Sorry if I sound like an incompetent ice fisherman, but I read that some people fish with minnows. I was wondering if anyone knew the basic set up with minnows, and if there is a specific type for Ice fishing. I have pretty much only used Ice flies and jigs. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
tuber
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i like to use frozen chubs and cut them up in pieces...then i tip my tube jigs, spoons, or ice flies with the peices. works awsome for almost all ice species.
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one of the most inportent things with minnows is to mach the minnow to the fish your trying to catch and the lake your fishing..
it's best to get the minnows from the waters your fishing.. that way the fish are allredy use to seeing it as food..
but in the winter that not posable.. so if your realy going to get into fishing with minnows i would sugest harvesting your own minnows..
some lakes the red side shiner is the minnow of choice, starvation (big browns).. strawberry (cutt's and rainbows) scofield (cutt's & rainbows) E-lake (cutt's & rainbows)..
other lakes chub work better.. fish lake (mack's & splake & rainbows & browns) Joe's valley (splake & cutt's & rainbows)
and in other lakes carp minnows are what you want.. utah lake (walleye & and bass all 3 kinds and catfish) yuba in the old days for (walleye and northern pike & catfish)
other places sucker minnows are the best.. F.G for the (mack's & browns & rainbow) clevland res for (rainbows & cutt's) huntington for (tigertrout)
and the list go's on and on.. bottom line is that big fish eat minnows!! thats how they got that big!! so if you match the minnow to the fish.. you have a good chance of cathing a very nice fish indeed..
now for the rig.. there are many ways to rig a minnow.. the most basic rig is to get a octopus or circle hook (i like the octopus hooks better) both work well for this rig tho.. get some from size 4 to 0/4.. allways mach the hook size to the minnow size big minnows big hooks small minnows small hooks.. tie the hook to the line for ice fishing you will want to rig a dropper loop.. weight on bottom about 6" to 12" up the line tie the hook.. to put the minnow on the hook put the hook through the head of the minnow and tie the tail of the minnow with a half hitch.. your set for a big fish..
ok to rig it on a jig
some times i use really small minnows so i can use small jig's.. again you have to mach the hook size to the bait.. the two basic jig rig's are a jig with your favorite rubber or color or what ever you like.. put a minnow on the hook by comeing up under the head of the minnow and through the top of the head.. your ready to jig..
and then there is my favorite rig and that is a plain jig head with a minnow on it's side.. take a jig head plain put the hook through the side of the head pushing the minnow down the shank of the hook turn the hook and put it through the minnow again further back in the minnow.. this will make the minnow dart and glide as you jig it..
one thing you will have to get use to is letting the fish take the minnow longer than some other baits.. and allways rember all the fish in utah but pike and muskes will eat the minnow head first!!
so you want the working end of the hook by the head!!
dude on fish?
Ron
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[cool]Wow! Thanks for the awesome demo on minnow fishing, Ron. I've fished with minnows before, but I learned a bunch here. Gonna save it to my hard drive. Thanks again!
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Great write up and photos Ron! You should slip it over into the "How to" section..
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great piece of info on minnows. where would be a good place to buy some since i didn't catch any of my own.
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Ron, good information; however, I must be either catching smart or dumb fish, because I have caught many fish (cutts and macks for sure) that took the tail end of the minnow first.
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yes you can catch alot of fish with a tail hook.. but before the fish will swallow the minnow it will turn it so it go's down head first.. and alot of times you will be draging your hook backwords in the fish's mouth.. that's why i allways have a hook colse to the head..
i'm thinking if you turned your setup around and put the stinger in the head and the jig in the tail you might even catch more fish because the fish wil be sucking the head in first if it can..
dude on fish?
Ron
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[cool]Ironworker, I have seen them at Sportsmans, in the chest freezer back by the worms etc., but they are a little pricey. I think I saw some in the freezer at Hooked Fishing Tackle up in Kaysville too, and they have the best customer service that I've found. I think I was reading the archives on this board of Strawberry and found a thread that Kentofnsl, or somebody else started that said they got some for cheeper than Sportsmans at the Smiths in Heber in a freezer that they had. I don't know if they still stock them or not.
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thanks for the info about the minnows out4trout. i will have to check it out for sure.
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hey fuzzy do you use a full minnow or a piece of one. which works the best. very curious.
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hey ironworker.. i use alot of diffrent combo's of whole minnows and cut bait.. depending on the fish and kind of minnows in the lake..
i use the term minnow as bait.shiner,chub,carp,sucker,perch,white bass,. i have been known to pin a 8" to 12" chub on and put it on the bottom..so look at the size of the bait you get or have and try and mach it up to your jig or hook.. for a big chub two hooks are best big hooks 0/4 or so.. for most shiners i use size 4 to 1 hooks..
then there are days when cut bait on a small jig works better..
i use whole minnows when i think there are big fish in the lake or when the fish are keying in on big baits..
i dont ever go ice fishing without takeing some minnows along..
dude on fish?
Ron
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thanks alot for the info fuzzy, that really helps me out.
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fuzzyfisher,
Thank you so much for responding with such detailed info. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again.
tuber
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Is there any difference at all in using "preserved" minnows (sportsmans brand) or "frozen" minnows, ie: Ottleys bait store?
Do you think a fish would snub its nose at a "preserved" minnow?
Randy
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hey N.E.T.O .. i have tryed some of the preserved minnows.. and i can say this dont wast you money on them!! just frozzen minnow!!
dude on fish?
Ron
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Ron I couldnt agree more!! Freshly killed or frozen only..
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