Ice-fishing pro Steve Ladany of Northland Tackle with a decent pike caught on light gear. Photo by Ron Hustvedt Jr.

Draw a line east to west across the United States where lakes freeze over in the winter and you have the southern edge of what's called the "Ice Belt." Anglers north of that line don't take no for an answer when it comes to cold and ice blocking their fishing opportunities. We consulted a few of the top ice-anglers in the country for their secrets on a wide variety of topics.

1. Go deep! -- On some lakes, fish can go into depths of 50 to 60 feet or deeper in winter. Food sources, fishing pressure and noise drive them to such depths making them difficult to find. Use your electronics to find them, said ice-fishing professional "Tackle" Terry Tuma.

2. Go shallow! -- Food sources and fishing pressure can also drive fish shallower than conventional wisdom might suggest. Fishing guide Bryan Sathre of Fathead Guide Service said he's had anglers fishing a hot jumbo perch bite in 4 feet of water.

3. Lighten up -- The water is generally clearer in the winter and the fish are more skittish. Instead of using 6-pound-test on his walleye rigs, Tuma downsizes to 4-pound-test and uses 1- or 2-pound-test for his perch and panfish rigs.

4. Find a splake lake -- Mix one part lake trout with one part brook trout and you get a tasty tackle-busting fish known as a splake. Stocked throughout the ice belt, splake are considered easier to catch than their cousins. Fisheries biologist Steve Persons said contact your state fisheries office for a list of lakes with splake.

5. Splake locations -- Persons said splake tend to be stocked in smaller lakes with minimal structure, so focus on reefs, shelves, points and sharp breaks.

6. Fly an airplane -- The airplane jig is a classic because it works. It's especially good on clear water species like splake and lake trout, but feisty pike and walleyes will hit a minnow-tipped airplane as well, he said.

7. Try super lines -- They've been around for a few years now. so the technology is now tried and true. Walleye professional Scott Glorvigen and Tuma both like micro ice Fireline for its invisibility and strength against the ice. (Continued)

8. Green stuff -- Weeds are prevalent in the summertime and a nuisance in late summer. Green weeds can be tough to find, but when you do, drop the electronics, and drop a line because there should be fish in the vicinity. On large weedbeds, work the edges and pockets.

9. Contrast kills -- Glorvigen said color combinations that contrast each other like pink and white or red and chartreuse seem to work better than a solid color.

10. Green and hard -- Weeds near rocks are one of fishing guide Tony Roach's favorite places to fish in the winter for pike, perch and walleyes.

11. Bring the green -- When you can't find good weedy areas, you can bring your own like Bryan Sathre does.

"I use structure on a string because they act like a fish magnet bringing in species like perch, bluegills and crappies, as well as predator species like walleyes and pike," he said.