Quality electronics -- flashers, underwater cameras, liquid crystal graphs and the like -- can be the deciding factor between anglers who find fish and those who don't. Photo courtesy of Ron Hustvedt

Is it possible for an angler to "read" the ice as effectively as he or she can read open water?

It's an interesting question that many ice-anglers have never considered. The simple answer is yes. It is possible to read the ice. You can look at that large blanket of ice as a clean slate or a thin veneer hiding a bustling underworld.

Granted, reading open water is much easier. Weedlines, windbreaks and current breaks are visible in the open-water season, but these features tend to disappear in the winter.

But even lakes caught firmly in winter's hardwater grasp can be evaluated -- and understood -- from an angling perspective if you're willing to pay attention to detail.

"Instead of being one of those ice-anglers who drops a few points into the GPS based on what looks good on the map and wishes for good luck, you'll be able to find spots that other anglers overlook where fish are waiting," said Bryan Sathre of Minnesota-based Fathead Guide Service.

Sathre spends as much time on the ice as he possibly can in the wintertime and said he actually finds it easier to read the ice than open water because there are fewer distractions. "Fishing success is about finding the fish, figuring out what they are eating, and then making the best presentation to trigger a bite," he said. "There's less to get in the way while ice-fishing, meaning you can focus on the specifics and then home in on details."

The ability to be a versatile angler is critical, but few anglers can actually pull off the act of true versatility. Get out onto that lake and do some digging. What is the lake telling you? What is it showing you?

SEEING UNDERWATER
Electronics are among the best ways to do this. The modern electronics arsenal includes flashers, liquid crystal graphs and underwater cameras. Having one of these tools in your arsenal is pretty much a necessity, two is even better, and three is too much for one angler to manage. Fish with a partner, however, and you can mix and match your technology for a more accurate reading of what's going on underwater.

"Are the fish suspended? Do you see baitfish? Are you seeing hatches of mayfly or crayfish larvae?" Sathre asked. "What you see in one location is most likely duplicating itself dozens of times elsewhere on the lake.

"After you've caught a few fish, analyze what you know so far. Were they suspended or holding tight to the bottom? Are they upchucking anything on the way up, revealing their food sources?"

Focus on these details and you'll better be able to determine the best locations and presentations for success.

If you are catching fish at a certain depth or on a specific location, it's probably just because they are cruising by and not holding tight to cover. If you want to catch fish, you must go out and find them.

If you see fish suspended or sitting just off the bottom, there's a good chance they are feeding. Check the mouths of the fish you catch and see if you can find the crumbs of their last meal. Often there will still be food in their mouths or sticking out of their throats. Once you find where the fish are feeding, you are going to have better luck because you've found the more active biters.

Quality electronics allow you to see what's going on under water. You can pick everything up, including fish holding tight to the bottom, schools of baitfish, larvae hatches and even plankton. Having a flasher or liquid crystal graph with a zoom feature is important, especially if you can zoom up and down the entire water column. Only being able to zoom along the bottom means you are virtually blind to the majority of the world beneath.