When Ice-fishing what are some of your preferred baits to tip your jigs with? I hear a lot of debate about using wax worms vs night crawlers, and was wondering if one works better than the other until you get your first perch, after which, you can use their eyes.
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I've tried lots of different baits and always come back to wax worms. They treat me best. Perch eyes are okay but they don't seem to be as good as I remembered them being. At least so far this year they have been slow for me. Next trip might be a new story. I think it's good to keep a mix with you in case that day is something different. Which happens but in general the waxies are my go to starting position. Later J
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I will usually go with waxies as first choice but frequently go with night crawlers. I will also go with perch eyes after you catch one but they frequently are no better that the first two baits mentioned but they are free. Just mix it up till you find whats working.
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I use a wax worm and redworms which are better than night crawlers for the smaller perch hooks I use.
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Waxies are my usual starter bait then go with the perch eyes because they stay on so much better (which is good when you have several kids with you) . I'll also cut a small section of perch meat with skin attached and that usually lasts all day.
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Ever since we have been able to fish with 2 rods simultaneously I have been experimenting with this topic. The baits I experimented with are wax worms (my long time go to), meal worms, nigh crawlers, and powerbait maggot thingys. I did not try the other baits that many people use just because they are not typical baits that I use. What I have found so far is that ice fishing is much easier to "match the hatch" than fly fishing [
]. I have found that if the fish are feeding and your are in the right location at the right depth, it really doesn't make that much difference which type of bait you have your jig tipped with. I do think the color/type of jig is much more influential on enticing the fish to bite than the bait, and I think location and depth are even more important that the lure. But as far as the bait goes, I was surprised and quite pleased to find that the powerbait maggots things did just as well as any of the live baits that I used. I just wish I would have figured this out prior to buying those cool insulated cups to keep my worms from freezing. But at least no more buying waxies and watching them turn black in my refrigerator at home.
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