Jerry Carlson

As the weather starts to break and winter becomes visible in the rear-view mirror, anglers turn their thoughts to the next fishing season. For most of us, that means spring, ice-out panfish.

Taking the time to search for fish is part of the winter strategy. Like I said earlier, you cannot catch fish that are not there.

When it comes to winter ice fishing, I like to keep it simple. I also like to catch fish. And yes, these two concepts are totally compatible.

Having been someone that spent the first 20 years of his duck hunting career on big water, the switch to small venues seemed a little strange at first.