Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Ice-anglers who live in the Twin Cities are either going to love or hate the contents of this article.

If you tend to do your ice-fishing on the big waters of the north down to 100 feet, like Upper Red Lake, Mille Lacs, Winnie and Leech, you're going to love what you're about to learn. Those who tend to do their ice-fishing closer to home, however, may just try to buy all copies of this magazine off the newsstands so their favorite hotspots aren't revealed. Why? Because ice-fishing in the metro area is hot, and on most lakes, the fishery is virtually untapped.

"I just don't understand why people go way up north when they have such a great resource right here in the metro," said Josh Stevenson, owner of Blue Ribbon Bait in the east metro on Century Avenue. "I feel blessed to live in an area where the fishing opportunities are so diverse."

The busiest day on a metro lake is an average-to-slow day on the traditional ice-fishing lakes up north. Given the rise in gas prices and the productivity of many metro hotspots, those ice-anglers who fish the Minneapolis-St. Paul area may have a lot more competition this year.

Terry Tuma is an ice-fishing expert who gives numerous seminars on how to catch walleyes, crappies, bluegills and northern pike through the ice. He always talks up the metro area, which he enjoys fishing when he isn't on Mille Lacs.

"There is some tremendous ice-fishing in the metro, and it is beginning to catch on. But it's nothing like what you see elsewhere around the state," said Tuma.

Sunrise and sunset are the best times of the day for walleyes through the ice. But Tuma prefers the early-morning bite because fishing pressure and noise tend to be much lower. Stevenson said anglers who work a typical workday can still get in on some terrific fishing action, thanks to glow jigs and lighted tip-ups.

"You just need to fish a little shallower, and you can get some very good walleye action in shallow water areas adjacent to deep water," he said.

Contacting a local bait shop is a great way to find where the action is and it allows an angler to find a pattern. "Don't just get out there and go to where everybody else happens to be, because the fish in that area are way too pressured and will move out," Tuma said. If you have no other choice, sit on the outskirts of the most-fished areas because fish -- especially walleyes -- tend to hang on the edges.

With that in mind, here are some metro-area hotspots for walleyes, pike, panfish and more.

BALD EAGLE LAKE
A scoop of fatheads, a jigging spoon or Jigging Rapala is really all you need to fish on Bald Eagle Lake in Ramsey County.

"Just head out to the south end of Cigar Island where there's a great drop over a hard bottom and prepare to catch a limit in no time," Stevenson said. The action may not always be that hot, but the area adjacent to the island is perfect walleye terrain, and the fishing pressure in the area serves as proof. A nice bar located on the north end is also home to a collection of ice shacks.