At Pigeon lake in the early 1960's at places like Mission Beach or Fisher Home The ice anglers would congregate on the ice over 5 or 6 feet of sandy bottom. 2 to 300 or more people would be fishing each a few feet apart and most would be jigging silver or gold minnow shaped russian hooks an inch long.(just like the spotted ones in the pic but plain shiny silver or gold) And probably unknowingly, logic suggests everyone fishing together like that with the same minnow shaped hooks most likely made all these little russian hooks look like a big school of minnows to the whitefish. Very few anglers sat in tents and all just hand jigged and alot of the times many folks would catch several or even limit out on whites pretty quick.
I know that Pigeon lake has changed but there are still big schools of whites. Might be a strategy, fish together in numbers using the same minnow hooks to sort of create an artifical school of minnows under the ice.
The first wireworms came around years later. Somehow I remember reading it was a fellow from Devon that invented or marketed the first copper or brass wire wrapped wireworm hooks back around the late 70's.
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This country was started by voyagers whose young lives were swept away by the currents of the rivers for ten cents a day... just for the vanity of the European's beaver hats. ~ Red Bullets
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It is when you walk alone in nature that you discover your strengths and weaknesses. ~ Red Bullets
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