fish mostly daytime hours. dont forget the upper water column.sometimes just below the hole. so keep noise down . good luck trout are a blast.
In MN, I find a lot of the rainbows in the upper half of the water column. Sometimes right below the ice.
In Colorado typically we look for edges, particullarly weed edges. The trout will cruise along the edges and bites will often come in flurries as several fish move through the area. My go to lures were tungsten jigs tipped with waxies or krill from petsmart. Many anglers use tube jigs tipped with the same bait. Also helps to have some kastmasters and other spoons of varying cycle time as options. I caught most of my fish right near the bottom but they can be anywhere in the water column. Usually fished between 7 and 20 ft of water. Some days they will go for actively jigged lures other days they prefer dead sticks.
try using lots of flashy lures (like slender spoons) about 3-4 feet below the ice.
I’ve done OK for rainbows through the ice extremely shallow, like four feet of water next to a steep drop-off. Of course these shallow fish are cruising around and they get spooky up shallow, so I’ve done well with a crappie minnow on a tip up or a little float and an open bail so you can stay away from the hole. Cover it up to keep the light down. A couple feet under the ice is good out deeper as well; these fish are next-to-impossible to see on a flasher, so you need to pretend it’s the old days.
I have done really well in shallow water 10ft or less with standing timber. I would set my house right next to the tree. I would sit and just sight fish, keeping my lure in the upper half of the water column. I would drill 3 holes in a mickey mouse shape to be able to see easier. I do not recommend this if there are alot of little kids around but if you are in a more remote area. (I also would mark my holes before leaving). Normal baits consisted of kastmasters and swedish pimples, tipped with either a salted crappie minnow or wax worms. If lethargic drop down to a small jig for panfish. If fishing over deeper water say 20-60 ft, I still would stay only about 5-7 ft below the ice. It took me awhile to figure out how to fish bows aswell.
I fish shallow in early ice then go deeper as the season go on. Also a flash type of bait work best for me, kastmaster etc etc. Good luck
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