Hey fellow fishers,
What colors of attractors are best for rainbows under the ice? I know this probably changes with light conditions and snow pack. My main curiosity is should I use silver, gold, copper, or something multi-colored(red/green ect)?
Thanks,
Justin
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You're probably going to get replies for everything. I just caught 4 decent rainbows with a perch colored ice jig tipped with worm at Stieneker, but had no luck for rainbows at Big Sandwash, or Starvation with the same exact set up. Every lake will be different day to day and weather to weather.
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My favorite color for rainbows is pink. I've found that the cuts don't really like the pink as much as the rainbows do. Especially at the berry. Goodluck out there!! Hope this helps a bit.
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Thanks guys....so I'm really curious when to use silver or copper?
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[#0000FF]By "attractor" I am assuming you mean some kind of flashy and/or colorful spoon or similar...tied on your ice fishing setup...either above or below your primary jig.
Many anglers have found that attractors not only help bring in the fish from further away but also add weight to sink light jigs faster and helps straighten out the coils in your line so that you can detect light bites better.
I make and paint most of my own jigs and attractors. I have experimented a lot. Almost any color will work on any given day. But my personal opinion is that it is hard to beat a plain old nickle finish Kastmaster...or similar...in 1/8, 1/4 or 3/8 oz. The nickel is visible further than brass in the clear water under the ice. And that seems to be preferred by rainbows. However, browns and char species can show a preference for the gold or brass.
All of that is subject to varying conditions of snow cover, water clarity, light intensity, depth, etc.
Also very subjective. Everybody has their own opinions.
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Thanks TD......I have all these copper and various other colors in my boxes, but always resort to silver for some reason.
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[#0000FF]I have used just about every color imaginable over the years. I have probably every possible color of paints and glitters available and I have experimented with all of them. But somehow plain silver usually seems to work about the best.
The last couple of years I have been making some attractors with beads, rattles and little airplane spinner blades. Some I add hooks to and make into lures. But mostly I put them on the end of my line and then add anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of leader. In the pics you will note that I also make them up with small swivels. That cuts down on line twist and tangling.
[inline "SILVER FLASHERS.jpg"]
[inline "RATTLE SPIN ATTRACTOR.jpg"]
[inline "RATTLE SPIN JIG.jpg"]
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Those look killer...love the propellers!!
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Thank you for this post. You all inspired me to take the hooks off and tie some castmasters inline above my ice jigs/flies. Love this site for the good ideas and things to try. Going out tomorrow with my boys to test them out. And TD those look really nice.
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[#0000ff]During the past couple of years I have been adding those little airplane propeller spinners to different lures...to add flash and vibration. They are especially effective on ice fishing lures. They spin both on the lift and the drop. Just a little wiggle of the rod up and down gets them whirling. Fish love them.
I got to thinking that if you have a bunch of metallic flasher lures in different colors that you would like to convert to silver...or add some other colors...you might consider getting some prism tape to stick on them. I have been "doctoring" jigging spoons for many years with that stuff. Easy to cut out the basic shape with small scissors and then trim around the edges with an Exacto knife or razor blade.
Here are some pics. The first one is some scale prism tape applied over a nickle finish Kastmaster. The second is a group of "Perch Urchins". I started making them from gold Kastmasters but evolved into hammering torpedo shaped sinkers and then either painting or prism taping them. And I made some without hooks to use as drop shot weights or attractors.
[inline "PRISM TAPE KASTMASTER.jpg"]
[inline "PERCH URCHINS.jpg"]
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