Why Fish Move – and We Should Too

by Gary Roach

So you’re on the ice, the fish are biting, then they’re gone.  The sonar is blank.  Where did they go?  Or better yet; why did they move?

This situation happens all the time when I’m fishing for perch or walleyes.  Big schools of perch roam the tops of the reefs when the light is low and as the sky brightens the fish move out to the edges of the reef to sit in deeper water.

Walleyes also move in schools under the ice and like the perch, their primary reason for leaving Point A for Point B is to find something to eat.  While the perch are looking for minnows and the walleyes are looking for perch, what the minnows eat -which brings the entire crowd together - are suspending organisms.  These pods of barely visible food are also moving with the currents and traveling up and down in the water column depending on light penetration.  The bottom line is that whatever you’re chasing is moving somewhere to find something to eat so you don’t want to get stuck in one spot.  

I position my stationary shelter on top of a small sand bar on the south side of a lake in northern Minnesota.  This house sits there in the same location all winter.  It’s my base camp.  You can almost always count on a great perch and walleye bite from seven to eight-thirty each morning and another productive period from four-thirty until dark each evening.

When the perch and walleyes make their move during the late-morning, mid-day, and early afternoon it’s not a rapid transition into deep water but a slow movement from the top of the reef to the deep edge.  It’s just a matter of following them.

This is where the portable shelter and power auger come in real handy.  Fortunately I know which direction the fish normally move, but if you’re fishing a spot that is new to you, just explore some by drilling in different directions from the starting point and it won’t take long to discover the route of travel.

Perch and walleyes aren’t the only species that move.  Crappies will be tightly schooled in the winter months and they roam all over.  It’s tough to stay on top of crappies, but you can set up points of intersection.

Let’s look at how most lakes fish for winter crappies under the ice.  The best bite is in the evening and on some of the more popular crappie lakes there are so many anglers on the ice you can watch the movement.  At dusk the deeper water starts to turn on and anglers are setting hooks on the outer fringe.  Twenty minutes later the portables on the inner ring are seeing some action while it’s slowing down on the outer section.  As anglers are pulling up stakes and cars start moving off the ice from the deeper water the inside anglers are still getting a few bites.  Four hours after the start, the bite is over.

This transition is typical on many bodies of water where crappies are found.  In most cases, anglers just sit over one spot and take advantage of a short flurry of bites.  Realizing that the fish are moving, there’s a case to be made here that the anglers that can quickly pack up and move to another point of contact are going to be able to keep the action going, while the sitters are only going to get bites as the fish pass by.

Bluegills are notorious movers.  They’ll be under your hole for a half hour, then gone.  Some anglers drill holes about five feet from where they’re fishing and lower spearing decoys or even sucker minnows and that can keep the schools of bluegills near you longer.  Another good trick is to have two buckets full of water and in one put the fish you plan to keep and in another the ones you will release.  Ever 20 minutes move off about 25 to 30 yards to a release hole you’ve drilled and let the fish go.  For some reason releasing freshly caught fish can sometimes spook the entire school and they all move.  Going to a release hole to let bluegills go keeps a biting school under your holes longer.

When it comes to ice fishing there are two types of anglers.  There are those that like to set up shop and catch fish that were moving through or lured to the spot with attraction-style lures, and there are anglers who move with the fish and try to keep the action going all day long.  Not surprisingly, I’m seeing more of the movers on the ice these days and they’re proving that fish move, and we should too.