Adam Johnson likes fishing close to home, but he gains more knowledge when out exploring the rest of Minnesota. Photo by Tim Lesmeister

It was last July and the temperature was 95 degrees. The bass weren't biting and neither were the walleyes or northern pike. We should have motored the boat over to the landing and gone somewhere that had air-conditioning and served beverages with ice in them. Instead, we sat under the blazing sun and kept hoping for a bite, and discussed why those old reliable tactics that are supposed to work when the fish won't bite weren't producing that day.

Somehow the conversation took a turn toward ice-fishing. Imagine that! Thinking back, I understand why. It was a psychological ploy to feel cooler, and like the tough-bite tactics, it didn't work either. But when the fish aren't biting, you have to talk about something, so you may as well discuss a subject that is light-years from the situation you're in at the time. In this case: ice-fishing.

"Everyone always talks about how good first ice is," said my fishing partner on that blazing hot July afternoon. Adam Johnson is a professional outdoorsman and an aquatic biologist who spends over 300 days a year in the field or on the water. He may be half my age, but he knows twice as much as I ever will know on why fish and game act the way they do. And as smart as he is, he couldn't even get those bass to bite on that hot summer day. Back to ice-fishing.

"First ice is a productive time to be fishing," said Johnson, "because the panfish as well as the game fish are spread out on the logical spots and they seem willing to bite any respectable bait presentation you put before them."

My question was, what defines first ice? How long does it last?

"From the time you can safely get out onto the ice until the fish make that transition into the deep holes where they concentrate in tight pods and get tougher to catch," said Johnson. "That's first ice, and first ice can last a couple of weeks, then the fish get into a winter routine. And as the water temperatures get colder and colder, the fishing steadily gets slower and slower."

As I applied another layer of sunscreen I asked Johnson to describe his favorite ice-fishing conditions.

"That depends on what I'm chasing," he said. "If I'm after crappies I prefer a lake that has some deep holes that are not too big in diameter that are surrounded by shallower water that acts as the food shelf. Crappies will suspend in the open water in the holes and move to the shallower food shelf when they need to eat. Now if you drop a minnow into them, they will take it."

What about those darn walleyes?

"I really like a lake that has some midlake structure that connects to a saddle that connects to a shoreline flat," said Johnson. "If the midlake structure or the feeding flat has some sharp-dropping sides, that is even better. Walleyes move along the edge of dropoffs from their sanctuary -- the midlake structure -- to their foraging location -- the shoreline structure -- and you can catch them as they are both coming and going."

What about pike?

"Anywhere you can find some deep green vegetation, you will find pike," said Johnson matter of factly.

So now we're creeping up on Christmas and those days of baking under the summer sun are long gone. We've gone from no layers to five layers of clothing, and ice-anglers can stretch a tube of sunscreen through a season instead of a few days. It's no longer a case of casting to cover and live-bait rigging the structure. It's vertical jigging through an 8-inch hole. Are there any benefits to this style of fishing, because it is extremely limiting.