01-26-2017, 07:18 PM
[quote torowy]What if I don't have a dip net, could I catch cisco under a bobber or something?
What do people catch them on through the ice?[/quote]
[#0000FF]When they are schooled up in in the passion of spawning they strike a lot of things...more out of curiosity or anger than hunger I suppose. I know folks who score well on them with small jigs, flies or spinners...while they swarm in the shallows. Even heard tell of catching them with fly flinging gear and bright little flies. But it is usually so cold that ice in the guides could be a problem.
My best fishing through the ice came over the rock pile one year...in about 50 feet of water. I was jigging a 3/8 oz. lead casting spoon...white with red spots...one spot or 5-spot (see pics). I think the key was the red treble hook. They mobbed it. And I caught ciscos, Bear Lake whitefish, a couple of larger Bonneville whitefish and a couple of nice cutts...all on the white with red spots and a treble hook.
Some of the other folks who use the various lures I make report that sometimes color does not seem to make much difference. If you get your offerings in amongst the crazed little critters you can easily snag them...and it is legal. But when I was dunking those white/red jigs...with the red treble...I did not even have to "jig" them. I could prop my rod on a holder and just watch the rod tip vibrating as the little rascals assaulted my lure. And every once in a while it would pull down and I would reel up a suicidal cisco that had put a lip lock on the red hook.
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What do people catch them on through the ice?[/quote]
[#0000FF]When they are schooled up in in the passion of spawning they strike a lot of things...more out of curiosity or anger than hunger I suppose. I know folks who score well on them with small jigs, flies or spinners...while they swarm in the shallows. Even heard tell of catching them with fly flinging gear and bright little flies. But it is usually so cold that ice in the guides could be a problem.
My best fishing through the ice came over the rock pile one year...in about 50 feet of water. I was jigging a 3/8 oz. lead casting spoon...white with red spots...one spot or 5-spot (see pics). I think the key was the red treble hook. They mobbed it. And I caught ciscos, Bear Lake whitefish, a couple of larger Bonneville whitefish and a couple of nice cutts...all on the white with red spots and a treble hook.
Some of the other folks who use the various lures I make report that sometimes color does not seem to make much difference. If you get your offerings in amongst the crazed little critters you can easily snag them...and it is legal. But when I was dunking those white/red jigs...with the red treble...I did not even have to "jig" them. I could prop my rod on a holder and just watch the rod tip vibrating as the little rascals assaulted my lure. And every once in a while it would pull down and I would reel up a suicidal cisco that had put a lip lock on the red hook.
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