Flies under the ice

[drhu22]

Does anyone have some effective ways to fish flies under the ice they would share?

Thanks

[tacklerunner]

What species are you targeting?

[Isopod]

I've tried them occasionally for whites, but never any luck. You need a weight to get them down unless you want to wait several hours for them to sink naturally . I suspect fish aren't used to seeing flies until well into May or June in Alberta, so they don't pay them any attention under the ice. Be happy if someone would prove me wrong though...

[gprime27]

all the time. use one split shot and make sure you keep a natural sinking flow to the fly so it sinks natural and slowly

[Penner]

Bead headed nymphs, coronmids, egg sucking leeches, etc get down just as quickly as a wire worm if not quicker!

[Dust1n]

no they donget down just as fast because of the feathers on it and a wire worm is just wire on a jhook, but try adding a slipshot or downsizing your line

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by tacklerunner

What species are you targeting?

If you know of an effective way to present a fly for any species of fish under the ice i would be interested to learn more, but trout or perch mainly i guess.

[AlbertaAngler]

I will use them as a dropper when fishing a jig for grayling, perch or trout.

[gprime27]

I just use wolly buggers and get them wet.. they sink then pull them up and let them go down.. how do you think I caught all those brook trout this winter? No weights either

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by gprime27

I just use wolly buggers and get them wet.. they sink then pull them up and let them go down.. how do you think I caught all those brook trout this winter? No weights either

Thanks that is very interesting!
So you are raising it all the way from bottom to top, or just a certain distance?
Have you tried other patterns?

Sounds like it might be worth trying for perch or whitefish also.

[Mikediz]

used leech and shrimp flies 2 weeks ago for perch and out fished my hardware buddies 2 to 1. without split shot, get the flies wet and they sink reasonably well if you are fishing shallow water

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by Mikediz

used leech and shrimp flies 2 weeks ago for perch and out fished my hardware buddies 2 to 1. without split shot, get the flies wet and they sink reasonably well if you are fishing shallow water

Are you raising and lowering yours also, or what kind of action are you giving them?

[tacklerunner]

Originally Posted by drhu22

Are you raising and lowering yours also, or what kind of action are you giving them?

You can just let them sit and float naturally or raise them and let them fall naturally so if you are using a split shot, make it small and attach is a couple feet from the hook.

They key is just to make it look natural. Remember nymphs and terrestrials are bugs and can't just swim to the surface if they want. They move slow. May take some trial and error depending on the species and pattern.

[Dust1n]

whatever your imatating try and catch some this summer. watch them in your fish tank and mimic them.like you dont fish shrimp at the top of the water colom because there at the bottom...ectect

[gprime27]

Straight up and down .. just really slow.. let it free fall down simple

[drhu22]

Thank for the replies so far ill have to check those out

Has anyone fished chironimid patterns?
Also, i would like to figure out some ways of getting lateral movement for shrimp or minnow imitations.

[chubbdarter]

Marabou acts lifelike with very little movement.
on a breezy day a long stemmed float will give it a lifelike undulating action.
old timers have been using the technique for a long time.
If they want a more aggressive motion...prop up a fly rod and tie a rag on the tip to catch the wind.

[drhu22]

Hmmm...im thinking a marabou muddler might work with that trick

[chubbdarter]

Originally Posted by drhu22

Hmmm...im thinking a marabou muddler might work with that trick

the deer or elk hair will tend to float on a muddler

[drhu22]

lead wire fixes that though
what marabou patterns would you recommend?

[chubbdarter]

Originally Posted by drhu22

lead wire fixes that though
what marabou patterns would you recommend?

then its a matoka or sculpin.
ive always like a rabbit flash dubbed body with a marabou tail. mostly black or olive. coneheads and beadeyes sometimes. Molehair is nice if your casting and retrieving with a flyrod in open water. But in my opinion Molehair looks like a furball the cat hacked up if your jigging it thru the ice.
if the fish are aggresive the forward wgt. allows faster jigging...but if they want more life like the almost neutral bouyancy of a unwieghted fly swims like a leach.
I even tie some on jigheads...but small jigheads have short shanked hooks...okay if you tie small buggers, but on long ones the hook isnt back far enough for tail strikers.
Flies are great....but i must admit the berkley power leach is just as good in some cases.

[Dust1n]

a shrimp imatation wwould be shacking the rod tip at the bottom.stirring it up
i have fished cronomids but they dont work aswell as shrimp or nymphs i find.
the way to fish em is on a marmish rod slowly rising it up and slowly sinking it back down.