Brook Trout Ice Fishing Advice

[turtle]

I am on a bay of a larger lake trout lake where the MNR did some PGT brook trout stocking. I fish the lake trout once the main lake freezes but havent tried fishing for brookies. The bay is at most 50 ft with a good part less than 20 ft. A couple small creeks run into it. Lots of wood on the bottom.

I am thinking fishing closer to shore and the wood, maybe in the creek mouths (providing safe ice) and using small spoons and jigs. Because of the hike into the cottage a pail of minnows is not an option.

 

Any advice on bait (would salties work) or how to fish the stocked brookies.

[Spiel]

....Small spoons have worked well for me on winter specks, especially the Williams midget.

Yes I'd say move shallower, I've taken specks in as little as 18"s of water and wood is a good location anytime. Incoming springs or creeks are another definite zone to be in, just use extreme caution.

[danc]

Like Spiel said, your choice of locations seems good. I'd have at least one set line with live bait. If minnows are too difficult to transport, bring some worms. I've caught my share of Brookies through the ice using either minnows or worms. Also I've found that Brook Trout are very spooky when fishing them over the ice. I can't count how many times that I've ran over to a set line when a bite was occurring, only to discover that the fish was not there when I got to the hole. So, no playing football while waiting for a bite!!

[walleyejigger]

i agree with dan, shallow shallow shallow, and with only a foot or so of water bellow you, quiet quiet quiet, try not to move around to much, bank snow around your hole and try and hover over it if you can to minimize light coming in, i often times lay on my belly and look down the hole, with the shallow water you can see the fish

 

i mostly use minnows, but if you can't haul those in i've had some success with artificial maggots in a jar from berkley, real ones would probably be better but, ewwwwww, just cause one day you didn't get a bite doesn't mean the next you won't limit out in an hour, very tempermental fish

[specktacklure]

Had some great success with jigging spoons as well .I have the same issue as far as minnows go because of restrictions so we have tried the berkley power worms(brown) and have had some great success.they are about 6 -8 inches long but i break them in half and use on a jigging spoon or 1/8 jig head .Quiet is definitely a must as well.

[turtle]

Thanks for the info.

[troutologist]

Ive had pretty good luck carrying minnows in those coleman insulated water jugs like 2L. not too heavy for long walks.

[fishindevil]

well when we fish for splake and brookies we start shallow around the same structure that you already said on this nice little lake we fish there is a stream flowing into a few fallen trees and we catch the most fish in about 3 feet of water right in the logs and sticks and small weeds as the day goes on we will move deeper every hour till we can find them again but dont be afaraid to start in very shallow water as little as ift....cheers and good luck

[jason27fish]

small spoons or small micro jigs

[PatB]

I agree with Fishndevil, start shallow, where I fish for specks live bait is not allowed except for worms, I set up a rod with a worm then a few feet deeper I use a small ice jig (Bad Dog ice jig) works well for me.

[Dabluz]

Brook trout fishing through the ice is my specialty because where I live, the lakes are frozen until mid june and close to 95% of the waters in my area only have brook trout.

 

First, use the thinnest mono you can handle. I alway use 2 to 4 lb test mono. The best so far has been 3 lb test Tectan Premium. With 2 and 3 lb test mono, I use only a very small high quality eyeless no 10 VMC hook and expose the hook point for a good hookset. Nothing else on the line. I use the front half of a nightcrawler. The rest of the night crawler....I cut into small peices and throw them in the hole.

 

If there are minnows in the lake, I often use a small "flutter spoon" like a Sutton 44 and I slowly jig the spoon using 4 lb test mono. The baited hook is on about an 18 to 24 inch 3 lb test leader below the spoon. Don't jig it to vigorously because you will get a tangle. Put a tiny split shot about 4 or 6 inches above the baited hook.

 

As for fishing depth.....that is a good question. In some of the lakes I fish, there are smelt in the lake. The trout are almost always at 40 to 60 feet deep. However, they do come into very shallow water under the ice too. Sometimes there is only about 12 inches of water under the ice. However, start out close to shore early in the morning and cut a series of holes going out into deeper water. It is safe to say that anywhere from 10 to 15 of water is an average depth for most situations. There is very little food for trout in water over 20 feet deep except when there are smelt.

 

Noise turns the fish off. Do not cast your shadow over the open hole.

 

Fish near the mouths of creeks and rivers. Never hesitate to cut some holes close to large rock faces exposed to the sun. Rocks heat up and conduct the heat into the water and the insect life is more active.

 

Fishing around rocky islands close to deep water is also very good.

 

If you want to use a sonar. Turn it off....it scares brook trout. You don't need it when you are fishing anyway unless you like to look at a straight line on your screen all day.

 

Chum the hole with bits of worm every now and then. Change your bait every 30 minutes. A fresh worm does wonders. Change your bait after every bite or fish. Move your bait to attract fish from further away.

 

Cut as many holes as you can and move from one hole to another. Usually, trout will bite almost immediately.

 

Use a very fast action rod. Soft rods do not set the hook well enough. Brook trout have a hard mouth. Brook trout are often quite small and what happens is that with a soft rod, the trout's small initial inertia makes them harder to hook.....it's easier to hook a sunken log that a floating leaf.

 

If you are allowed to use more than one rod, you can use tip ups but one handheld rod will outfish 5 tip ups anyday.

 

There have been some other good suggestions stated in the previous responses so it's good to experiment with lots of different techniques. Have a good selection of lures, hooks, weights, line on hand.