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I need a little help. The lake have all froze and I want to try icefishing for brook trout and rainbow trout. I have never done this before and know nothing of how they respond or where they are in winter. If you have any advice that could help me pull a few threw the ice please let me know!
Thanks
Well, first of all...."WELCOME to FAOL"!!
As for ice fishing, if you've NEVER done such fishing, before, I'd really suggest you find someone that does it A LOT and go with them. At least,for a few "first outings".
The worm dunking, is no great science, but knowing what is "SAFE ICE" and "NON SAFE ICE", is obviously far more important.
When I first moved to Idaho, way back when, I wanted to give ice fishing a go.
There was a local lake, near my ranch, that everyone iced fished on every winter. When I lined up my needed "gear", after talking to friends that iced fished as well as a couple of sports shops, I drove to the lake, saw PICKUP TRUCKS parked out, on the ice so got out of my own, rig, grabbed my gear, walked 25 feet onto the ice and went straight to the bottom of the lake.......................
Fortunately, where I went down, was only about 12' deep. The clothing I wore, the gear I carried, however, took me down to bottom like a rock.
I'd never iced fish before, only ice skated in rinks and knew very little about iced over bodies of water.
I quickly LEARNED, though, by going with buddies that KNEW all about ice, how it changes, how it moves, how it thins and thickens, etc.
Learning to catch the fish, after learning about ice, was the easy part!
Hardest part about fly fishing thru the ice is cutting that 60 foot long slit in the ice for the cast.
In nearby Skaha lake which freezes over thick enough to walk on and fish only once in every 10 years or so there is a very dangerous spot near the western shore where a warm spring wells up . The ice everywhere else can be a foot thick but paper thin near that spring. Locals will know this kind of thing so getting their advice is critical before anyone should venture out on any strange body of ice.
Ps when I was about 10 or 11, I found that thin spot , luckily it is near the shore and I was able to break the ice all the way to the beach.
Huntgame72,Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntgame72
Welcome to FFishing through the Ice Central! :rolleyes: Just kidding!
A long time ago I watched a YouTube Vid of some guys that chainsawed a path through the ice and proceeded to fly cast. I think it would be a good idea to give the poor, freezing, dormant Trout a break and don't fly cast for them until they thaw out this Spring.
Welcome to the BB! Fill out some of your Profile so we know something about you.
Thanks,
Doug P.S. Stay away from Paul & Jack also! :D
DShock..................... you spelled "Doug and Jack", wrong AGAIN! Don't ya' have "spell checker"!?
Paul,Quote:
Originally Posted by flybinder
I got "YOUR" Spell Check right Here!!!; http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto...yping_Full.jpg
Remember to recharge it on the Treadmill!
Doug :D
Moral: don't ice fish if you weigh more than a PU truck. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by flybinder
Seriously, if your unsure of the ice thickness use a spud bar (4' to 5' heavy metal chisel) to test it in front of you, or better yet stay off.
It would help if you filled out your profile enough so at least we knew what state you lived in.
That said, around hear minnows work the best as long as your not on a designated trout lake, then minnows are a no no. Swedish pimples work well, if you can't find one then get one from a Norweigen. (I'm starting to make myself sick). We tend to find them in deeper water. Use a good depth finder to locate fish before you make camp. The biggest mistake icefishers make is they drill a couple holes and there they sit for the day. STAY MOBILE, fish move so you should to.
(quote-Fly_line);"Swedish pimples work well, if you can't find one then get one from a Norwegian. We tend to find them in deeper water".(end quote)
Okay, I'll "bite"!?! WHY, are the Norwegians only found in deeper water? Don't they get sort of COLD? Don't they DROWN? WHY, do the Swedes have such BAD acne? Can't you just use "American zits"!? Do you keep this "pimple bait" in empty Stridex jars?
Since the water was only 12' deep you didn't drown.
Welcome to FAOL Mr. Huntgame........
Years back when I was in college at Klamath Falls, OR. I did a little ice fishing with the local Indians. They used jigs, basically little marabou jobs with regulation lead jig heads. Various colors, but for some reason white was pretty effective. Basic jig up and down action. Varied the depth till we found fish. Them boys already had the good spots figured out. We caught bass and crappie...many... I saw some other fellas using minnows (live). I recomend of course checking yer regs first. It gets very cold (below zero ) there for long periods. The ice was 3 feet thick where we drilled through.
We drove pickups out there. First time scared the crap outa me on account of pickups don't float. however, later I got stupider than usual and drove my VW bug all the way across the lake and up the boat ramp, (about three miles). This was plain natural stupid, not drug or alcohol induced. I was pushin 22 (hard) and showin off.
.........................ModocDan :mrgreen:
We used these goofy little short metal poles with kindof a loopy springy bend in them, about 18" long with a closed face spin reel (Zebco) on them, and just a tiptop guide.......................