New To Ice Fishing

[Peter SL]

Good Day All,

I am looking at getting into ice fishing this season however I have no idea as to what equipment I would be requiring or what would be recommended to have. I am looking at fishing a near by stock pond for trout.

If anyone has some comments, suggestions or tips to start me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,

Peter

[BeeGuy]

Is it a private or public pond?

[Peter SL]

Hello BeeGuy,

It's a public pond.

[Flieguy]

your timing isn't great, another "new guy" asking beginner questions recently turned out to be a notorious troll....

anyhoo, I'll start you in the right direction:

Auger- you'll probably want a 6" hand auger for a beginner trout fisherman. Telescopic handle helps a lot if you're short like me.

You'll also want a scoop for the ice chunks, tackle stores have them for like <$5

As for rods, you don't need to go super fancy for stocked trout. Whatever you're comfortable with. you can use your summer rod, but I can be a bit of a pain. You can also get some fairly cheap ice rods that work ok, or you can even use a stick with some line. All up to you. Bear in mind you're allowed 2 holes per licensed angler.

Standard tackle for stocked trout is 6lb line and small jigs or jigging spoons with power bait, shrimp, cheese, corn, worms, etc....

here's my favorite:

[Peter SL]

Hello Flieguy,

Thanks for the advise, it is greatly appreciated. Be giving it a try a bunch over this winter, hopefully all thorns out well.

[Gust]

Hello BeeGuy,

It's a public pond.

By pond you mean small lake or a literal pond? I'd be more than glad to give you tips and a few spots at a lake.

[Brandonkop]

Bear in mind you're allowed 2 holes per licensed angler.



I think flieguy meant two lines per license. I drill a hundred holes somedays... Those usually aren't the best fishing days. If you have money to spend I highly recommend a flasher sonar, marcum or vexilar, humminbird they all work from what I read. Fish real close to shore in two to three feet of water in early season for trout if not there go deeper.

[BeeGuy]

Go to WSS.

Get 2 ice rods around 30" long. light action.

Get 2 rod lockers.

Put your summer reels on your new ice rods.

Go fishing.

[Peter SL]

Thanks Brandonkop for the clarification.

[Peter SL]

Thanks BeeGuy next step shopping.

[French_Mike]

Thanks for posting this thread, as I'm just getting into ice fishing this year myself. Went out a couple times for some Pike near home and loved it last year. There is a stocked lake for trout near home (about 12 mies away) that i'd love to spend a few hours on. I have the gear, but someone mentioned a bunch of bait for trout. What do rainbows tend to prefer for bait? Should a guy be jigging right off the bottom? Thanks for the advice guys.
And sorry, not looking to hijack the thread, looking to continue with the advice.

[Gslice]

Thanks for posting this thread, as I'm just getting into ice fishing this year myself. Went out a couple times for some Pike near home and loved it last year. There is a stocked lake for trout near home (about 12 mies away) that i'd love to spend a few hours on. I have the gear, but someone mentioned a bunch of bait for trout. What do rainbows tend to prefer for bait? Should a guy be jigging right off the bottom? Thanks for the advice guys.
And sorry, not looking to hijack the thread, looking to continue with the advice.

Refer to post 4, last sentence.

At least for the stocked rainbows I've gone to, pieces of shrimp the size of your thumbnail works great.

[Gust]

This thread should be spliced in with French mikes IMO

This is a copy/paste from French Mikes Thread,, just info for the newbs;

basically when looking at Google satellite you can see the structure (unless it was obscured by clouds that day), but you can see obvious lines and get a good idea of depth,, look up the lake and see if there is a bathy chart, if not, just find its max depth and the deduce what you're looking at.

There is also this thing with new icers to go way out in the middle of the lake,, some species are deeper like Lake Trout but most other fish know that there fodder is quite close to shore and shallow. The best piking is right now till X-mass and I won't be fishing in more than 9' till then,, mostly 5' and less.

For the newbs,, if alone on the ice or if space allows, keep your two holes at the maximum distance allowed (someone will have to look it up, I think it's 50meters),, so if you think you are on a peninsula/point structure, drill one hole 15' from shore and your next hole 60 feet from shore in line with the point. Drill some holes between and every so often, we'll say 20 minutes, move your furthest line towards you.

Always jig one hole and have the other stationary,, fish are curious, and either the flash of a Williams spoon or the incessant bonking of your brass bell on the bottom will bring them thru.

[OneGirlWolfPack]

Glad you made this thread, Peter. I'm looking to learn how to icefish this year too and appreciate the advice in here. :)

[DiabeticKripple]

any newbies can pm me and id be glad to help with gear/tackle/technique related topics.

[Red Bullets]

Just a comment... Flieguy suggested a 6 inch auger. You would be better off buying an 8 " auger. The reason I suggest this is that if you should choose to go to a lake that has bigger fish, alot of times a 6 inch hole won't work. Nothing worse than not being able to get a fish out because the hole is too small.
I have caught big whitefish and pike that a person wouldn't get out of a 6 inch hole.

I personally use an ice chisel instead of an auger. The reason I like a chisel is that it doesn'r get dull or break down. Doesn't need fuel. Can make a hole any size. I can go through each foot of ice in 3 or 4 minutes. Haven't had to sharpen the chisel in 5 years. It is no more effort than a manual auger to use. The chisel weighs ten pounds so the weight works to the chisels advantage. This is the chisel I have. Made from a planer blade.

http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r637/snapclickflash/auger005_zps5720c914.jpg

http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r637/snapclickflash/auger003_zpsfc14c337.jpg

[fish gunner]

If your not on fish after 30-40 min move .one can drill every move or pre drill a few spots amd move from area to area .I fished a derby last yr that folks said the fish were not active during . I had a spot and watched fish crush lures all day with out pause. You have to find fish its key.

[drifter]

I'm always willing to take people out. And if I don't have a full day I usually head to lake Bonavista for a few hours to exercise the trout.

[freeride]

A 6" auger vs a 8" makes a big difference when having to drill a lot of holes by hand. Just keep that in mind too... Although when i am getting cold i will drill a few holes just to warm up!

[chop]

hay guys i'm new to this as well , what jigs do you use for trout in the small lakes . size ,colour ect.

[The Fisherman Guy]

A 6in auger will work fine, you may need to drill "double holes" if you are after bigger fish like pike. Just drill one hole, the overlap the second hole beside it.

I would also buy a tip up. Difficult to explain, but any fishing store personnel will guide you in the right direction. They are mainly used for pike, but I have caught rainbows, burbot, and walleye on tipups. There isn't anything more exciting than running for a flag! -buy one and you'll know!

A good rod holder is also a smart purchase; one that will not let your rod get pulled down the hole! It happens to the best of us, but it sure sucks to add waste to the lake and lose gear.

As for bait, I would use dew worms on silver Swedish pimples. Jig it aggressively just off bottoms for most trout species.

If it's within your budget, an underwater ice cam is a great way to see how fish react to jigging, still (dead stick) baits, or just to find structure or the edge of a weed bed. It will set you back some cash, but used ones come up in the buy and sell all the time.

Try off of points, and near structure. Most fish are structure oriented, so stumps and boulders on bottom will normally have fish kicking around.

Good luck, and be careful on the ice. Heed local warnings, and remember: clear or dark ice is good. Cloudy or multi layered ice is weak.

[Fishy]

A 6" auger vs a 8" makes a big difference when having to drill a lot of holes by hand. Just keep that in mind too... Although when i am getting cold i will drill a few holes just to warm up!

x2!

[honu]

Any tips for safety, especially with kids?

[Team Anzac]

Any tips for safety, especially with kids?

Just about every child including my son wants to test the water with their boot, more often than not they end up with one soaker. So I guess what I'm saying is keep the pickup close by and running.:)

[Gust]

Any tips for safety, especially with kids?

kids are curious, so one minute they are beside you, the next they're playing slide on a pressure ridge. And even if you don't go through an old hole, it hurts like hell to have your leg go through one. Be careful for double tapped holes, they're big enough for a kid to go through.