[Garman]

Hi guys,

Me and my girlfriend rented a nice little cottage near Clinton for a few days in January. Now I love ice fishing and I like to consider myself a good fisherman (sorry; to me a fisher has four legs and much more fur) but I never fished for rainbows through the ice. Any advice? Bait, depth, what to look for in lake geography...

Thanks,

Alex

 

[eimaj]

SOrry I can't provide first hand knowledge as this will be my first year also. But my buds that go alot like to fish the same shelfs and shoals that you find trout up on in the early morning and late night. They say they never fish more than 10ft of water. For bait they have runthe gammit, but a few of them actually use flies, and just jig them. 'eh Go figure.

 

[Rivahman]

I'd love to help you out Garman but I've only gone ice fishing once (maybe 25 years ago now). I was all geared up and nicely insulated with Moskovskaya. I sat there for a few hours on Burns Lake huddled against the cold, sitting on a bucket with no bites. A buddy came by on his snow sled to check on the action. With a slurred voice and swearing there was two of him in front of me, I told him I hadn't got anything yet. He looked over my set-up, right down to the grub and said it looked just fine. As he left, shaking his head, he said "drill a god%$#^ hole in the ice with the auger I gave you! Jesus..how stoopid can you be?" I stared as both of him left and took another swig. The end.

 

[DannyBuoy]

Sorry I cant be more specific as I dont know the lake but I do know they love shrimp ( the little pink precooked ones) generally fished just off the bottom , or good ol fashioned worms too

 

[King Fisher]

Not much to it....fishing the bait just off the bottom is ideal just like DannyBuoy said. Good luck!

 

[fishin30]

I am not a pro or anything but I have buddies that ice fish every year for 2 weeks straight. All they ever use are green and pink glow hooks.And they catch loads of fish :thumbup:

 

[Dfisher]

Garman: I used to ice fish when I lived back in the Interior. At this point, for fishing spots, you are at a disadvantage, unless you have fished this lake for instance during the summer. That would give you a good idea as to where the deep drop offs or shoals may be in the lake. However, not to despair, that means you will just have to move around a bit more till you get a bite. So once you have your holes drilled just use the old coffee pot method. Hook on the end of a line attach bait such as shrimp or single salmon egg, use a small weight, or instead of that you could put a small flashing lure like a cleo. Then drop the set up in the hole, and let it sink till it finds bottom. Then pull it up, 12 to 18 inches and wind the top of the line to suitable twig. and mount it over the hole. Nice and easy way to ice fish as u do not even need a rod. Once the fish bites you will see twig move, set the hook and pull up the fish. Worked for me.

 

[fishfanatic]

Fishing the drop offs are key. Also, the 18" to 24" of the bottom is also a key to ice fishing. Ice fishing is also a good social time, so all the best of luck