Winter Diversion: The Ice Is Nice - The Fisherman

Winter Diversion: The Ice Is Nice

2019 1 The Ice Is Nice People
Ice fishing is a great way to get outside for some fresh air, good times and maybe even catch a fish or two.

Ice fishing is especially worth doing because there is very little else going on. Otherwise, a warm fire and safety from winter blasts can get boring quickly. My father took me ice fishing over 70 years ago, and we caught everything – perch (both white and yellow), pickerel, largemouth bass and even big bluegills. Later years, once trout stocking programs came into play, we went ice fishing for trout.

Two Methods

Most ice fishers either live bait shiners or jig. However, there is usually a limit on how many lines you can use – frequently five (Verify your local regulations.). So, if you like to do both, what is often done is anglers bait four tip-ups where a flag goes up when a gamefish takes the shiner bait and they keep the fifth choice as a jigging rod. My wife and I can’t stand hanging around “waiting for a flag” so we limit ourselves to jigging and walk from hole to hole. We usually have a bunch of holes to work, and the other anglers will drill extras to provide more options for fellow anglers.

I know that many traditional anglers like to use bigger jigs in the hope that they can cull only the larger gamefish. Nevertheless, this fishing can be so tough that any size fish is welcomed so we don’t mind small fish. We like jigs that will fit in all mouths. Avoid terminal junk – snaps and swivels – that affect the appearance of what you are trying to fool them with; tie direct. Our pet is a small lead bucktail only about an inch long that is dressed with black marabou. You can add a sweetener like a shiner eye from a discarded tip-up bait guys leave all over the pond. Some pet shops sell meal worms for aquarium feeders, and you can tip your jig hook with a live fresh meal worm. Plain jigs also work just as well.

The best depth to be jigging is about a foot off the bottom where the fish seem to cruise. I’m not sure what is going through their minds, but I have often thought gamefish will watch the jig in fascination until they think they are about to lose it; then they follow it up when you decide to try another hole. Wear polarized lenses when fishing and watch the hole when leaving. Sometimes you will see a follower. They will also nip at the jig haltingly as if they don’t trust it. Those that exhibit that habit are a cinch to take it eventually. As with all angling, there is no guarantee that you will hook all hits; you’ll miss a percentage. When that happens I go right back down and give the taker another shot. Most are dumb and will come right back, only I am more ready this time so I pay more attention.

2019 1 The Ice Is Nice Fish
Rainbows stocked in the fall are eager to strike a minnow or small jig once ice forms.

Perch Behavior

Anytime you catch a white or yellow perch, stay in that area because they rarely travel alone. If you get one perch there are more than likely going to be others. While they can be small they are awesome eating, and you can cook up a bunch because you are going to have so many the Lord won’t have them.

White perch are anadromous (salt fish spawning in freshwater) and they will run coastal rivers from the sea for spring spawning. Some estuaries host great numbers of white perch starting in late February. That said, safe ice in brackish water is usually a problem. In a lifetime of ice fishing I have only seen safe ice in tidewater once, and we caught so many white perch, some weighing over a pound, that we built a fire and ate some on the river bank. Bring lemon.

Stocked Trout Ponds

The states all stock in the fall, usually late September or early October. Still, unlike spring, when everybody is all horsed to go fishing, the fall has many interruptions what with saltwater migrations, hunting and boat hauling. Consequently, there is less pressure on the stocked trout and brood stock salmon. As a result, more are left where they were dropped earlier. There are also some stockings geared specifically for ice fishing pressure that takes place in winter. Cape Cod ponds get heavy stocking, but safe ice is harder to come by there, and open water is another story. (Don’t try to fish for new fish because they suffer from a sort of car sickness or acid shock and they won’t take.)

2019 1 The Ice Is Nice Collection
A selection of ice fishing lures used with great success by the author include small Kastmasters, jigging minnows and marabou jigs.

Night Browns

Most ice fishing is a day thing, and days are a lot warmer. Even so, I am compelled to cite this one example of an interesting exception. Having spent years fly fishing open water for brown trout at night, I can assure you that browns can be as nocturnal as stripers. One night, and I hope I am not taking too long with this, my wife and I were just packing up at sunset from a day of ice fishing when some guys showed up to start fishing through the ice. Thinking it a little weird, I asked about their late arrival just starting out at sunset and they reminded me, of all people, of something, what with my history of night fishing browns that I somehow had forgotten: the browns feed prolifically at night. Embarrassing.

Stay Safe

I don’t think of fishing as a dangerous activity, but going through the ice can kill you. We don’t go out on a waterway that is even close to 3 inches of thick ice; we want more than that because ice thickness can be variable. The place where you check ice thickness could be way more than the rest of the pond creating a false sense of security. Also, avoid areas with current flow like the inlets and outlets because the ice is thinner there. Springs also produce current and even warmer temperatures affecting ice thickness. Remote areas that are not fished much can have you fishing alone where there is no one to either provide or seek help should you go through. A handy easy safety device is a pair of dowels or broom handles with sharpened nails at one end. These can provide you with a suitable grip for pulling yourself on to the adjacent ice surface. Along with being deep the water is cold; our Navy says you have four minutes.

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