Ice Fishing: what's your best recipe for success

[wideopenthrottle]

Every lake is different, every species of fish is different also if they are stocked or wild plays a roll

You could always break out the chainsaw and try trolling lol

that is how we would retrieve sunken snowmobiles....get a rope on the machine with a diver or if shallower a pike pole/ rope with hook...we would then cut a chainsaw grove towards thicker ice and drag the machine along the bottom to where the ice was thick enough to cut a hole big enough to lift it out with ice thick enough to support a few guys lifting it up ...sometimes we would laugh that we were using the skidoo to troll for submarines...heheheh

[Bigdoggdon]

I do a lot of ice fishing, generally for brookies and rainbows and occaisionally burbot. For trout my tried and true method is fish in 8-12 feet of water, use a 3-4 inch spoon as a flasher with a 15-20 inch leader from the flasher down to a single red hook(size 1 or 2), bait with shrimp. When I bait the hook I thread the shrimp onto the hook so that the eye of the hook looks like the shrimps head and the point of the hook looks like the shrimps tail or swimmerets (which is why I like red hooks). I set my depth approximately a foot off the bottom, adjust depth if you notice the fish coming in higher or lower. Every couple of minutes I pull the flasher to the surface and let it fall, it will tumble and weave like a wounded fish attracting fish passing by to your bait.

For Burbot and Lakers I will fish deep lakes 80-100 feet down and bottom bounce a big spoon (4-6") like a williams wobbler or a ruby eye.

[boxhitch]

Rig up a punt/boat/kayak with cushy seats and a stove for a warm lunch and Fishn'Buddy
One line on each side, vary the lure and depth til the first strike

[Glenny]

I have always done well using a 5 of diamonds spoon with a wormp on it for rainbows. Jig it aggressively.

[tigrr]

Here we dead stick for rainbows with mealworms, shrimp, krill, maggots or power bait. Single hook with a split shot up near the clasp. Lower it down to bottom and leave it sit, 1 foot up. Out fishes all other methods.

[sawmill]

Get a small pop up ice shack, allowes you to see what`s going on down there. You would be amazed at how many big fish swim by and look but never bite. If you can see them you can B.S. them most times . Otherwise you are just watching a black hole in the ice.

[303savage]

when a friend and I go ice fishing we take one of those tin washtubs to light the fire in, a toboggan load of fire wood some grub and a bottle of whiskey.
When we run out of grub and whiskey, we pack up and go home. One of these time we might try drilling some holes in the ice and fish.

[Wild one]

Get a small pop up ice shack, allowes you to see what`s going on down there. You would be amazed at how many big fish swim by and look but never bite. If you can see them you can B.S. them most times . Otherwise you are just watching a black hole in the ice.

Ice hut can really help at times way easier to tease them when you can see the fish

Another trick if you see them stage under your hole is a plain hook small piece of bait and no weight. If you can hold it right infront of the fishes nose they will breath it in or get annoyed and mouth it. Caught some big stubron fish sight fishing with this trick.

[wideopenthrottle]

when a friend and I go ice fishing we take one of those tin washtubs to light the fire in, a toboggan load of fire wood some grub and a bottle of whiskey.
When we run out of grub and whiskey, we pack up and go home. One of these time we might try drilling some holes in the ice and fish.

that is often how it was for us in our teens and twenties too...we eventually dropped the pretense and just called it "ice drinking"...especially later in the season when you knew your twist auger wasnt gonna get through all the ice anyway..heheheh

[jimbc]

Tonnes of good advice. My only tidbit is to drill your hole where you see other holes with blood on the ice. Usually means a good spot!