Ice fishing for trout [Archive] - Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum

codywf

11-15-2011, 09:44 AM

Although I fish for them in the summer by flyfishing. I have no clue what to use in winter.

What depth to fish and where in the water column.

How long into winter is the bite on.

So tips would be great.

Thanks guys

Kokanee9

11-15-2011, 12:39 PM

The depth to fish at, depends on the lake you are fishing. If you are on a pothole that is 20 ft deep, try starting at 18ft and move upward from there. If you have 2 lines through the ice, try each at different depths of maybe 2 ft increments. Change the depths of each after 20 minutes or so. 2ft off the bottom will help suckers stay off the line. Fish eat all year around so not really a concern on how long the bite is on into the winter.

slivers86

11-15-2011, 01:26 PM

For ponds, I caught some brookies on pink/yellow powerbait dough yesterday :) Never fished a lake, yesterday was my solo-first time out!

npauls

11-15-2011, 03:46 PM

If you can afford to buy a flasher I would invest in one if you are going to ice fish quite a bit.

Last year when I went fishing for trout at a derby there was a bunch of us fishing in this area and the only one that was consistently getting fish was the guy using the flasher. I have since noticed that trout roam all over the water column and the flasher will allow you to see this and reel up to where they are at, at that time.

codywf

11-15-2011, 05:32 PM

Ya I've got all the toys, marcum 825sd and showdown. Just have not got out for trout that much.

Do you guy jig the hook much or leave it still?

Dust1n

11-15-2011, 05:41 PM

Generally pothole trout(rainbows) like to stay in the top of the water column where the oxygen is the greatest. or green weeds if you are fortunate to find some in winter.

im back :)

Gust

11-15-2011, 05:46 PM

Generally pothole trout(rainbows) like to stay in the top of the water column where the oxygen is the greatest. or green weeds if you are fortunate to find some in winter.

im back :)

not to derail the thread but did you go mildly batty not being on AO or did you just fish more?

Dust1n

11-15-2011, 06:01 PM

not to derail the thread but did you go mildly batty not being on AO or did you just fish more?

nope i put some data together to start keeping track of information for the next season, etc also researched a bunch of jay jones's honey holes and some of them are quite obvious if you put a decent amount of effort into doing some research.

WayneChristie

11-15-2011, 06:04 PM

not to derail the thread but did you go mildly batty not being on AO or did you just fish more?

I think he was a wee bit batty before he got tossed, arent all of us fisherpeople?:bad_boys_20: welcome back to the forum FH7

nicemustang

11-15-2011, 08:43 PM

npauls

11-15-2011, 08:49 PM

Specify trout please, there are a few different species and fishing is different for them all. Rainbows you should fish near the bottom. Brookies anywhere in column but lake dependant. Lakers 80-100 feet but should be fished throughout whole column.

I should have specified that the derby was rainbows that we were fishing. Since that time I have caught more bows in the middle to higher water column then near the bottom.

Daceminnow

11-15-2011, 09:26 PM

all of my biggest rainbows taken through the ice have been in shallow water in low light with a naturally presented minnow or a good bait fish imitation. lakers and bulls like white jigged aggressively and brookies aren't very fussy. eat as many brookies as you can.

Dace

npauls

11-15-2011, 09:34 PM

eat as many brookies as you can.

Dace

Except those big bad boys at nich sheran. They are fun to catch all year but if they are fished out you have to wait awhile for the stocking truck to show up again. :thinking-006:

Daceminnow

11-15-2011, 10:03 PM

Except those big bad boys at nich sheran. They are fun to catch all year but if they are fished out you have to wait awhile for the stocking truck to show up again. :thinking-006:

don't worry nate your pets are safe. we all know gprime is the only guy that knows how to ice em out of there.

Dace

Kokanee9

11-16-2011, 01:37 AM

Do you guy jig the hook much or leave it still?

For the pothole rainbow, I just left it sitting still. If I wanted slight movement, I would tie a piece of trail marker tape to the line above the water and let the wind slightly move the hook. Lots of wind - small piece of marker, less wind - longer piece.

Kokanee9

11-16-2011, 01:39 AM

im back :)

Welcome back! Good to see that you made it back here.

Eddy62

11-16-2011, 05:29 PM

Generally pothole trout(rainbows) like to stay in the top of the water column where the oxygen is the greatest. or green weeds if you are fortunate to find some in winter.

im back :)welcome back fh7....:)

trapshooter

11-16-2011, 06:05 PM

Small jig, with peice of dew work will work you magic!

Commander B

11-17-2011, 05:33 PM

Dont put away your beadhead backswimmers quite yet. Quite good for early ice.

B.

Jwood 456

11-20-2011, 07:50 PM

I have done good using orange backswimmers, and small perch pattern fiskas jigs tipped with a worm or maggots. When it comes to the water column. I have caught them anywhere from 3ft under the ice to 4'' off of the bottom. At lakes like Carson though, I will usually catch them from 0.5 to 2ft off of the bottom.