Top 10 Ice Fishing Lakes

Many fishermen enjoy the sport of ice fishing in the middle of winter. The equipment needed for ice fishing is different than the rest of the year. A drill, chisel, jigging rods or tip-ups, a skimmer to keep the hole clear of slush, a fishing license and a sled to carry the gear over the ice are all necessary. The top 10 ice fishing lakes are as follows:

• Perch, walleyes and northern pike are often caught at Lake Thompson in South Dakota. Most local fishermen leave a shack on the lake because of the difficulty with hauling. Best tip is to use huge smelts smothered in juice as bait for catching large northern pike.


• The harbors at Belmont, Burnham and Montrose on Lake Michigan in northern Illinois offers some great ice fishing. Be sure to check with the local fishermen for ice safety as the thickness of the ice can vary. A good haul for the day could include coho salmon, brown trout or rainbow trout. 


• New York hosts a bounty of ice fishermen each winter on Lake Champlain. By about mid-winter, the lake is safe for ice fishing. Lake trout, perch, landlocked salmon, smelts and almost a dozen other varieties are part of the bounty during the winter months. 


• Take caution when ice fishing at Utah’s Strawberry Reservoir, as the water tends to freeze unevenly. The weed beds are a great place to fish for rainbow trout, as they attempt to feed. Cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon are plentiful at the Strawberry Reservoir.


• Chequamegon Bay off of Lake Superior located in Wisconsin is full of great tasting pike, salmonids and walleyes. Storms are also in abundance on the lake, so be sure to take communication equipment and monitor the weather. If the fish do not appear to be biting, drilling another hole a few feet over may prove helpful. 


• Higgins Lake in Michigan has magnificent views surrounded by mountains and trees. Ice fishing is generally safe about mid-to-late-January on Lake Higgins. A large variety of cold water fish are supported by the icy waters here.


• Pennsylvania’s Lake Arthur in Moraine State Park, Butler County is home to many ice fishing anglers at the end of December, January, February and the first part of March. Large mouth bass are caught with minnows and chubs on the lake. The lake is also known for crappie, yellow perch, northern pike and bluegills.


• Dodge County, Wisconsin boasts Fox Lake with 2,625 acres of quality fishing water. Bluegill, bass, crappie, musky, northern pike and walleye are fished out of the icy waters of Fox Lake. Some of the walleye found in this lake have measured close to 30 inches in length caught in shallow water.   


• Red Lake in Minnesota lays claim to some nice size crappies, world class northern pike, and walleye. The lake has been stocked with over 100 million walleye since 1999. Due to changing light conditions, walleyes feed in the 90 minutes surrounding sunup and sundown more than at any other time.  


• Lake Mendota in Dane County, Wisconsin is a 9,800 acre lake, where anglers enjoy fishing for yellow perch. If the perch do not appear to be biting, try drilling several holes in the area. The holes aid the sunlight to penetrate the ice, drawing the perch towards the warmth of the surface.