Poofing Bottom Stirs Ice Fishing Action

By Mark Strand

You can’t blame fish for taking a shortcut to the front of the line when seeking out food. After all, fish don’t have restaurants down there; they have to hunt down and capture what they eat, often taking live organisms and either crushing them or swallowing them alive.
That’s why the keenest predators learn to spot what biologists call ‘search images,’ which allow them to forage efficiently amidst acre upon acre of watery hiding places. That’s why predator fish learn to associate riled up bottom sediments with activity that often leads to a full stomach.
This idea is not new, and yet Dave Genz talks about how modern-day ice anglers still don’t take advantage of the drawing power of poofing up the bottom. “Great Lakes smallmouth fishermen drag heavy anchors purposely across the bottom,” says Genz, play-acting as if he’s hanging tight to a heavy rope as his make believe boat drifts across a soft-bottom flat. “The riled up bottom draws in baitfish, and it definitely brings smallies into the area.”

Poofing in Ice Fishing
This idea, of ‘poofing’ up the bottom, is probably at its best over softer sediment, where you can create an “underwater dust storm,” as ‘Big John’ Christianson (a local legend in Minnesota bass fishing) used to call it. (Don’t discount the value of banging the bottom over hard surfaces, though; fish can be attracted by the clicking and clacking of things bouncing off rocks, too.)
Also, this idea of poofing up the bottom may be more valuable in ice fishing than in any other form of the sport. After all, by the very nature of the activity, given that you are fishing straight down through a narrow hole in the ice, you must attract fish, in many instances, from a distance. Rare are the times when you drill a hole directly above a concentration of active fish, without spooking them, then lower a lure which the fish fight over. It’s much more common that you lower the lure and work it for a time before the first fish shows up, having been called over by your presentation.
When you think about it in this way, the importance of riling things up in ice fishing becomes crystal clear.
“For one thing,” says Genz, “it alerts predators that they should come investigate the area, to see why things are all riled up over there. When they get there, they are in the vicinity of your bait. Then it’s up to you to trigger them. In many ways, the hardest part has been achieved when you get the fish to come over to you.”
Tools for Poofing
Genz, who has forever been an advocate of using “small jigs that fish heavy” because they show up well on a Vexilar display and sink quickly, points out that these same attributes help certain ice jigs perform well as a bottom riler.
“A jig or a jigging spoon,” he says, “can pound the bottom and stir things up. You never know what depth fish are going to be at, so it’s important to fish the jig all the way down. Lower it as you pound, let it get to the bottom, and boom, boom, boom, pound it down into the bottom so you stir things up. Then raise it back up, up, up, fishing it the whole way. Pay attention to what level the fish are when they show up.
“Many times, fish are at or near the bottom, and this stirring up can definitely create a chain of activity that brings fish to you.”
Heavier tools can be a plus. Genz also advocates using mushroom shaped weights designed to keep duck decoys from drifting. “Take a big weight,” he says, “put it on a rope, and beat it on the bottom. It needs to have mass, so you get more poof going on.”
Those little clip-on weights, which ice anglers have traditionally used to set bobber rigs, give you a handy tool that can be attached in a second, providing instant added mass for increased effectiveness when stirring things up.

Walking the Clarity Line
While poofing can be a good thing, you do have to concern yourself with water clarity. Poof it up too much and you can’t see the fish or your bait. Take it too far and even the fish have a hard time zeroing in on your offering.
“You want to mix things up and attract fish,” says Genz, “but don’t make it so dirty down there that you can’t see anything. It’s easy to get carried away.”
Do it right, though, and the zone around your lure will become the main attraction in the immediate area. It’s amazing how many other forms of life are drawn to the stirred-up area, including small minnows. Do it right and you’ll catch more fish through the ice than you ever have.

Note: Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution.