In this video, Scott Mackner (330 Maniac) shares his early ice panfish locations and baits.
The first place Scott goes to find fish is in small shallow bays off of large lakes. Not only do these locations freeze up first, but they are also thick with weeds and thick with quality fish this time of year. In this instance, he drilled 6 holes and found fish in all of them.
As for presentations, he also relies on plastics. He usually uses small jigs with small plastics that resemble some sort of bug that fish are often eating in the weeds this time of year. Oftentimes, live bait such as wax worms can’t be found this early, therefore it’s always key to keep a variety of panfish plastics on hand when heading out during early ice.
