The first tip involves where to start your search for fish. For me, those first walleye spots of the ice season are often the last places I found fish on during open water. In fact, this “last open water to first ice” pattern has proven reliable many times. Walleyes holding on to structural elements like points, humps, and turns during the last few days of open water will often be on or near, those same places when safe ice forms. Simply trading the long rods and boat for ice rods and a portable shelter is often the only change needed to transition from late fall fishing success to early winter fishing success.