Cash in on the First Drop

Ice Team Pro Rick Johnson explains how to make the most of that crucial initial drop down a new hole

By Mark Strand

There’s no way to catch a fish if your bait is not in the water, and yet the best ice anglers know that you can’t be in a hurry to get down there. Rick Johnson, along with Dave Genz, were the first ones, many years ago, to start talking about the critical importance of the first drop down a new hole.
It’s more commonly known now that it was in the old days, but no less true: you should not drop the bait into the fish zone, for the first time, in each new holes, until you’re ready to pay full attention to it.

Johnson, also known for striving to simplify modern ice fishing, lives by this important rule. It’s too important, he says, for you to be juggling three things at once as your jig is sinking.

“The first drop (down a new hole) is the most important,” begins Rick. “Make sure you’re comfortable, and ready, so you’re not squirming in your seat and still getting things in order when you should be fishing. It’s just one of those things that you can almost bank on– if you’re going to catch a fish in that hole, it seems to come on the first drop, and a lot of times it’s the nicest fish, too.

“I see guys all the time, they’re in such a hurry to get fishing that they drop their line in the water, and then they’re fumbling around, lighting their heater or taking off their hat or something, and they lose out on a big fish that way. You hear ‘em screaming things inside their Fish Trap, and you find out they had a good fish on but didn’t get a hook into it, or they get a bite and miss it completely.

“I’ve done it many times myself, believe me (he laughs). That’s how I learned that lesson. It’s more important to be ready than to have the lure in the water. Make sure your drag is set the way you want it, the knot is secure––and slide the knot around if you need to, to make sure the lure swims horizontally if it’s that kind of bait. And take your time putting on bait so it looks good on there.”

Then, Johnson says, when you’re good and ready, send the bait down.
But be on the job the entire drop.
“Be conscious of how that bait is dropping,” stresses Johnson. “Especially if you’re fishing in clear water, fish that bait all the way down, or at least start fishing it well before it drops into what you consider the prime fish zone. You don’t just drop it down there like a bomb, then click your reel shut and start fishing. A lot of fish will approach the bait as it drops for the first time into its area, and take it as it’s dropping. If you have a lot of slack in your line, you aren’t going to know that fish is taking your bait, and it’s pretty much luck if the fish is still hanging on after you tighten up.

“Besides, fish are much more likely to bite if the bait slowly swims its way down to them. I think it looks more natural that way. Not too many of their prey come dropping down at a foot a second (laughs again).”

This is not to say that the second drop down the same hole is unimportant. In fact, Johnson often fishes that first drop for a reasonable amount of time, then reels up, switches to another lure, a different color of the same lure, or perhaps tips his lure with a different type of bait. He then drops the new offering down, and treats it as if it were the first drop all over again.

“If nothing happens with the first thing I try,” he says, “changing things up can sometimes do the trick. I usually have at least two rods rigged up when I start a new hole, so I can give the fish a few things to choose from. And when I drop the second choice down to them, I use the same concentration level that I use with the first drop.”

When he notices that he’s lost that air of anticipation––when he feels a bite is not likely to come––Johnson knows it’s time to move to another hole. That’s how he decides how long to stay, rather than relying on any set period of time.

“Once you lose that edge,” he says, (referring to the inner feeling that a bite could come at any time), “you might as well move to another hole. I go by that, and whether I’m seeing fish on my Vexilar, or whether other people around me are catching fish.”

In ice fishing, as in life, you only have one chance to make that good first impression.

“You don’t want to be doing anything else,” Johnson says, “besides concentrating on the line, hook, and your rod, feeling for bites.”