Ice Fishing for Rainbow and Brook Trout

[phishhead]

I have spent many days on the ice trying to figure out the best way to catch trout through the ice. I finally have my favorite lake down to where I can catch all the rainbows I want during the spring, summer, and fall but I have never been able to pattern trout through the ice. I see on the MN DNR HSOforum that Rainbows mostly swim just under the ice. I personally have had better luck fishing just off of the bottom in 50 feet of water. A guy that was fishing near me caught one in 5 ft. To me it seems that pattern is that there is no pattern. It seems as if the Rainbows cruise around the lake all over the place at different depths and it almost seems like I have done better when I stay in one spot and wait for them to come to me. This is the exact opposite of how we fish for other species. So, if anyone has any input, advice, thoughts to add to my ramblings please do so.

Also in the next week or so I will be heading to a brook trout lake up in Wi for some ice fishing. If anyone has any tips or info on ice fishing for brookies that would be greatly appreciated.

[bigdog]

What I have had luck doing is to fish in 7' of water or less with bait about 1/2 way down. Best time of day has been about 1 hour before sunrise to 2 hours after.

[phishhead]

Bigdog-

Are you talking about brookies, rainbows, or stream trout in general? What is your favorite bait? I have done the best with a white and lime green demon with a spike or a crappie minnow (where legal).

[DEADhead]

I also fish shallow. Look on a map and find a nice shallow flat. I usually fish in around 4-5 FOW and fish in the middle of the water column. A simple rig like a size 12 genz bug tipped with waxies works well. Fishing the dusk/dawn times are crucial to catching fish; you can probably catch fish throughout the day, but for me the best time of day is the hour before and after sunrise. This tactic works well for rainbows and brookies. I've only caught one brown through the ice and it was during midday.

rainbows like to school up and will swim "laps" around the lake during the winter (same as during open water). Time the intervals between visits. It is almost like clockwork.

good luck!

[Quickstrike]

Once the search feature is up and running again there is a ton of great input from a lot of guys that have figured out all species of trout through the ice. I have done my fair share of troutin through the ice and I will fish anywhere from 4 ft of water to 70 ft of water. I will usually put a dead stick down about halfway to the bottom, and then jig right under the ice.(in lakes where two rods are legal) I have caught a ton of bows, splake, brookies, and even a few browns this way. I have had great luck with small hair jigs and plastics, both with and without waxies. Small spoons, and jigging raps have also worked well for me. Streamers just seem to roam around aimlessly and a hot spot one day can be dead the next. I plan on battling the slush and heading into the BWCA this weekend for lakers, but we'll probably spend a few hours on a little brookie lake as well. It's that time of year.

[bigdog]

I was talking Browns and Rainbows, no Brookies in the lakes I fish. Normally put a eurolarva on an orange or green ice jig. Don't remember the lures name but one good one is shaped like a round head jig, maybe 1/16th oz and has a tapered plastic body with no tail.

[DEADhead]

sounds like you described a Ratfinkee. They work well for trout.

[EatSleepFish]

What kind of bottom content do you look for?

[DEADhead]

Most of the trout I've caught through the ice were caught in weed flats. I assume they are in there feeding on invertebrates, since the bellies on a lot of them are full of dragonfly nymphs and snails. I think a lot of it will depend on the composition of the lake, and the primary diet of the trout. If you're fishing an oligotrophic lake, most common in the NE, they are typically very clear, rocky, and infertile. Forage would likely be crawfish and baitfish. If you could find a mud flat I would fish that, since that would be your biggest chance of finding nymphs.

[bigdog]

Yes, the Ratfinkee is the one. There is also an egg hook with some "bumpy" lead on the shank, either in a green or orange that has worked. We used to use a Northland banana shaped jig, glow with a green back, it had eyes painted on near the hook eye. Caught fish but we also lost some because the hooks would break or bend open. In the shallow water they go ballistic when you set the hook and that lure design allowed them to break free.

Shallow areas I have fished have a sand or marl bottom with very few weeds. Fish stomachs are filled with very small worms.

[Zenit]

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A simple rig like a size 12 genz bug tipped with waxies works well. Fishing the dusk/dawn times are crucial to catching fish; you can probably catch fish throughout the day, but for me the best time of day is the hour before and after sunrise.

rainbows like to school up and will swim "laps" around the lake during the winter (same as during open water). Time the intervals between visits. It is almost like clockwork.

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Couldn't agree with you more. I'm to the point where I don't carry any other jigs during the hard-water trout season other than a wide variety of the Genz Bugs. Cross-mounting 2-3 waxies on those Genz Bugs seem to do so much better than anything else in the tackle box, at least for me.

And yeah, I have also noticed that the rainbows will do the same circular tour of the lake that they do during open water...it is kind of cool, when they are in real shallow, to see this.

I don't know what the rest of the posters here think, but I am of the opinion that using a flasher for trout is every bit as crucial to success as for finding walleyes through the ice. Trout, in my experience, are much less predictable and don't display the same patterns during the hard-water season that they do during open water season.

[phishhead]

Do you guys think that they are deeper during the day and shallower early and in the evening? It seems that most people think that you need to be fishing early morning and in the evening. I guess 90% of the time I fish for them pretty deep - usually around 40-50 ft. Some days they seem just to come off the bottom and some days they seem to be suspended. I guess I am guilty of staying deep most of the time because that is what I am used to doing in the summer and have a had a few really good days fishing deep through the ice also. It's hard to break away from habits!

[Zenit]

Quote:

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Do you guys think that they are deeper during the day and shallower early and in the evening? It seems that most people think that you need to be fishing early morning and in the evening. I guess 90% of the time I fish for them pretty deep - usually around 40-50 ft. Some days they seem just to come off the bottom and some days they seem to be suspended. I guess I am guilty of staying deep most of the time because that is what I am used to doing in the summer and have a had a few really good days fishing deep through the ice also.

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I like to fish deep during dawn/dusk, during the daytime hours (at least it seems to me) they break into their unpredictable routine; could be right under the ice, could be still on the bottom, could be at suspended depth...only The Shadow and the Mighty Vexilar knows!

[phishhead]

For a long time I had my zoom set on my Marcum to the bottom when I guess I should have been watching the entire water column. Thanks a ton for all of the replies. Sometimes I think confidence in what you are trying is the most important thing. I am excited to get out next week and try different depths and different jigs that you guys talked about. I really appreciate all of the advice. It's not like I decided I want to try ice fishing for trout the first time and asked for gps cooridinates - I have really put a lot of hours on the ice and just thought a few different opinions would be nice. Thanks again and if anyone has any little bit of info they would like to share I would love hear it. There is not much info on the subject of ice fishing for stream trout so this is great! Time on the (hard) water is the best source of info there is!

[Fishpondc]

A guy i used to work with said he would turn his vexilar off once he figured out the depth. He said that the vexilar echoes would spook rainbows... is there some truth to this, or just a fishing superstition?

[phishhead]

I remember talking to "The Griz" at a resort on Mille Lacs one year and he pointed a Vexialr at me and asked if I could hear it. Of course, I could here the clicking noise and he asked "you don't think the fish can here that?" But I use my Marcum all summer long catching Rainbows and it certainly doesn't seem to bother the fish then.

[DEADhead]

I personally don't bring a flasher with me trout fishing. I sight-fish in the shallows, so a vexilar is useless. You'll see the trout before they show up on your flasher. The other thing I notice, is that the trout are sometimes in and out so fast, they don't show up on your screen.

[JustinG]

Just thought I would add some input. I always fish for stream trout in less than 10 FOW and I usually try fishing in around 6 FOW. I usually try to find small gravel bars adjacent to a drop into deeper water. I also sight fish. I think sight fishing is the only way to do it as it is just as fun to view their behavior as it is to catch them. Alot of times trout will mouth the bait and you would never sense it if you weren't watching it. When they get that hook all the way in, its time to set the hook. Can't wait for opener!!!!

Justin

[DEADhead]

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Alot of times trout will mouth the bait and you would never sense it if you weren't watching it.

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EXACTLY. I can't tell you how many times I have had a trout take my bait without me even feeling it on my line.

[Farley]

I'm giving trout fishing a try this weekend for the first time. A buddy of mine goes with some of his friends that are pretty good I'm guessing at finding fish. After reading the last few posts on this thread, would you guy suggest rigging up a deadstick rod with a spring bobber or do you guys not use spring bobbers at all? Also what size line do you generally run? I'm going to set up some rods tonite, just trying to get a general idea of what I'm dealing with.

[Duffman]

4-6 lb. test mono for me, too many frustrating breakoffs on 2 lb test. A spring bobber wouldn't hurt, I've deadsticked minnows(where legal), waxies, and plastics with success. Sometimes I use a flasher, mostly on lakes that don't recieve a lot of pressure. I'm somewhat of a believer that the transducer's clicking can effect the bite at times. When I do use a flasher, I tend to catch 90% of the fish I mark. 10ft depth is usually the magic depth for me on the lakes I fish, but I have caught 'bows a foot down over 40' of water before.

[Lights]

Phishead, We live pretty close to one another. If you would like to get together and do some trout fishing Sunday or most any day next week drop me an emal. I,ve fished Holland also a bit for trout. I have never been to Grindstone or any of the other trout lakes.

Let me know,

Mark

[email protected]

[phishhead]

Farley- I usually use 4lb. test. I learned my lesson on Holland lake real quick using 2 lb test.

Lights- I would like to go Sunday but I manage a bar/restaurant and I play in a band so my weekends are usually pretty booked up. We play in Burnsville Sat. night so I probably won't get to bed til almost 4 am. If you ever want to go durig the week let me know. My job situation actually works out great for fishing. There aren't too many people out! I usually go Mondays or Tuesdays.

[snakes]

Any new info on Grindstone ice or bite? Thinking about trying it MLK weekend

[phishhead]

I finally made it out this past Tuesday and I tried fishing in 10 ft or less from about 6:30 am until about 9:30 with no luck. This past summer I marked every fish I caught on my gps so I went out to a spot that I had caught quite a few. I was in about 40 ft fishing 10 ft off the bottom and caught my first one on a crappie minnow and a plain hook in the first 10 minutes. Then I caught another one on a forage minnow tipped with spikes about 15 minutes after that. While I was fighting that one I had another one come up and take my crappie minnow - I didn't get that one in. Shortly after that I got another one on the forage minnow again and they were just pounding that thing. They were coming through and staring at the crappie minnow and going back down here and there but they loved that forage minnow for some reason. It was a blueish/purple and white forage minnow tipped with one white and one blue spike. So hopefully I found a high traffic area that they use when swimming thier "laps". I will hopefully get out after this cold snap and find out if it was just a fluke or not.