An area like this would be excellent for any species that change their depth throughout the day such as Walleye, Perch, and Burbot. In the example above, this depth change is sudden, as revealed by the closeness of the contours highlighted in light blue. These features are simply any area that contains a steep change in depth. Dropoffs) are one of the most reliable lake features during the hardwater season. Species: Walleye, Panfish, Burbot, Lake Trout These areas, when containing gravel and other debris, can be great for species such as Burbot, Whitefish, Lake Trout, Kokanee, and midday Walleye. When these flats occur in deeper water, they are often referred to as the “basin”. These shallow areas are also some of the first to get safe ice, often being fishable while deeper areas of the lake are still seeing open water. Though they may look boring on a map, these areas can be excellent for holding structure-oriented fish such as Brook Trout, Rainbows, and Pike as they frequently hold weed growth and wooded debris. Species: Brook Trout, Splake, Rainbow Trout, Panfish, Pikeįlats are rather self-explanatory, being simply a flat large area of consistent depth. And for those after panfish or trout, the flat on the top side of the point could provide excellent cover if rocks and wooded debris are present. In the evening, the steep part of this point could provide excellent Walleye or Burbot fishing. In the example pictured above, the deeper side of this point would be great for Lake Trout, Splake, Whitefish, or midday Walleye. Similar to the on-shore points, these areas are capable of holding a wide variety of fish as they provide the depth changes and structure that draw baitfish in during the winter. This means that these points are only visible using your chartplotter and will often need to be located before you hit the lake. Off-shore points are similar in every way to on-shore points except, well… they’re off-shore. Species: Lake Trout, Splake, Walleye, Panfish, Burbot, Whitefish If you’re after Walleye or Lake Trout, confirm with your depth chart that steep ledges (changes in depth) are nearby. If you’re after trout or panfish, look for points with wooded structure. These areas virtually always hold some kind of fish species as they are magnets for baitfish and, in turn, the fish that eat them. This is especially true in lakes that don’t have depth charts as they are one of the only pieces of structure that are clearly identifiable from Google Earth.Īs you can see in the screenshot, on-shore points are simply protruding areas in the sides of lakes. On-shore points are one of the first things to look for when scouting a new lake. Species: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Splake, Walleye, Pike, Panfish TIP: Come here looking for a specific species? Press Ctrl-F on your keyboard and type the species you are looking for to see all the lake features that might be holding your favourite fish. So without further ado, here are our top 10 lake features/structure to have your eye on this ice season! This example could be defined as either structure or cover.Īlthough these examples were originally used to highlight the importance of structure in open water, the same principles apply when things freeze over and identifying the lake features that most commonly hold the species you are targeting is essential to making the most out of your time on the ice. Amazingly all the fish were attracted to this dark line. In image #3 above, a simple piece of black electrical tape was affixed to the side of the pool. Just like a magnet, it immediately draws all the fish to it.

In image #2 above, imagine these pebbles and stones as a hump or a point. Imagine this in a huge lake… where would you start to fish? The fish are all swimming around aimlessly or randomly.

In image #1 above, you see a container of water with nothing else but fish in it.

A great representation of this, as seen in our open water article, can be seen below: And for good reason – structure, and other definable lake features, simply hold fish. We here at Fish’n Canada spend a lot of time talking about structure.

Ice fishing in the dark