It’s time to break out that portable ice shack

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2004 (7658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WITH a little bit of snow and some good ice, thanks to the colder weather, it’s time to break out the portable ice shack and be ready for some incredible fishing moments on your favourite trout lake.

Get out early in the morning, an hour before daybreak, drill some holes in the ice where the waters is two-to-four metres deep — off of a point, island or weed edge is a good spot — and be on the watch.

You will be amazed what you will see in the underwater world that unfolds before you. You’ll will see fish come to your baits, how they react and what works and what doesn’t. This is especially true on lakes that have very clear water.

There’s nothing like watching a big rainbow or brown trout coming to the bait. Will he take it or won’t he? When to set the hook, if he does? These questions will come to mind with a heart-pounding rush of excitement. Anglers don’t always make the right decision, or catch the fish, but it certainly keeps your attention.

By looking down the ice hole you — using an underwater camera is even better — will continue to learn about fish behaviour.

Many times, fish have come to my lure, only to quickly disappear. That’s when a good pencil float comes in handy. Suspend a small bait just off the bottom with the pencil float and split shot and wait for the light bites.

When properly weighted, so half the float is visible, you will see movement as the fish take the bait and move up with it. Smaller fish will drop the bait if you slowly lift your rod tip. If you feel good weight, its time to set the hook.

On an ice fishing trip to Bower Lake in the Turtle Mountains, we rigged such a setup. I suspended a shiner minnow from a float half way down the water column. Bower is not a large lake, but the fish it produces certainly are. I have seen some up to 76 centimetre.

Earlier that morning we made a wager on which team would land the most fish — two anglers to a team. Our team made the most of the bites we had. On the other team, one member kept breaking off and losing big, fighting rainbows.

The Bower Lake aeration system allows the fish to survive the winter and grow to trophy size. We landed 10 that day, including two Master Angler fish (50 centimetres or more). Another four big fish got away.

One bite came as I was bending to clean the ice hole yet again. My bobber jerked down and I grabbed the rod out of its holder, leaning back to set the hook. As the rod bent, this fish didn’t budge. I backed off the drag. After a couple of massive head shakes and a power run, my four-pound test line nicked on something below the hole and this one was just another story about the one that got away.

When going for rainbows and browns of that size, use a strong line. Six pound clear monofilament, or a fluorocarbon like Berkley Vanish is probably the minimum.

Make sure that you also have a good reel — one that will let the fish run on a smooth drag. Outside on a cold day, a pencil float won’t work — it will freeze into the ice. Inside a warm shack, you can let out a foot or two of slack line, so when a fish takes the pencil float, there is no resistance and it can move away with the bait.

This happened last year at Tokaruk Lake, south of Riding Mountain. We had 10 fish on that day, but landed none, just for that reason. While they wouldn’t hit a moving bait, our stationary baits were offering just enough resistance that the rainbows and browns would spit the hook. Sharp hooks are extremely important at any time, but with stocked trout it’s a must.

Anglers have their own theories on what bait to use for rainbows and browns. Variety is always good . On Tokaruk, pink Power Bait has been good. Bait that imitates freshwater shrimp has also been hot.

A friend likes using a very small jig rigged with an orange Power Grub — with the tail torn off to imitate a freshwater shrimp. Fish eggs also work at times, as do mealworms, nightcrawlers, raw shrimp, maggots and dead minnows.

On a trip to Bear Lake in the Whiteshell, we used some frozen salted shiners left over from walleye fishing a day earlier. Using them, we caught and released about 30 nice rainbows, almost all caught on salted shiner hooked through the dorsal fin under a small jig.

I use one rod to jig, tying on a light flutter spoon like a #20 Williams Wabler rigged with a trailer hook and bait. The rainbows are attracted to the flash and grab the bait.

Rainbows are very sensitive to oxygen levels , so when you are looking for fish, especially mid-winter, check out green weed edges, like the spot we found in Tokaruk, or underground springs and inflows, as long as ice conditions are safe.

The best time to ice fish for rainbow trout in Manitoba is now, before ice thickness depletes oxygen levels to a point you think your on the Dead Sea.

For stocking information on different lakes check out the Manitoba Conservation website at www.gov.mb.ca/natres/fish/index.

dlamont@mts.net