Wiper Through the Ice @ Willard?

[Fin-S-Fish]

Wiper do bite through the ice, but it's tough to pattern. Haven't caught them for at least 7 years now on ice. That draining and repair ruined the marina pattern. Those wipers changed their habits. But never once did I get one of those slam energy filled hit you guys are describing. It was more like perch nibbles but once I set the hook on the nibbles ALL HELL broke loose. I had good 12lb trilene on and it felt like every minute of the fight that the line would snap. Very few times do I have to stick the rod halfway into the hole because the drag is a bit too tight and I feel like I'm maxing the line strength. With these wiper I had to plunge almost the entire 5ft ul ugly stick into the ice hole for several of times into the hole before it wore out. The drag froze because it was too cold. Don't use your ice rods for sure, I hate short little ice rods anyhow, but yeah it will have no flexibility enough to handle the fight. After I patterned them those years I would ice up to 3 -5 per trip. Once I iced what at that point was my best wiper at 21 1/4 inches. Never fast action on ice wipers. Takes a bit of drilling and jigging. Of course I felt no need to hot spot at that point in time haha.
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