Everyone knows almost every year during ice season that mid to late January to about mid to late February depending on where you are at in the ice belt can be flat out tough to catch fish consistently. Most people say it’s because of the pressure these fish have had or the fact that they have seen every jig in the books. While pressure always slows down a bite there is quite a bit of science going behind the mid-winter lull.
First we will start with metabolism. Just like you and me fish in the middle of winter don’t want to work very hard for food and want to use as little energy as possible. When you get to this point where the water has been cold for several months the fish start getting more lethargic because of their low metabolism.
Next would be the production of that body of water. Overall, production is due to several different things so let’s start from the beginning. A lot of time mid-winter there is several inches of snow on the ice making it darker below. This is reducing the amount of sunlight getting through the ice and in turn reducing the amount of photosynthesis going on below the ice. This starts reducing the amount of invertebrates being produced and slowing down the bottom of the food chain which in return slows up the rest of the system.
The decrease in photosynthesis then reduces the oxygen level in the body of water and once again just like you and I if there is less oxygen you get tired a lot easier. This is very similar in fish and will also cause stress which in turn reduces feeding periods. The body of water is at the lowest production it is going to be at all year during this time. A lot of the time the water will get dirtier then what it has been too making it harder on fish to see your jig when roaming around.
During times like this the weather changes and pressure changes really start to effect fish on a greater scale. Warm to cold changes will change the bite in a negative way almost always, but even cold to warm changes will slow a bite if it was good previously. Pressure changes both ways will shut off a bite in a hurry in the middle of winter and so will changes in wind direction and wind speeds.
Just because mid-winter tends to be the slow period does not mean there are not ways to counter act this though. A lot of times downsizing and more finesse baits will help catch more fish or on the contrary using bigger and more aggressive baits will catch those more active and bigger fish. I tend to see the mid-winter lull effect shallower bodies of water more than deeper, but they do all get affected none the less. Hopefully this article helps explain and maybe give you a few more excuses for those tough January and February days on the ice.
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