Photo by Mike Gnatkowski

Ice-fishing is more than just a winter pastime in Wisconsin. Ice-fishing is part of life's rich fabric here in the Land of Cheese.

Hardwater angling is both secretive and social-like a playground game where everybody is having fun. But the guy who is "it" with the biggest pile of fish on the ice is having more fun, both with the catching and watching others foregathered rubberneck in an attempt to figure out the hot bait and presentation.

It is a game for all ages from old folks to kids, especially on the weekends. During the week, kids are in school and many adults are working. Hiding under those heavy parkas with backs to the wind are the hardcore anglers who hit it just about every day. Old guys. Seasonal construction workers. Cops and firemen. Some have all the "toys," towing their portable shanty, power auger, electronics, lantern, heater and a half-dozen fancy rods out there behind an ATV or snowmobile. Others walk out with a bucket hooked over a shouldered hand auger like a hobo toting his bindle stick.

Those who spend considerable time on the ice can tell the serious players from poseurs and casual bucketeers. Specialized gear is often a giveaway. Perch-jerkers have their whippy rods and hanger rigs, except some of the old guys, who might have several rods with the big "Mendota reels."

Old guys who are chasing bluegills or crappies might have a dozen rods rigged and ready in their bucket. Tying baits on 2-pound-test line isn't easy with 70-year-old eyes in a 20 mph wind when the temperature is hovering around zero. So they spend the previous night rigging up in their well-lit home.

Icemen who like to run "boards" for walleyes and pike usually have two five-gallon buckets. One holds a half-dozen Beaver Dam tip-ups, a gaff and maybe some tall flags to caution the joyriding snowmobilers. The other holds the bait bucket and other gear. You bring what you think will be needed for a day on the ice, nothing more. The walk back to the truck is always longer. And if everything goes right, there will be a heavy sack of fish to clean.

Most of Wisconsin's waters will be covered with ice for the next several months. That's a lot of ice. So many fish. So many different ways to fish 'em. Here's a look at some of the best spots in America's Dairyland to get your string stretched until the cows come home.

LAKE ALICE
This stained Wisconsin River flowage water held back by the King Dam between the big island and the shoreline outside of Tomahawk offers some of the best hardwater crappie action in our state right now.

Most of the locals use small minnows, setting two tip-downs and jigging with a third rod. Since this water is stained, florescent colors work best, with action best during daylight.

The crappie bite on Alice comes on about three weeks after the flowage ices over. At first-ice, walleyes are the main target. Set tip-ups baited with golden shiners along the old river channel. Most of the walleyes you'll ice will be in the 15- to 18-inch range, but there always seems to be one bigger 'eye in the bucket when leaving the ice. Although dusk is prime time, the walleyes here bite all day long during the first-ice period.

When this bite slows, it's time to chase crappies until about mid-January. Bluegills bite all winter long, hanging in a little shallower water than the crappies around the 10 bajillion stumps and fallen timbers. Prime time for 'gills is from about sunrise until midmorning, with another flurry of activity most afternoons from about 2 to 4 p.m. By the end of February the crappies start going again, with a bite that remains pretty much hot until ice-out.

The best access is off of Horseshoe Road, one of several landings located off of County Highway A. Contact: Chuck's Sport Shop, (715) 453-3101 or www.tomahawkleader.com.