Ice fishing has begun in Michiana. Here are pointers on ice, bait and must-have gear.

“I like eating fish a lot,” Cody Waldschmidt of Dowagiac says as he loads up in a parking lot to go ice fishing Monday night on Stone Lake in Cassopolis. “Fish caught through the ice tend to taste better.”

His buddy, Christian Bryant, agrees, adding, “You don’t need a fancy boat.”

Anglers have been creeping out onto local lakes for the past week as we go through good weather for building up ice. We have daily freezing temperatures, especially at night (last night may have been an exception). And the lack of new snow avoids the insulating blanket that can slow ice from forming.

Lake channels are known for freezing up early because they’re shallow and protected from water and wind movement. But the weakest, most treacherous parts are where there’s a spring or water flowing in or out of the lake, like shoreline melting, which riddles the bottom side of the ice with peaks, valleys and crevices.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources advises that you need at least four inches of ice to walk on it but adds the annual refrain: “No ice is safe ice.” You must check it yourself as you step gingerly onto the ice, first with a spud bar (more on that below) and then with an auger.

“Don’t take anybody’s word for it,” Bonnie Kelley, owner of Kelley’s Bait & Tackle on Lakeville’s Pleasant Lake for 57 years, says.

If there are people grouped in an area of the ice, she says, it may be OK. But make no assumption. Diligently test the ice. Out of respect, she adds, don’t crowd the other anglers.

As usual, anglers have been regularly ice fishing at Potato Creek State Park’s Worster Lake in North Liberty, where the park posted Sunday that the ice was five to seven inches thick across its main part.

Pine Lake in LaPorte already had six to seven inches of ice last weekend, much of which was clear enough to see fish through it, Brent Samford, who’s running an ice derby Jan. 29 on Pine, says.

For some reason, it froze up earlier than other lakes. He says that some winters nearby Stone Lake, which is connected by a channel, freezes up first and sometimes Pine.

The quiet little lakes at T.K. Lawless County Park in Vandalia, set in a completely natural setting, also can be ice fished.

Around Edwardsburg, folks have been fishing the heck out of popular lakes like Juno, Paradise and Diamond, John Foreman, owner of the Trading Post tackle shop in Edwardsburg, says.

South Bend’s Pinhook Lagoon is a quilt of black, gray and white, divided by crack lines. On Tuesday, the west end turned into open water because of thawing temperatures. Underground springs make it a tricky one to judge. An experienced angler fell through two inches of ice on Pinhook in December 2017. Witnesses saw it and called 911, but he died after rescue workers got him to the hospital.

From December 2017: Dowagiac man dies after falling through ice at Pinhook Park in South Bend

Anglers can get lax and “lose their fear of the ice,” Don Wilkie, at Rusty Hooks Bait & Tackle in Niles, says.

“A lot of them go out just for a good time,” Foreman says. “They shouldn’t be out there drinking.”

But doesn’t a little nip warm you up?

“It’s a false heat,” he replies, echoing what rescue workers have known for decades: Alcohol can worsen hypothermia.

Take the bait

For fish like bluegills and crappies, local shops suggest using minnows, white spikes (which are maggots, or fly larvae), mousies (a type of grub with a breathing tube that looks like a tail) and waxworms (the caterpillar larvae of wax moths, also known as bee moths).

Some anglers find success with plastic baits instead, including the brightly colored dot patterns of the Wonder Bread variety. You don’t have to maintain them live. But Foreman, noting “I’m old school,” says he and many anglers believe live bait is more effective.

“Would you eat a rubber apple when you could have a real one?” he quips.

Be a good steward, though. After fishing, don’t dispose of live bait in the water or on land. Also, toss any small non-keeper fish back in the water.

Bare essentials

• Stick and fishing line. You can start out inexpensively with this old-school set up, but sure, you can spend more on advanced gear. Plus $2.95 for 50 white spikes for bait.

• Fishing license. From the state where you are fishing.

• Spud bar. This is a long stick with a blade at the end that you use to test the ice’s thickness as you carefully step forward. “You should be able to hit twice without going through the ice,” Wilkie says.

• Ice picks, attached to your body. If you fall into the water, you’ll use the picks to dig into the surrounding ice and pull yourself out. “Otherwise you keep sliding off the edge,” Wilkie says. You can buy an inexpensive pair at bait shops or simply make them by driving long, sharp nails through short wooden dowels.

• Auger. Don’t loan your drill to someone else, Kelley advises. They may not treat it like their own. If they knock the blade against the ice, you may have to replace the blade, which can cost about $50 — half the cost of the auger itself.

• A floatable boat cushion tied to a rope. Sit on it while fishing. If someone else breaks through the ice, you can throw the cushion out and pull the person to safety. If you don’t have a cushion, bring some rope anyway — to rescue someone else or yourself.

• Life preserver, worn on your body. If you do crash through the ice, it will keep your head above water so you can breathe while your body hyperventilates and loses control because of cold shock.

• Whistle. So you can call for help when you fall in the water. You won’t be able to yell.

• A buddy. Go with someone if you can, for safety. If not, tell someone where and when you’re going.

• Good insulated, waterproof boots. Normally, physical activity in your legs like hiking or skating helps to keep warm blood pumping to your feet. But that’s not happening here. And wear wool or smart-wool type socks. Cotton will zap your heat when wet.

Nice to have

• Ice flotation suit, made with buoyant material that will keep you from going under. It does the job of a life preserver and aids in crawling out of the water. There are “float jackets” and “float bibs.” Clear H20 Tackle in Edwardsburg has a few of these left at roughly $200 each, plus or minus.

• Ice shanty. You can get a lightweight, portable shanty with a frame and fabric, like a tent, typically selling for about $200 or more. You can huddle in it with the family, protected from the wind, and use a lantern to (carefully) keep warm or a tiny stove to heat up food.

Online

• Iceshanty.com: Discussion boards and general advice nationwide.

• Ice Fishing Northern Indiana: Facebook group with 5,000 members as a general forum for questions.

More from today's column: Seeking winter fun? Try Winter Nights in Vandalia, an ice fishing derby or free skating

Follow Outdoor Adventures columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures. Contact him at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Ice fishing guide: Bait, gear and safety in northern Indiana, Michigan