Presentation Is Very Important When Ice Fishing
 
Your presentation is always important but even more so when ice fishing. Since you are fishing through a small hole drilled in the ice when you go ice fishing for catfish you don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to the way you present your bait so you have to make the best of the options you do have.
 
Basically, all you can do is vertical fishing which involves dropping the line to the bottom of the water and reeling it back up again. Therefore, it is important to keep your options open when choosing your bait. Try a variety of different baits to see which one is working the best for you at any given time. Try using spoons, worms, minnows, cheese bait and stink baits to achieve the best results. Stink baits are the favorite of many anglers because the catfish are drawn to it by their keen sense of smell.
 
The sonar fish finder will show you the depth of the water and where the fish are located. This way you will know how deep to drop your line and where you should have your bait suspended so the catfish will see it. There may be situations where the fish are on the bottom of the water but many times they are suspended somewhere in-between the bottom and the ice. The depth of the fish is important because you need to get the bait directly in front of the catfish since they will not move very far in the cold water and will not chase down the bait.    
 
The experienced angler understands how the huge lakes found in Minnesota can make for some excellent catfish fishing and this is one thing that keeps them coming back. If you have not had the pleasure of ice fishing for catfish in Minnesota, you really should make a point to give it a try. It will be an experience you will not soon forget.

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