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Winter doesn’t have to mean putting all of your outdoor activities into hibernation. Across the U.S., frozen lakes become seasonal playgrounds for anglers chasing everything from walleye to trout, and a new roundup of top ice fishing destinations highlights just how far the sport stretches.
According to a recent Boatmart ranking of top U.S. ice fishing destinations, classic northern hotspots still dominate. Lake Champlain, straddling Vermont, New York and Canada, stands out for its variety of species, including lake trout, salmon and northern pike. Wisconsin’s massive Lake Winnebago is another perennial favorite thanks to its shallow depth, which helps sustain strong populations of perch, sturgeon and walleye, while Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods has built a reputation as a “Walleye Capital” with hundreds of thousands of acres of fishable water in peak winter conditions.
Devils Lake in North Dakota draws anglers searching for jumbo perch and northern pike across its sprawling natural basin, while Montana’s Fort Peck Reservoir offers an enormous variety, with roughly 50 species including salmon, lake trout and walleye. Michigan’s Higgins Lake and South Dakota’s Sheridan Lake round out a cluster of destinations that combine reliable freeze patterns with accessible infrastructure for winter fishing tourism.
What may surprise newcomers is how geographically diverse ice fishing is. California’s Silver Lake, near Lake Tahoe, can support winter trout fishing during colder seasons, while Idaho’s Henrys Lake and Washington’s Bonaparte Lake offer strong cold-season trout and bass opportunities.
Timing, of course, is everything. In major ice fishing states like Michigan and Minnesota, the season can stretch from roughly December through early spring, with Minnesota sometimes seeing safe ice as early as November and lasting into April, depending on weather patterns.
But the sport isn’t immune to climate shifts. Warmer winters have shortened seasons in some regions and made ice conditions less predictable, leading to an increase in prioritizing safety checks before heading out.
For travelers considering an ice fishing trip, the U.S. offers options far beyond the stereotypical northern tundra. From New England mountain lakes to Western alpine reservoirs, the best destinations combine reliable ice, strong fish populations and the kind of scenery that makes standing on a frozen lake feel less like survival and more like adventure.
1. Saginaw Bay, Michigan
2. Lake of the Woods, Minnesota
3. Bonaparte Lake, Washington
4. Eleven Mile Canyon Reservoir, Colorado
5. Lake Champlain, Vermont
6. Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin
7. Silver Lake, California
8. Moosehead Lake, Maine
9. Sheridan Lake, South Dakota
10. Fort Peck Reservoir, Montana
11. Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
12. Devils Lake, North Dakota
13. Lake of the Woods, Oregon
14. Henrys Lake, Idaho