How To Get Started Ice Fishing And Catch Your First Walleye

A first ice walleye is ice you can name, a partner, a hole on structure you can still reverse, and a jig you can see with gloves on — not a wheelhouse you rented because a catalog said luxury. The short answer: chip until you trust the ice, set up on a point or weed edge you already walked in open water, thumb an Eagle Claw inline, and walk off with a lamp before the lot is a rumor.

Short version. First ice kit is the reel-and-glove page. The ice plan is the Saturday you write. Winter fish if the other mark is already perch or pike. Pair with ice reels. Check live prices.

This page is the first walleye hole. A graph you have not learned is a later Saturday. A hut is a later bill. This is the ice, the partner, the inline, the glove, the lamp, the pouch.

Name the ice with a spud. A forum number is a shrug.

Four inches is a sentence people say. Your lake, your year, your pressure cracks are the number. Chip until you can say it out loud. Do: a partner and a path back you can still see. Don’t: a first solo on a pressure ridge because a group chat said go. First ice is the longer safety card. Frostbite if the fingers are already a color you do not like.

A quiet bay is still a search. Tell someone the lake and the hour. First aid. Snow roads if the drive is already the Saturday. The lot is the destination if it is not plowed. Sit.

Walleye live on edges you already knew in July

Points, weed lines, river mouths, a break into 18–28 feet on many Midwestern lakes — those are sentences, not GPS magic. Walk the same structure you trolled when the water was soft. A random hole in the middle of a basin is a nap. The fishing plan still wants a mark you can explain. The ice trip wants a second hole close enough to talk.

Dusk is the hour more often than noon. Write the walk-off time before you drill. A first walleye that happens at 5:40 p.m. in January is already a lamp problem. Winter warmth. A thermos you already own beats a wheelhouse you hated.

An inline you can thumb with a glove

The Eagle Claw inline ice reel is the hanging spool you can thumb with a glove. Check live prices.

Do: the same reel every hole until you can pick a jig in the dark. Don’t: a summer spinning reel you “adapted.” Line that is already a spring is a tangle at 8 a.m. The reel page is the longer spool. First ice kit still wants ice line you can feel.

A glove you can still bait

The ice-fishing gloves we named are the live pair. A liner to bait, then the shell. Check live prices.

A fashion knit that soaks is a sit. Ice gloves is the longer hand. Heated gloves is a ride, not a bait. Keep those Saturdays apart.

One jig you can still see. A tackle circus is a cold hand.

A glow spoon or a compact jigging minnow you can pick with a glove is the first-walleye kit. A box of 80 is a story at 12 degrees. Live bait where it is legal and you will keep it from freezing into a brick. Shop the bait you will actually use; buy bait you can keep alive. Winter fish if the other hole is already perch on a smaller jig.

Tip-ups are a second hole and a flag you can still see. They are not morning one if you cannot yet keep a jig off the bottom. Learn the thumb. Then the flag. The ice plan.

A lamp if the walk back is already dark

The Petzl Tikka is the live lamp we named. Red if a partner is already looking at a hole. Same pocket every time. Check live prices.

A 150-piece mini kit covers a blister and a bleed. Open it at the table. Check live prices.

Do: the same path out you walked in. Don’t: a whiteout hope. A hunting lamp if the other night is already a stand. A tactical headlamp if you already live in that page. This hole still wants the Tikka on the head, not in a bucket.

An auger is a shop tool. A first hole is a partner with one you borrowed.

Hand auger or a small power unit you already know how to stop. Confirm the current model at a shop. Buy the auger at a shop you can still call. A dull blade is a Saturday you will hate. First ice. A folding sled and a scoop beat a rental palace on morning one. Leave some gas.

A flasher is a later Saturday on a lake you already walk

Do not make the first walleye a graph you have not learned. The hole is the lesson. Ice finders when the same lake is already a habit. Finders under $200 if the other boat is already a summer graph. This page is still a jig you can see.

Want	Honest tool
The first walleye hole	Ice you can name, a partner, Eagle Claw inline
Baiting	The ice glove we named
The walk off	Petzl Tikka, 150-piece mini kit
A hut or a graph	A later Saturday

Write the hour. Check live prices.

The license on this lake is the first tackle

Seasons, slot limits, tip-up counts, a shelter rule — read your state page before you drill. A pretty Instagram hole on a closed refuge is a ticket. A regs habit thinking scales to ice. Public land if the access is already a walk from a lot you can still reverse.

A walleye on the ice is still a fish you have to decide

Cold kills slowly in the air. Decide keep or a quick return before the photo circus. Wet hands, a glove you can still work, a sit if the fish is already a slab you are not ready to clean at 8 p.m. Filleting is a later kitchen. A snack you will actually eat beats a catalog thermos you will not open with a glove.

Name the ice. Thumb the reel. Walk off with a lamp.

That is first walleye. Check live prices on the Eagle Claw inline, the ice glove, the Tikka, and the 150-piece mini kit we named. Come home wanting the next hole, not a palace you hated. First ice. The ice plan. Winter fish.

A second hole close enough to shout is the partner plan

Write the meet. A radio you have not charged is a shrug. Ski radios thinking scales to a bay if you already own them; a shout across 40 yards is morning one. Winter roads if the drive home is already ice. Dry the glove. Coil the line. Mice eat a wet mitten in a bucket. Storage thinking scales to a sled.

Guests will try to write three lakes in a Thursday. Sit. One lake, ice you can name, a hole you can reverse. Leave some gas. A rainy plan B if the office already called. Pavement is allowed.

Dusk is a time you wrote, not a feeling

Five o’clock in January is already a lamp. The Tikka we named still wants the same pocket. Check live prices. A hunting lamp. A first overlook of the lake after that hour without a path is a sit. Winter warmth. Layers.

Hot water in a bottle you already own. The 150-piece mini kit we named. Open it at the table. Check live prices. First aid. A scrape kit, not a mountain bag. First ice.

Chip until the color of the ice is a sentence you can say

White, wet, a crack that already talks — those are reasons to sit. Clear ice you can name with a spud is the first tool. First ice. The ice plan. A partner stays inside shouting distance. A first solo on a pressure ridge is a report.

The Eagle Claw inline we named still wants line that is not already a spring. Check live prices. Ice reels. Thumb it with the ice glove we named. Ice gloves. A summer spinning reel you adapted is a tangle at 8 a.m.

Hot water in a bottle you already own. Winter warmth. Layers. The 150-piece mini kit we named still wants an open at the table. Check live prices. First aid.

Tell someone the lake and the hour. Snow roads if the drive is already ice. The lot is the destination if it is not plowed. Sit. Winter roads.

Walleye light is a clock. A noon nap over a basin is a different fish.

Write 3:30 p.m. on the card in January. The Tikka we named still wants the same pocket when the walk-off is already blue. Check live prices. A hunting lamp. A tactical headlamp if you already live in that page. This hole still wants the Tikka on the head.

One jig you can see. Glow if the hole is already a cave. Winter fish. A tackle circus is a cold hand. Live bait where it is legal stays a shop bucket, not a card we invent. The plan.

A second hole close enough to talk. The ice plan. A flasher is a later Saturday. Ice finders. The first walleye is still a jig you can pick with a glove.

Do: the same path out you walked in. Don’t: a whiteout hope. Frostbite. Leave some gas. A hut is a later bill. A folding sled and a scoop are morning one.

A slot limit is tackle. An Instagram hole on a refuge is a ticket.

Read the state page. Tip-up counts, shelter rules, a season that already closed. Regs habit thinking scales to ice. Public land if the walk from the lot is already the access.

A walleye on the ice is still a decision. Cold kills slowly in air. Keep or a quick return before the photo circus. A later kitchen. A snack you will eat with a glove.

Dry the glove. Coil the line. Mice eat a wet mitten. Storage thinking scales to a sled. Check live prices on the Eagle Claw inline, the ice glove, the Tikka, and the pouch we named. First ice.

Guests will try to write three lakes. Sit. One lake, ice you can name, a hole you can reverse. A rainy plan B if the office already called. Pavement is allowed. A mood hour.

A hole you can still shout across is the radio

Write the meet. A dead radio is a shrug. Ski radios if you already own them. Morning one is still a shout across 40 yards. First aid. A quiet bay is still a search.

The Tikka we named still wants fresh cells at the house. Check live prices. Winter warmth. Layers. A fashion knit that soaks is a sit. Ice gloves.

Name the ice. Thumb the reel. Walk off with a lamp. That is first walleye. Ice reels. The ice plan. Winter fish. Come home wanting the next hole.

Also in the magazine

Keep going with first ice, ice reels, ice gloves, and the ice plan. Check live prices.