Northern MN guide Matt Breuer runs thru 5 proven presentations for icing walleyes – under any conditions – in this new In-Fisherman write-up. 📝 He breaks down the why/where/when/how of:

1. Jigging spoons

2. Jig and minnow

3. Hardbaits

4. Plain hook and minnow

5. Glide baits

Hit up his full write-up here on In-Fisherman, but I’ll plop a few excerpts below to get you started:

> Understanding how fickle walleyes can be, and understanding how and when they feed – and when they don’t – is huge. But, not all of us can be on the ice when the walleyes are hungry, sometimes, we fish when the bite is off, and that’s all we have time for.

> Having an array of presentations in your arsenal can help you catch fish in any condition, whether they’re going bonkers and chasing big baits, or they’re lazy and want something really small and subtle. Let’s look at 5 proven presentations for walleyes through the ice.

Jigging Spoons

> Jigging spoons are a staple for ice anglers targeting walleye, and for good reason. Their flash, vibration, and ability to cover water make them excellent search baits.

> Spoons like the Northland Buck-Shot, Swedish Pimple, VMC Tingler, Clam Leech Flutter Spoon, Frostbite Dinner Bell, or the Acme Kastmaster imitate injured baitfish and trigger reaction strikes from aggressive walleyes.

> The key to fishing jigging spoons is cadence. Once deployed to the desired depth, start with sharp upward snaps of the rod to get the spoon fluttering and flashing, then let it fall on a semi-slack line. Many bites happen on the drop, so watch your line carefully.

> If walleyes are hesitant, reduce the aggressiveness of your jigging motion or add longer pauses between lifts.

> Tipping the treble hook with a minnow head or a tail-hooking a small minnow can increase scent and help convert lookers into biters, especially during midwinter when fish are less active. 

> Don’t overlook smaller spoons packed with euro larvae, either, especially when you’re fishing walleyes over deeper mud where bugs may be the main forage.

Jig and minnow

> A jig tipped with live bait remains one of the most reliable and versatile walleye presentations under the ice. This setup excels when walleyes are neutral or negative and unwilling to chase fast-moving lures.

> Common jig styles include tungsten round-head jigs like the Clam Drop TG or vertical blade-style jigs like the Custom Jigs and Spins Demon or Northland Forage Minnow. Jigs typically range in sizes from 1/16- to 1/4-oz depending on depth, current, and size of minnow you’re using.

> Live bait options include everything from crappie and fathead minnows, to shiners, rainbows, and even small sucker minnows for trophy walleyes.

> Hook the minnow through the tail or below the dorsal fin to keep it lively.

> The presentation is subtle, so small lifts of a few inches, gentle shakes, and long pauses just off bottom are best.

> This method shines during cold fronts, heavy fishing pressure, or late-season periods when walleyes become finicky.

You can keep reading here for more details on rattlebaits, plain hook + minnow, and glide baits.

Why? Because:

> Successful ice anglers rarely rely on just one presentation. Instead, they rotate through these 5 options based on fish mood, time of day, location, and conditions. Aggressive lures like spoons, hard baits, and glide baits are excellent for finding active walleyes...while jigs and plain hooks with live bait shine when fish need a slower, more natural approach.

Thx Matt! 👊

...with the fish, guys, come on. 😅

If you're having trouble getting fish to commit when you see 'em on the graph – at the end of the day, they're predators and they live for the chase. Here's a slick little tip from Lake of the Woods Tourism on how to get fish to chase and commit even when they're chilly! 🥶

> When that mark on your electronics is not responding to your normal jigging cadence, mix it up.  

> One of the most successful teases for a walleye is what seems to emulate an escaping baitfish.

> Shake your lure while at the same time raising it up in the water column. When the fish starts to respond and rise up with you, do not stop! Keep it fleeing away, much like a minnow would do in trying to escape a predator.  

> The tendency is to stop the lure so the walleye can catch it. Don’t do it! This usually turns the walleye’s aggressiveness off.  

> Keep just ahead of the predator...they will close the gap.

> Oftentimes, a walleye will chase your bait half way up the water column or more. When they eat, they crush it, pushing your bait up and giving [your line] slack.  

> When raising the bait in the water column, use your reel vs lifting your rod with your arms. If you have raised your arms up too high, you not only have nothing left to set the hook with."

> There are times when a walleye...will chase you way up and slowly drift back down to the bottom – go after them again. Many times, walleye...will respond numerous times before deciding to actually eat.

Keep reading here.

Northland Fishing Tackle posted this YouTube video around this time last year that has some straight up 🧃 from some guys who might know a thing or 2 about ice fishing. Here's a few sneaky tips from the vid featuring onX Fish's Joel Nelson, MN guide Donnie O'Bert and recent MN Fishing Hall-of-Famer Brian 'Bro' Brosdahl that ought to help get you on some waldos the next time you hit the ice!

#1 Joel Nelson – Jig higher in the water column

> "I want you to fish higher in the water column than you're used to. I don't want you wallowing around down in the bottom.

> "We know walleye love feeding off the bottom, but the problem is if you're jigging down there's 2 things happening:

> "First thing – you're surprised. You don't see the bite, you don't get to see that fish develop on your jig and you get to work it upwards.

> "A lot of times...you might even feel a hit and miss it because you're blind.

> "Second problem – the fish doesn't see you as easily.

> "If you're a fish and you're looking across...the underwater landscape, you see a lot of brown or lake bottom out in front.

> "Things that are higher off the bottom, 2 or 3' – easier for the fish to see you and easier for the fish to find it and you to be ready for it."

#2 Donnie O'bert – Use ice features as structure

> "Red [Lake] is relatively featureless. ...I think of the ridges that collect snow like this almost the same as you would look at a mudline in the summer – somewhere a predator that can see in lower light conditions may hang out."

> "There's less light penetrating the water column, so it's a good ambush spot...to sit out of sight and and wait for something to eat to swim by.

> "It's interesting, every single time we set up it doesn't matter if it's Red Lake or [anywhere], it seem...a lot of times where you see these ridges and cracks it's actually relative to the bottom composition.

> "If you have a depth change, a lot of times there will be a matching ridge in the ice where it breaks."

#3 Brian Brosdahl – Modern dead stick

> "I'll use an outside rod and this one here specifically is a 38" and this is Eye Raiser from St. Croix.

> "I like this [rod] because it's bigger butt, nice bend at the tip that's a little softer but huge backbone.

> "I'll take a fathead...you know if you can get rainbows or shiners, do it. Go in the dorsal fin and be careful not to go through the spine.

> "I'll actually put the sinker a little closer to the minnow because the minnow can actually out swim the fish. Size 4 Gamakatsu hook on there.

> [On the tip up], there's a little triggering device that goes on the line and this is iFish Pro, then you have a bobber stop right there that stops [on the trigger device]."

> "You set the the rod where you need to set it then the iFish Pro pro you just take [the iFish Slip Stop] and put it over the flag.

> "Close the bail here just have the line just semi tight. You don't want it too tight – you want them to be able to pop it.

> "It's a modern way to deadstick using a tip up – you reel them in and there's no line all over the ice."

Catch that full Northland Fishing YouTube video here.

And not the TX kind 🤠. Tom’s been hammerin' walleye all season long and as you can see on his YouTube channel, he hasn't let off the gas! If you're hurtin' to find some new water to find a handful of 'eyes, Tom revealed some 🧃 on in recent video that can get you on a pile of 'em on any new you lake you hit.


> "A lot of times...when you're big walleye hunting, you're just looking for those spots that have big fish life on it. 

> "Areas of lake that can support predatory fish like these big ledges that drop out to basin. 

> "These spots – there might not be a ton of walleye around, but the ones that are going to be here, I have a good hunch that some of them could be big.

> "We followed the simple two-step pattern. Middle of a basin, biggest rock hump, biggest crown of it, surrounded by 80’ of water.

> "You can tell there's a bunch of these around and they come in real darty and fast and love to chase.

> "It's kind of a big rock point surrounded by deep water with some sand on it. The only reason I know that – fishing here in a boat [gave me] at least a vague idea of what some of these spots look like."

Here’s the full video:

When you buy a new tip-up, do you ever mess with the compression rod that makes it more/less sensitive? That's what Pat Kalmerton was wondering in this @HuntFishTravelShow Instagram vid.

> "What you're doing right there [with the T-bar low] you have all the compression in the back [of the flag].

> "The more compression you have, the more pressure it takes for a fish to take it down.

> "If [the T-bar] all the way down, that makes more pressure pushing up on that T-bar bar, which will take more pressure to get that flag to pop.

> "Now if I come up more [on the T-bar], less compression, it's gonna go on it's own – a very little tick makes [the flag] go up"

And if you're eyeing that adjustable tip-up Pat has, check out that Clam Blue Ice Tip Up here.

1. MN: Here's the Walleye Alliance's 2¢ on...

...the proposed walleye limit reduction (from 6 to 4) in MN:

2. OH: Saugeye = most stocked species across state

> The most stocked fish were saugeye, a cross between walleye and sauger. More than 13 million saugeye fry and about 4.8 million saugeye fingerlings were released.

3. Will MT be next to lower walleye limits?

4. OR blames walleye for salmon/steelhead downfall

5. Tom Huynh is coming to a Scheels near you

Limited number of spots at each seminar, so best to register before they're sold out (see all of the locations here). Costs just $25 to attend, and they'll give you a $25 Scheels gift card in return. 😎

6. Get HD LakeMaster maps in your pocket

In case you haven’t heard of it yet...the One-Boat Network app gives you HD LakeMaster maps in your pocket (cell phone, or even a tablet).

Whether you already have the app or not, here’s the very first thing I would do (takes just 10-ish seconds) to really make those maps pop! 💥

7. MN: MTT tourney partner locator 👋

The Minnesota Tournament Trail said they've received a number of phone calls from individuals needing a partner for the upcoming tourney season. So if you need a partner for a single event, or the entire season, use the comment section under this FB post to connect.

They have the largest cash prizes for any walleye derby in the state of Minnesota.

In case you hadn't heard: They’ll be having 2 separate divisions at each tournament – essentially one with forward-facing sonar and one without. Fun idea – lot of folks are pumped!

For the “traditional” division, you can’t use FFS, but you can use everything else (2D, DI, Side Imaging, 360, etc). You won’t have to remove the FFS transducer from your boat if you don't want to...they'll have a way to lock it up or render it useless.

Great chance to fish your strengths, or step outside of your comfort zone if you wish.

Both divisions will have separate team of the year races, and separate payouts, except each tourney will have an overall champion which will include 10% from both divisions.

Here’s a look at the MTT’s events for 2026:

May 2-3: Big Stone Lake

May 16: Mille Lacs Lake

May 17: Mille Lacs Lake

May 30: St. Louis River/Lake Superior

May 31: St. Louis River/Lake Superior

June 27: Lake Winnibigoshish

June 28: Lake Winnibigoshish

July 11 Leech Lake

July 12: Leech Lake

August 7-8: Lake of the Woods

Sept 18-19: Mille Lacs Lake

Gonna have to try and jump in a couple!

8. MI stocked 19.5 mil fish in 2025

9. JT Outdoor Products is hiring

> Full-time and part time positions available with opportunity to advance into management. If you’re interested in joining the team, check out the job descriptions on our website [here].

10. MN muskie stocking update 📈

> The MN DNR was able to stock over its quota while also jump starting the new yearling program in a big way.

> Over $100K in private funds were able to be raised between Twin Cities Muskies Inc, Ryan McMahon's fall Musky School and Thorne Bros with the help of our customers.

> With the private funds we were able to stock all of the Metro Tiger lakes and purchased 1717 fingerlings. 754 of the fingerlings were stocked into Lake Vermilion this past fall with an average length of 11.4” and the remaining 963 were put into the yearling program for next year.

11. SD: Catfish Bay's "Ice Fish Fest" this Sat

12. VT's 'Free Ice Fishing Day' is Sat

The largest charitable ice fishing contest on earth [!!!] is happening Jan 31 on Gull Lake just 10 miles north of Brainerd, MN.

Believe around 12,000 folks hit the ice last year and it was Siera Romine who came out on top with a 5.85-lb walleye that ate a Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon in 15’ of water! For weighing the single heaviest fish, she got her choice of a brand new Ford or GMC truck from Mills Automotive Group.

Congrats again on catching the fish of a lifetime!

I mentioned before that sometimes the littlest fish win the biggest prizes, and last year was no different. Couple examples from 2025:

• 100th place: Ghulam Ashia's 0.26-lb perch won a new Ice Castle fish house!

• 150th place: Damon Ewald's 0.18-lb walleye [!!!] landed a new Polaris Sportsman ATV.

Wild! Love it.

It’s something everyone has to experience once...thrice...or make it an annual tradition with the crew. WAY more info here on their site.

We’ll see you there! 👋

How Adam Griffith locates midwinter crappie

Excerpts from this Virtual Angling post:

> When on a new lake and dissecting a basin, Adam usually looks for a basin that’s adjacent to shallow water. He generally looks for a big flat, a point, something that has a lot of shallow vegetation or just shallow cover that crappie can use. He will also often look for an inside turn on a big flat or a point that’s coming out.

> Then what he’ll do is start on the sharper break next to the actual structure, and then work his way out in the basin to see where the fish are actually set up. He usually finds them right off the first break where it starts to flatten out into the basin. They’ll often use that as a travel area or a highway.

> If he doesn’t find them, he will then continue to work his way out into the basin until he finally finds fish. Typically, they’re gonna be marked as soon as the structure drops off and that basin starts to flatten out. Although fish may be all the way across the basin, he emphasizes the best place to start is to just go right to that inside turn, follow that basin out until it flattens out, and then just keep going until you mark fish.

And then hopefully your Vexilar lights up like a Christmas tree!

“This is the most incredible ice-fishing trip on the planet as far as I'm concerned.”

- That’s coming from Jason Mitchell, who could be the mascot for Farmers Insurance 😏 since he knows a thing or two, because he's seen a thing or two. So when he describes an ice-fishing adventure like THAT, you know it’s a doozy.

He’s talking about an epic fly-in ice fishing trip to Kamachawie Lake (thru Baker’s Narrow’s Lodge) where they iced 25+ Manitoba ‘Master Angler’ lake trout in just 3 days of fishing. 🤯 Had fish up to 45” demolishing their tubes like they had never seen them before – because they hadn’t lol. What an adventure!

Lake Erie doesn’t always get fish-able ice, but when it does, you can bet Ross Robertson will be getting after ‘em! Looks like a a "redfire crawdad" color Rapala Rippin’ Rap was on the menu:

What does the fox say?

Apparently not much 😅 according to this post from @wisco3_icefishing with “a real reminder of how unforgiving winter can be.”

Be safe out there, all you cool cats and kittens foxes and kits!

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026