Photo by Mike Gnatkowski.

Having done their homework during pre-fishing, Martin and his fellow pro instructors knew where big schools of walleyes were hanging out in Saginaw Bay last January. The problem was getting there. A tardy winter almost resulted in cancellation of the winter fishing school a few weeks earlier, but a sudden blast of frigid air finally locked up the bay with enough good ice to allow safe ice-fishing.

One thing walleye fishing pro Mark Martin of Muskegon stresses in the school is safety on the ice when chasing winter ‘eyes. Problem was, some areas on Saginaw Bay in midwinter still were not safe. Anglers needed to avoid small pockets of open water in the bay. Only a week earlier, an ice-angler died on the bay. Several others had narrow escapes.

Our caravan of more than 50 ATVs and snowmobiles set out along the bay shore, north of Hoyle’s Marina in Linwood. The ice close to shore was safe, so Martin led the group parallel to shore for about five miles before heading east out onto the bay off Erickson Road.

Picking its way over pressure cracks and jagged piles of ice, the group eventually reached the 17- to 18-foot depths some three miles offshore where the walleye schools had been hanging out. Martin’s knowledge of electronics and GPS instruments was key in avoiding potential hazards and locating the hotspots the pros found earlier in the week.

Once stopped, the group fanned out and began setting up shanties and drilling holes. My friend, Andy Gorske of Frank’s Great Outdoors in Linwood, pulled up alongside me. We shut off our machines to talk.

“See that white ice out there a little ways?” I asked, pointing to some broken ice about a quarter-mile out from the group. “Let’s go out and try near that.” We fired up the snowmobiles and sped out across the slick ice before coming to the rough edge.

My Strike Master Lazer Mag auger quickly bored through the 10 inches of ice. After quickly skimming the ice, I readied my rods. Unfortunately, my favorite jigging rod was a casualty of the trip. Its tip was broken. Not wanting to waste time rigging another rod during prime time, I grabbed a rod already rigged with a slip-bobber.

Stripping line to set the bobber stop at the right depth, I dropped the bobber in the hole. The bobber stood up briefly, then, just as quickly, started slowly sinking below the hole. It took a split second to register the reason the bobber was sinking was that there was a walleye on the end of the line below it! I came up with a sharp hookset and was fast to a nice walleye. A few seconds later, I had a fat 18-inch ‘eye on the ice. (Continued)

Buoyed by my instant success, I pinned another shiner minnow to the small treble hook and again dropped the bobber in the hole. Déjà vu! The bobber shot under the ice this time. I pounced on the rod and set the hook. The fish bored for bottom, but after a short tussle, the hook pulled free.

Unfazed by the loss, I put another fresh minnow on the hook and dropped it in the hole. The bobber probably sat for a minute or two before it shuddered and then, slowly, began to sink. Knowing the routine this time, I intentionally let the walleye move off with the bait before setting the hook. Solid resistance! The hook was firmly embedded in the roof of the walleye’s mouth. He joined his frozen brethren on the ice.

The action remained hot and I iced another 18-inch eater and lost another good fish before Mark Martin, outdoors writer Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, and the paper’s photographer strolled up. I zipped down the front of my shanty to give them the fishing report.

“Well, at least someone has found the fish,” Sharp quipped, while eyeing the three frozen walleyes next to the shanty. Apparently, no one else in the group had yet caught a fish.

“It’s all about location,” I joked. “The bite was so hot when I first sat down, I just now had time to get my jigging rod rigged up. I haven’t even had time to have my morning coffee!”