculpin, northern pearl dace, northern redbelly dace, sand shiner, spotfin shiner, spottail shiner, tadpole madtom, trout-perch

Departing Thoughts

As we have mentioned, Minnesota ice fishing is some of the best in the nation – and if you want to partake in it – the time is now! Check out one of our suggested lakes, call up different resorts/guides, see what’s biting, and give it a shot. Whether you fill a 5-gallon bucket with fish or not, it is sure to be a memorable adventure this winter!

Adam Scepaniak