TROUT UNDER THE ICE

[reinhard1]

every year there are questions about tactics for rainbows,browns,brookies,splake, and lake trout. so i thought maby starting a thread about these fish would be a good idea and would like to get a lot of input by as many people as possible so that those who never have fished for trout, or maby those who maby want to learn some new ideas to have a good season that is comming up fast.

i'll start with rainbows on non designated trout lakes. one thing i have learned over the years is the rainbows are mostly in the shallows and just under the ice in deeper water. for the most part i seldom fish deeper than 10 feet of water near shore. this is where sight fishing comes into play. very seldom do i see just one stray rainbow, it's usualy 4 to 6 that come through. at times i put a underwater camera maby 6 feet from my portable and have the screen in the house so i can see fish comming at times. this is realy for the entertainment because even if a trout comes your way you still have to get it on the ice.

i normaly use small jigging spoons tipped with a minnows head. i have used the gulp minnow heads and had some success but that's when they are real aggresive. i still think the real thing does the trick if they are finiky. if it's real slow i will put out a tip-up with a larger crappie minnow or fathead just a couple of feet under the ice in about 6 to 7 feet of water. small panfish jigs with eurolarva and waxies work well at times also. just have to keep trying. if i'm alone in my portable i will fish with a minnow in one hole and jig or spoon in another.

keep in mind that live bait is not allowed in designated trout lakes. the above method i use in non-designated trout lakes. you also are required to have a trout stamp.

on designated trout lakes for rainbows and splake i use the above methods except the live bait. i put on a gulp minnow head and bring waxies and eurolarva along. shallow water is still the key.

lets hear some of your methods for any of the trout i have mentioned above. good luck.

[DonBo]

I agree with the shallow water for 'bows. I almost always use just a small crappie type jig with eurolarva or waxies. Seems whenever I try to use minnows I'm bothered by little hammer handle northers and not much else.

Site fishing for trout in shallow water is one of the most enjoyable ways of fishing I know, and there is nothing better than those trout on the smoker.

[MN BassFisher]

This winter I hope to catch my first trout thru the ice. It's been like 3 years since I've caught a trout by any method!

[reinhard1]

keep following this thread and i'm sure there will be plenty of ideas. if you have any questions just ask. if i cant answer them i'm sure someone will give you the best information as possible. good luck.

[IamZombie]

I caught my first trout ever, last winter through the ice.

was a bit deeper than 10ft, more like 15ft. But I had a crappie minnow on a small spoon shaped jig.

[reinhard1]

i have caught rainbows in a 100 feet of water but they were in less than 10 feet under the ice. all i'm saying is that it has been my experience over many years that rainbows, brookies [realy shallow], and browns have been in shallow water during hard water. not saying you cant get them in 15 feet, just that i rarely go deeper than 10 feet for that level has given me the best results.

brook trout for example even go shallower. my largest brookie i caught was on Topper lake off the Gunflint. lots of snow and lot's of ice. after digging out a spot in about 2 feet of snow i hand drilled through plenty of ice and underneath that there was only two feet of water. that's were we got them. at the time i had no idea it was prefered for brookies, just too tired to dig through the snow again and drill another hole.

found the same result in lake cenaiko by the coon rapids dam. go shallow, get trout. good luck.

[newoodhntr]

I fish with 2 tip-downs with a small treble hook and a crappie minnow in about 20' of water and then jig a panfish sized jig and waxie for Browns on inland lakes.

[reinhard1]

browns are the hardest for me to figure out on hard water. i have caught a few near 5 pounds over the years and they have all been caught on a shinner in about 6 to 10 feet of water on tip ups fishing for pike. i have caught smaller ones over the years on crappie minnows or spoon/minnowhead combo. i usualy fish all day and go home prior to dark. this year i will fish into the night for browns, something i haven't done yet. they say browns are nocturnal feeders, so i will have to find out. good luck.

[toughguy]

If you ice fish for Lakers be prepared to become addicted. They are the ice fishing version of crack. Once you start you can't stop. You'll most likely end up broke and divorced!

[reinhard1]

they are some tough fighters. i'll be looking forward to some suggestions from those who fish them a lot. when i was a kid up in duluth we used to drive up the gunflint trail and fish clearwater lake. back then we didn't have tube jigs or anything artificial i can think of. just went out from the boat landing in about 40 feet of water if i remember right and just fished with minnows off the bottom. didn't have portables back then either.

i do use white tubes now and jigging spoons with minnow heads. i fish humps that are 30 feet surrounded by 70 feet for the most part and off points anywhere from 20 feet out to 40 feet. in depth over 60 feet to over 100 feet i fish for them suspended whereever the smelt are. good luck.

[toughguy]

i do use white tubes now and jigging spoons with minnow heads. i fish humps that are 30 feet surrounded by 70 feet for the most part and off points anywhere from 20 feet out to 40 feet. in depth over 60 feet to over 100 feet i fish for them suspended whereever the smelt are. good luck.

I do about the same thing. I've only fished the gunflint trail lakes for them. I've had better luck using the spoon/minnow head or spoon/live minnow method there. I've had some luck on tubes but not as much as spoons. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with tubes. Gold Banana jigs with minnows under a bobber work surprisingly well too. My favorite spots are close to shore along a severe drop off to 60 FOW or more and set up in about 30-40 feet. Humps are great too.

[basssmasher*]

Why oh why does the great trout fishing have to be so far away from me??? here i am stuck in western Mn and there are no trout to be found!! I'm envious of you people!!!

[THavas]

Why oh why does the great trout fishing have to be so far away from me??? here i am stuck in western Mn and there are no trout to be found!! I'm envious of you people!!!

I feel your pain. I moved here from Pennsylvania 2 years ago. Lived for fishing for everything I fish for here...but not the trout fishery that I had out east. Streams and lakes for trout...the Lake Erie and Ontario tributaries from October-March for Salmon, Steelhead and Browns. As we speak my father, brother and friends are slamming the Lake O brown, kings and cohos in the streams...and I couldn't make it this year. I have been looking into heading to Wisconsin to hit some of the ports on Lake Michigan side this winter for some browns and steel through the ice, I am not sure if the northern shore or duluth area would offer the same opportunity. I may research some of the MN lakes that are stocked with trout and take a shot at them this year on the ice. The trout is still in my blood! :-)

[panfishpounder00]

i feel eventually, and hopefully in another year the DNR will see that winter trout fishing doesnt hurt the population,no matter what the time of year!! ok, yeah, maybe trout fishing has gotten a bit more popular within the last few years, but i dont think the minnesota angler is hot after those species and is confined to a select few... ok... one, i would like to see the lake trout and stream trout in lakes as a seperate angling experience! alot of people seem to get this confused! rinehard1 has it pretty much on the nose... small jiggin spoons tipped with waxis is a good start! tip-ups or downs, for that matter are also a safe bet! like said above, live minnows are illegal in designated lakes! preserved minnows are legal!! also you'll want to keep noise down to a min.!!! hand augers are often used as a gas auger can potentially spook trout!! as stated most fish run shallow and just beneath the ice, small crappie jigs in the 1/64-1/100 oz tipped with waxi or euros can be a trout icer!!

[panfishpounder00]

also, on a side note that the only lakes open for ice fishing "STREAM TROUT" in lakes are a couple in aitken co. and of course up north in the boundry waters and tribs.. as far as "Lake Trout" go for the central min area, the Whitefish chain (Big Trout) located near crosslake,mn is the only area lake! Hopefully this negates some confusion! i know this is a constant question that always comes up with my clients!

[reinhard1]

dont forget Grinstone in Pine county. it has lake trout, rainbows, and browns and the popular smelt. there are also a few lakes in the metro area [Cenaiko, courthouse and square lake for example. there are also many "stream trout" lakes in the Isabella/Finland area with rainbow and splake and brookies. good luck.

[reinhard1]

when we have a real cold winter the northshore has some ice near the shorelines, and people fish for loopers mainly with occational salmon and lakers being taken. there are times when there is ice further out on the lake where lakers are fished for. i have never done it, but it does happen. Butch Furtman has had a few of his shows filmed out there and some nice lakers have been taken. the fishermen fishing on the ice out from shore often bring a small boat out there just in case ice breaks free behind them. good luck.

[panfishpounder00]

do any browns get caught out there?.... i have a show filmed in wis. on dvr. and eric hatajaa? spelling? LOL!! and a couple others from in-fisheman ice fishing for steelhead and browns in a marina...

[leech~~]

I feel your pain. I moved here from Pennsylvania 2 years ago. Lived for fishing for everything I fish for here...but not the trout fishery that I had out east. Streams and lakes for trout...the Lake Erie and Ontario tributaries from October-March for Salmon, Steelhead and Browns. As we speak my father, brother and friends are slamming the Lake O brown, kings and cohos in the streams...and I couldn't make it this year. I have been looking into heading to Wisconsin to hit some of the ports on Lake Michigan side this winter for some browns and steel through the ice, I am not sure if the northern shore or duluth area would offer the same opportunity. I may research some of the MN lakes that are stocked with trout and take a shot at them this year on the ice. The trout is still in my blood! :-)

THavas, check out the DNR site for Trout lakes that they stocked. There are a few around like Big Watab up in Avon.

[panfishpounder00]

keep in mind that winter STREAM TROUT fishing in LAKES is prohibited in mn with the exception of DNR approved lakes in certain counties!! i would hate to see someone get nailed for something so simple as an overlooked reg.! The mine pits near and around the crosby/ironton area for example are closed all winter till the "official" walleye/pike opener! Lake Trout however open mid-jan and go thru march... then close and re-open for summer fishing.

[reinhard1]

years ago there was a brown spawning run in the fall especialy in the Babtism river and the split rock river. now rarely a brown gets caught on the northshore that i know of. we used to catch them on nightcrawlers back then. i recently talked to the people at the french river hatchery regarding brown trout fall spawning runs. the person told me that every year they may get 4 or 5 browns in their traps at the hatchery in total, however they are large fish in the 5 to 8 pound range as i was told.

so maby someone has caught one through the ice near shore on the big lake but i dont know of any. i think most of the brow trout that are caught are on the south shore. i used to get a few on the Brule river when i fished that area. my brother is at this moment fishing some streams near Racine Wisconsin for salmon and browns [which he does every year]. he has very good luck there. i have about 4 or 5 old VCR tapes just from Racine and the spring and fall fishing that has been productive most of the time. good luck.

[reinhard1]

i used to fish the gunflint trail a lot years ago for trout. one of my best trips i ever had was when we stayed at the poplar lake lodge [the original prior to it burning down and the owner loosing his life]. it was 39 below when we got there. the heavy set tall man who owned the lodge at the time was a very nice guy. drank with us through the night and often slept on the stairway leading to our rooms.

well the next day we went to Mayhew lake for rainbows. very windy and not too many fish[and of course cold]. the next day we went to Topper lake to fish for brookies. i was the only one with preserved minnows. and on that trip i was the only one who caught brookies. in only 2 to 3 feet of water i was jigging them just under the ice. that day it was 28 below but i wore no hat or gloves although my hands are sensetive to cold. there was no wind and a bluebird sky. Topper lake is surrounded by hills of forrest and somehow that reduced any wind and the sun kept us comfortable for the day until we were on Mayhew on the way back and got into a breeze. this moment just came to me as i was thinking of this thread. good times. good luck.

[tonkapat]

If you ice fish for Lakers be prepared to become addicted. They are the ice fishing version of crack. Once you start you can't stop. You'll most likely end up broke and divorced!

I agree, its hard to fish for anything else. To bad good fishing is 250 miles away and then 10 plus miles on ski's and hauling all your gear. Well worth it though