Fishing Forum

I thought it would be interesting to see what other people are ice fishing with. Post some pictures or descriptions of some of your favorite lures or jigs to use while ice fishing. Add in how you like to fish it as well.

Here are a few of my favorites.

These are some of the jigs (aka ice flies) I tie for ice fishing. Most of the heads have glow in the dark paint and some have materials that glow. The smaller jigs will normally get tipped with a half a meal worm but I will sometimes use a small piece of a night crawler or wax worm. On occasion I've used crappie nibbles, salmon eggs or Berkley gulp maggots to tip the jig. The larger jigs are typically tipped with a 1"-3" piece of night crawler but I'll also tip them with a meal worm or any of the other baits I mentioned. I often like to add a small amount of powerbait to the jigs for scent.



These are some of my favorite tube jigs. Most of them glow in the dark. I find glow in the dark jigs can make a significant difference some days. I will tip these tube jigs with the same bait as the jigs I tie. I almost always use the jig heads that can be inserted inside the tube. I believe the smaller profile of the jig with an internal jig head can make a big difference some days.



When fishing in deeper water I like to attach my smaller jigs to a Jigging Rapala or Swedish Pimple. The extra weight helps me get it down there much faster which can save me a lot of time. I'm sure the Rapala/Swedish Pimple helps attract a few extra fish but the fish almost always take the small jig a few inches below the larger lure. The extra weight makes it a little more difficult to detect light bites. I will also loose some fish because the jigging rapala gets caught on the edge of the hole and allows the line to go loose. I pinch down my barbs 95% of the time so a loose line often results in a lost fish.


I will normally try to fish with 5 poles as long as the regulations at the lake don’t prohibit it. Some days the fish don’t cooperate and make it pointless to attempt to fish with more than 2 or 3 rods.[crazy] All 5 of my poles are typically “dead sticks” when I ice fish. Some days it does help to jig though. When jigging I will either shake the rod a little and then hold it still. I’ll also move the jig 3-4 feet up from the bottom and then let it slowly fall back down. If the line goes loose before the jig should be on the bottom I will set the hook.


Now it is your turn share some of your favorite jigs and lures for ice fishing. It would be great if most of you would respond and add some great information on this thread. Do you have a favorite jig for perch, kokanee, smaller planted rainbows, larger trout, etc?
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I'll post pictures of these later but I LOVE the gulp series of plastics. There is something to use for every situation.
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I fish with Swedish Pimples and very small ice flies. I like the smaller swedish pimples when fishing for gills and crappie, and the 1/8 or 1/4 oz jobbers for perch and trout. I use Genz Worms for my ice flies, and some little teardrops I bought at Sportsman's a few years ago. I have one that's the "lucky lure" that has all the paint worn off it.
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Brian,

Excellent post. Thanks for the tips.

My standard setup is very much like yours except I use Kastmasters instead of Rapalas or Swedish Pimples. I remove the treble hooks and tie 4" leader below to my small jig which is one of the ones in your picture. For perch, I often switch from mealworm halves to perch meat and cut a strip about 1/8" by 1/4" and am sure to hook it through the hide so that it stays on. I enhance scent with smelly jelly and typically don't worry about glow in the dark(although the pro guide smelly has glitter). I think the perch meat is important in cold weather when you can't afford to take your gloves off to put on more bait and can't monitor all your poles. Perch will find a way to pick your other outfits clean when your back is turned.

Obviously I could improve by using some of your tricks but usually I do well enough to keep busy anyway. I fish the bottom for perch and usually do better about halfway down for kokes and trout. For the latter, I often use pieces of nightcrawler but use half a mealworm for perch and the like. I have noticed waxworms as the best bait but they are too expensive and hard to keep compared with mealworms.

Sometimes for trout, I will launch a "free worm" where I send a tail hooked nightcrawler down whole with no weight or jig - just on a hook with enough line to let him swim around freely. With this setup, I will have it on a long pole with a berm to save the pole because big fish will sometimes take it fast and test your drag.

FR
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I tie a lot of my own jigs that look like BrianID's. I use them for all kinds of fish trout, perch, Kokes. I am a big fan of light line the reason is I jig with one of my poles while I dead stick the other four. If nothing is happening then I move every ten minutes or so to the other poles. The reason the light line is important is because I like to swim my jigs or flutter them to into the fish zone. small jigs drift down best when attached to light line.

I am also a big fan of the colored Swedish Pimples. Pink, White, Chartruese. The perch love the chartrues ones and the kokes love the pink and white. The smallest size will flutter like a wounded bait fish on 4lb test. Go ahead a tease me forever_fishing for all the fish that I break off but I feal the increase in strikes is worth it.[]

My go to jig for trout is the paddle bug. They only cost 1.89 at Walmart for a package of five and they have some awesome action. They come in about five colors and the colors change slightly from year to year. So if you find a hot color buy a lot of them because they may not be back the next year. They also come in three different weights the lightest one will not have the intended action unless you go with light line.

I do not have a digital camera right now so I do not have any pictures but Swedish Pimples and Paddle Bugs are not hard to find at the fishing stores. I buy a ton of the Swedish Pimples at the beginning of the year because the good colors seem to go fast.

Windriver
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My favorite setup is a swidish pimple or kastmaster with a small jig 4-6 inches down. I like the jigs with eyes painted on and sparkle in the body, like what you tie Brian and a worm, this is for trout.
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1-1/2" Cut'r Bugs, Gizzy Bugs and tubes.
James
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