Why Ciscoes are My Favorite Fish to Pull Through the Ice

Ciscoes fight hard, travel in big schools and are hard to beat on the table.

Ciscoes form large schools, fight hard and taste great. Plus, they are willing biters all winter long. | Joe Shead

I was about as green as an ice angler can be. I was in high school and had only limited ice fishing success. I just wanted to catch something. I'd driven to Wisconsin's Big Green Lake because I heard anglers were hammering the white bass. The guy at the bait shop told me where to go and sold me a lure that was sure to catch fish.

It was probably the first year I had electronics: a Vexilar FL-8 that I had to share with my brother. For whatever reason, Jim wasn't along that day, so I got to use the Vex all day.

No white bass appeared on the flasher. But after an hour or so of monotonous jigging with nary a flicker on my screen, suddenly, a solid band of red formed. Nope, this wasn't interference; this was a huge school of fish!

The school formed a band on the electronics that was 10 feet tall. They were suspended about halfway down the water column. I reeled up to the top of the school. One rod pump. Two pumps. Three pumps. Wham!

A fish absolutely clobbered my spoon. I set the hook and began reeling. After a short but spirited fight, a silvery fish flopped onto the ice. Because I've been a fish nerd since grade school, I knew it was a cisco, even though I'd never seen one before.

I unhooked the fish and plunged the lure back into the water as the solid band of red began to flicker and break up. By the time I got the lure back down, the fish were gone.

What's Not to Love About Ciscoes?

Ciscoes are schooling fish that roam deep basins. Once you find the fish, you can often catch several. | Joe Shead

Ciscoes, or tullibees, are just plain cool fish. They are close relatives of whitefish and generally live in cold, deep lakes with clean water. They travel in big schools, so when you mark fish, often, one of them will hit. They fight hard for their size and taste great fried, baked or pickled. What's not to love?

I think what really attracts me is their schooling nature. You don't always see a 10-foot band of red on your electronics. But usually where there's one fish, there are more. So if the first fish doesn't hit, the second might. The fish are here and gone, in and out, and that's what makes it exciting!

Finding Productive Cisco Lakes

Electronics can not only help you find schools of fish; they can tell you what depth ciscoes are at because they are often suspended off bottom. | Joe Shead

You'll have to do a little research before you tackle tullibees. They are only found in select waters. And even so, you want to find big ones. There are dwarf strains of ciscoes that only top out around 7 inches. They are perfect snacks for fattening up walleyes, pike and muskies, but they're a little small for anglers. Check with a fisheries biologist to see if there's a lake that holds the 12- to 15-inch variety in your area.

Reliable Biters All Winter

Ciscoes roam deep mud flats. Look for them to concentrate at the base of drop-offs. Sometimes you'll find them in the same areas frequented by perch. | Joe Shead

Unlike other fish that get sluggish in midwinter, some of the best tullibee fishing occurs in February and March, so they are a good alternative if the walleye bite gets tough. I look for them on mud flats at the base of dropoffs; sometimes in the same areas that hold perch. Schools of cisco tend to roam the basin, so if you set up shop in the right place, you should have schools cruising through. Alternatively, you can use forward-facing sonar to find schools and stay on top of them.

How to Catch Ciscoes

A Hali jig is a great choice for ciscoes. The spoon attracts fish, while the small hook tipped with a spike or waxworm, seals the deal. | Joe Shead

Because ciscoes roam wide areas, you need a lure that attracts their attention. I use flashy spoons to attract them, even though they have relatively small mouths. By nature, tullies feed on plankton and small insect larvae. So it makes sense that small jigs tipped with a waxworm would work. But such a setup gets lost in the abyss.

My solution is to run a 4-inch dropper with a jig under a spoon (or use a Hali jig that consists of a spoon with a chain dropper to a tiny hook). Most anglers take the treble hook off and attach the dropper to the split ring. But by leaving the treble hook on, I've found the most aggressive fish will hit the spoon, while the rest hit the dropper jig. The dropper usually outfishes the spoon about 5:1.

A Winter Bite I Never Skip

Lots of ice fisherman don’t target ciscoes, but they really should. When a giant school lights up your flasher and a sporty, silvery Cisco clobbers your spoon, it’s more than enough to keep you coming back for more.