Every February I suffer from an illness that lingers until the end of March. I have a hard time concentrating, I’m jumpy, and I’ve been known to drive my friends and family crazy. The ailment is Infectious poutous, and the only Rx: Catching EELPOUT!

The doldrums of ice fishing begin in the early wakes of February. Many gamefish seasons close, leaving ice anglers with smaller species like panfish to chase after. If you’d rather catch big fish this time of year, eelpout are the answer. Pout offer a chance to catch fish averaging 4 to 6 pounds, with an honest chance at an occasional 10-pounder.

One important factoid is that eelpout spawn under the ice. Ironically, the doldrums of winter mark the beginning of the best time to catch them. This period is really the only time of year they’re accessible and predictable to anglers.

Starting in February, they begin to move up on midlake humps and points, with the smaller males the first to move and the females following about three weeks later. Locations to look for are midlake rocky humps and shoreline points that extend a good distance into the lake.

The key is to find humps or points with fast deep-water access. Eelpout live in the dark depths of the lakes. Seventy-, eighty-, and one hundred-foot depths are what you want, close to those humps or points. For eelpout, evening into the dark hours is the best bite. They begin to snake up from the deep onto humps and points as the sun sets. They tend to be most active when dark sets in.

The fish often move in groups so it’s common to have doubles in the ice shack. About the only time a daylight bite happens is when the spawn is at its peak, a 2- to 3-day period where the fish spawn nonstop around the clock. But there’s no calendar to mark when the big spawning event is happening—you just have to spend time on the ice to figure it out.

Angling tactics are similar to winter walleye fishing presentations. Jigging spoons are my main tool: Northland Buckshot-Rattle Spoons, Phelps Spoons, and the Swedish Pimple all work well. Phosphorescence is key—keep the spoons glowing by lighting them up every 10 to 15 minutes. The best colors are chartreuse, gold, and green. Tip them with the head of a fathead minnow, or you can use whole minnows.

My most productive jigging action is a constant up-down, eliminating any pauses of the bait, pounding the spoon on bottom. The popular up-down-pause method, effective for triggering walleye and pike, has not produced numbers of ’pout for me.

If I’m marking fish on my sonar and not catching, I go to a slipbobber. I still use glow lures under the bobber, but it’s a sit-and-wait game when the fish are fussy. Fortunately, 90 percent of the time aggressive jigging is the ticket.

So, the next time you’re planted on the couch in February and you start feeling sick about the lack of weight on the end of your line, remember, eelpout is the cure. Look for me if you decide to go—I’ll be the one wearing a big “Pouting” grin.