Hey guys, I am in an ice fishing league with a group of friends and this Saturday we are going out and the target species is northern. I have never had that much luck with northern, I am more of a walleye guy, I have tried live bait on tip ups but haven’t even had much luck with that. What are your best tips for getting them on the ice?
Thanks Ed! I’ll give it a try,how big or what size bait should I use? Big ones hooked on a quick strike rig? I’ll only post pictures if they are worthy!
I would go with 3 – 4″ shiners, have had good success with them. The quick strike rigs work well, but I believe you will get more strikes if you use a heavier fluorocarbon leader. I used a 12# leader on Friday afternoon, landed six pike and only had one bigger fish bite the line off.
If you want to use the quick strike rig, I would suggest making your own using 10# stranded wire leader material, available at Fleet Farm. The wire is very thin and not as visible has the heavier material on the purchased ones. The wire will get kinked after a few fish, so make several.
Another option if legal is using smaller fish that you catch in the lake. Nothing beats natural forage. I have had best luck running a single treble hook through the back of 4″ Blue Gills.
A few things I do for pike. When fishing shallow water 8 feet or less I suspend the bait from the tipup just 2 feet below the ice 9 to 11 fow merits 3-4 feet below the ice, 12 feet and deeper and I set the minnow 1-2 feet off the bottom. I look for weedy areas and post up outside or above weeds, mouth openings to bays and other structure like points, steady drops, stream entrances, and sunken timber. I use a few feet of 17# Fluorocarbon for my leader and check for nicks after each fish, cut off above the nicks and re-tie if you find any. I’ve never been bit off doing this! Good luck, let us know how it goes!
I can’t keep them off my panfish jigs! Lol
image3.jpg
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
