Brian Brosdahl enticed this lunker walleye to bite on a sunny midwinter day by using a tiny jigging spoon. Photo by Noel Vick.

A healthy heart can palpitate a few times when a white-tipped walleye swims toward your lure while you are looking down a hole in the ice. Then frustration sets in when the fish swims past your bait while showing no intentions of making a kill. You may even curse the lake and kick the minnow bucket if the next walleye behaves in the same manner.

"I've seen it more than once," said Ice Armor pro-angler Brian "Bro" Brosdahl. "Sight-fishing in the shallows, dunking the underwater camera in deeper water, even on my flasher as a red bar rushes in and just sits there. They swim in, but won't take traditional baits like a jigging spoon and minnow. They just aren't hitting for some reason."

Walleyes simply get like that, you know, all moody and uncaring. Even chunky minnows look like Kryptonite to those soft, opaque eyes. Fortunately, such episodes can be predicted to some degree, but more importantly, countered.

What causes these bouts with depression? Brosdahl blames it on several issues, including but not limited to a high-pressure system tagged to a cold front, daytime sunshine doldrums, full stomachs and even the stereotypical "midwinter blues" -- that period where the snow is deep, ice is thick, shallows are vacant, weeds are history and the walleyes just aren't being themselves.

Surrendering isn't an option, however, and especially not when you're armed with the knowledge at Brosdahl's level. And when walleyes treat Bro like he and his standard walleye lures and tactics don't exist, it's time to play the "panfish card."

Brosdahl is a dedicated "pre-rigger," which means he attacks the ice -- no matter what day or the species at hand -- with a diverse and fully outfitted arsenal of rod-and-reel combinations. That includes two or three panfish-oriented presentations even when walleyes are the targeted species.

Brosdahl thinks a smaller, perhaps simpler and even slower-moving panfish lure can evoke reactions from walleyes that shun traditional stuff. Here are some of Bro's favorite panfish ploys for picky walleyes.

MICRO MINNOWS
While growing up ice-fishing with Brosdahl, we always called them "slivers" -- those nearly embryonic minnows that look like shards of silver from an active mine -- but now they are called micro minnows. I loved using them for crappies and perch, and still do, and later I learned that a miniscule shiner minnow or chub could turn the tide on a lazy walleye.

Besides its slight stature, what makes a "sliver minnow" so attractive is the swimming motion. To keep it looking spry and youthful, Brosdahl hooks it ever so lightly, just notching meat behind the dorsal fin, while making sure not to tweak its spine. He does so quickly, too. Young minnows are fragile, and can't be kept out of the water very long.

In his panfish-minnows-for-walleyes scheme, Brosdahl uses an equally stealthy No. 6 or No. 8 hook. His top choice is a Mustad Walleye Wide Gap. The hook is sharp and thin enough so it penetrates like a syringe.

Bro's minnow, hook and properly matched amount of split shot are buoyed by a Thill X-Change Float. Brosdahl prefers this specific model because he can feed line straight down the hole, completely lowering the presentation before attaching the bobber. This eliminates the cumbersome practice of sliding a relatively light offering through a slip-bobber and down a frozen hole -- an icy and troublesome proposition.