The fish on Chautauqua Lake have been moody, with some days being quiet and other days hectic with tight lines and a heavy harvest. Modern sonar can see the fish movements and help with finding fish. Photo courtesy of Fishing with Dad, LLC

The cold has done something rare this winter. Lake Erie is 98% frozen. This lessens the lake effect snow and quiets the waves.

The eastern basin of Lake Erie is locked up under a skin of ice that hasn’t been seen in many years. From Buffalo to Erie, Pennsylvania — the deep end, the big water — the sound of the waves has ended. It’s spooky in one sense, when the lake has finally gone still. With that stillness comes opportunities for anglers and photographers.

For ice anglers, this is the kind of season that gets talked about for years afterward. When Lake Erie freezes, access to the freshly frozen tundra changes everything. Places once ruled by wind and 6-foot white roller waves become walkable. The vastness shrinks just enough to feel personal. Out there on the Lake Erie hard water, anglers are chasing yellow perch, walleye and the occasional steelhead that wanders through. Some of the biggest fish of the year, and sometimes of a lifetime, come through the ice on this lake. Retired Lake Erie charter captain Bob Rustowicz once caught a winter Lake Erie walleye near Seneca Shoal that tipped the scale at nearly 16 pounds.

Steelhead tend to favor the Lake Erie harbors when winter clamps down. Barcelona, Dunkirk and the Buffalo Small Boat Harbor all become trout magnets when ice sets up, offering structure, baitfish and a little protection from the wind. But out on the open lake, walleye are the prize. Lake Erie walleyes are built differently. They are big, powerful and unforgiving of mistakes. Jigging minnow-style lures such as the W5 or W7 Rapala’s, or 1-1/4 inch Moonshine Shiver Minnow, tipped with a real minnow, are a go-to here, simple and deadly. Drop, jig, pause. Watch the rod tip. Hang on.

The Lake Erie kind of fishing demands respect. Wind-blown ice can stack, crack, and twist into jagged pressure ridges without much warning. Ice anglers know the rule: no fish is worth gambling your safety. DO NOT FISH ALONE. Spud bars, cleats, flotation, and common sense aren’t optional. But for those who prepare and pick their days wisely, the reward is stepping onto water that few ever get to fish this way.

If Lake Erie feels a little too big, too wild, or just not quite ready on a given day, it can be fickle, some days quiet, some days electric, but when the bite turns on, it reminds you why ice fishing is addictive. Yellow perch, panfish and walleye fill buckets and stories, while large white bass have been making surprise appearances, bending rods and raising eyebrows. Major Stearns runs the “Fishing with Dad, LLC” guide service and his name aptly describes his love for fishing with his 6-year old son, Lucas. If you’re looking for a first-time ice fishing trip, or looking to learn more about how to ice fish, call him at 716-758-1379. His rates are very reasonable ($250 includes all the gear and bait).

The most common questions repeat across the ice every season: what lure should I use, and how deep should I fish? The honest answer is the same as it’s always been: experiment, pay attention, and don’t be afraid to move. Stearns uses an ice machine to run out quickly to the spots he fishes, sets up an ice hut to get out of the wind, and fishes simple. Short rods (24-28 inches) with Northland tungsten jigs, swim baits or jigging spoons tipped with a grub or perch eye do the trick in 15 feet of water. Stearns adds, “Fish tell you what they want if you listen long enough. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s chaos.”

This winter is a gift made possible by prolonged cold and patient anglers willing to embrace it. The ice creaks. Snow crunches under boots. A flag pops or a rod loads up, and suddenly the cold doesn’t matter anymore. These are the days that pull people off the couch, away from the window where snow drifts quietly past, and out into the kind of weather that makes memories. No matter how good the conditions look from the parlor, one thing never changes: you can’t catch fish watching the snow fall from your couch. The hard water is here. The fish are waiting. Bundle up, step out, and be part of a winter that doesn’t come around very often.

Gotta love the outdoors.

CALENDAR

Jan. 31 to Feb. 1: NY Musky Expo, Chautauqua Harbor Hotel, Celoron; Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; $15 admission — single day, $20 — two days; Sunday only admission: $10; kids under 12 are free; Info: Katia Rivers, 585-668-2550.

Feb. 1: Lakewood Rod and Gun Club, Winterfest Banquet & Drawing, dinner — 3 p.m., Music by “Ion Sky” 2-6 p.m.. Info: 716-763-3955

Feb. 7: Lakeshore Longbeards NWTF Banquet, White Inn, 5 p.m. doors open, 6:30 p.m. dinner, live auction, raffles, annual youth event fundraiser; Info: Robert Turk, 716-673-6703; https://events.nwtf.org/EVT-20816.