Ice Brookies ?

[4x4bassin]

I am going to try my hand this weekend for some specks and I'm heading out in the next couple days to get some supplies .

I have a couple things to try but I thought I would ask here before heading out on what to use in the way of lures or your "go to bait/lures"

These speck reports that are being posted have got me chomping at the bit !!!

Thanks everyone

[jedimaster]

If you haven't been before might be good to grab a guide once and you can pick up some tips first hand. I know a guide that does spec, splake and lakers. I have found that tailhooking a minnow on a dead stick works best for me.

[Rod Caster]

Dace, shiners and chubs are my favorite spec baits in winter!

 

Any jigging spoon like a swedish pimple, jigging rap will work on aggressive fish. As would small white tubes. Minnows will outfish them all though... in my experience.

 

 

[Joeytier]

Light line, small baits and shallow water. And they love it when you tease them

[BassAsin]

comes down to personal preferance if you ask me, as for tail hooking i say not too but thats personal, dace i agree with as being a number one minnow type, i use 12 lb not light line it all depends on the fish that day.

 

be sure to do yourself a favout though and bring a couple tough garbage bags. one to cut open to lay down on and look down the hole and one to put over your head to block out sunlight. spend a bit of time looking down the hole. often specks will be around but wont be in a feeding mood.

 

try any depth between 2-8 fow in general. sometimes as deep as 15 but rarely, set your lines near down trees if possible, all teh paintings you see of those beauty specks in amongst the sticks isnt for nothing.

 

best of luck out there.

 

Matt.

[irishfield]

Smallest gold buckshot spoon in 6 feet of water and hang on!!

 

We gotta hit a back lake together Matt!

[BassAsin]

Smallest gold buckshot spoon in 6 feet of water and hang on!!

 

We gotta hit a back lake together Matt!

I have to agree on the back lakes Wayne, as for the gold not so much i always go with the silver hahah.

[BassAsin]

hey,

 

when you asked how i caught those fish the other day i lied, i don't use a size 2 hook i checked and they are super sharp, gamakatsu pink 1/0 octopus hooks in pink

 

do yourself a favour and try not to hook your minnows in the tail, trout are a predator fish and hit quite hard for the most part and take their prey head first (so fins slide down the throat better)

 

here's how i hook my minnows resulting in much more sucessful hooksets.

 

 

a pic of minnow and hook for size refererance.

 

step one, hold minnow firm but not enough to crush it,( i killed this one to make photography easier) lol

 

step two, slide hook through skin (not spine) from the back towards the belly.

 

in this photo you can see how the hook is off center missing the spine and catching just the skin.

 

step 3, turn your hook facing the head and slide the hook point (from belly up) through the skin on the opposite side of the spine from which your hook went into the minnow

 

here you can see that the hook shaft is only through the skin of the minnow causing it no fatal harm.

 

A final look at how your hook should look after going through the minnow. Note that the hook goes in on the minnows left side and comes out on the right, this makes the trout or your hookset have to break the minnows spine for it to come off the hook.

 

 

a minnow hooked liked this can actually be taken off at the end of the day and put back in the minnow bag to live another day.

 

and just a tip, if you miss a trout on a set line, and it did not take your minnow, dont worry about a new minnow, drop the dead minnow back down the hole they are often waiting for it to come back. they will hang around for you to drop it back in and give you a second chance.

 

Matt.

[ctdd2006]

I totally agree on dropping back down quick after a miss...almost all my best specks came dropping the half dead minnow back down or a fresh one down quick if I was stripped. I always try to chase a ringing bell on a set line with minnow bucket in hand...just in case!

 

ps. I love the chartreuse colored hooks like your pink ones....never tried or even seen pink though!?

[Eazy]

Don't forget some micro jigs and some waxworms to tip 'em with......saved the day several times for me when they wouldn't "pickup" anything bigger!

[BassAsin]

I totally agree on dropping back down quick after a miss...almost all my best specks came dropping the half dead minnow back down or a fresh one down quick if I was stripped. I always try to chase a ringing bell on a set line with minnow bucket in hand...just in case!

 

ps. I love the chartreuse colored hooks like your pink ones....never tried or even seen pink though!?

another thing i'll do is leave a minnow in the snow right near the hole in case i do get stripped. toss it on quick and get it back down.

 

i dont know if i catch more fish becasue the pink hook but it adds a little something, the gammy's are super sharp and strong. i know i dont catch less fish because the colour but they are great for looking down the hole, if the pink disappears when you see a specky hit, you know its time to set hook.

[BassAsin]

Don't forget some micro jigs and some waxworms to tip 'em with......saved the day several times for me when they wouldn't "pickup" anything bigger!

judging by where you're from and your pic you dont have a clue about big specks eazy. HAHAHA JK micro jigs and wax worms are a shot in the dark kinda desperation thing but you're 100% right they have saved my butt on a few occasions too.

[Eazy]

judging by where you're from and your pic you dont have a clue about big specks eazy. HAHAHA JK micro jigs and wax worms are a shot in the dark kinda desperation thing but you're 100% right they have saved my butt on a few occasions too.

yup, and just bareley jig it. That one there in my profile is a Nipigon strain....Speckies on steroids, no need for to much finessing there!

[BillM]

All stocked speckles in Ontario are Nipigon strain, where do you think the MNR get the broadstock from?

Edited January 10, 2012 by BillM

[BassAsin]

All stocked speckles in Ontario are Nipigon strain, where do you think the MNR get the broadstock from?

Inorrect Bill.

 

many in this area come from the hills lake algonquin park strain, some are nipigon strain, espanola uses a hybrid, bracebridge uses the hills lake strain as well as another strain not from nipigon.

[Sinker]

I guess the secret is out on how to properly hook a minnow!

 

Don't tell anyone!

 

I get a lot of my specks as soon as I drill my hole. I drill it, clear it right away, and drop a line down.....usually get one instantly. I think they are curious. A simple stick and line will usually out fish anything else, unless they are really agressive, then they will smack anything they see. I will sometimes even take a long stick and stir up the bottom in my hole to get them around. I like to fish shallow. 2-8ft. I've never caught one deeper thru the ice.

 

They are a hit or miss kind of fish though. Either you get some, or you'd think there were no fish in the lake.

 

Specks are about the places they live. Just being there is enough to make me happy. The fish are a bonus.

 

S.

[highdrifter]

Inorrect Bill.

 

many in this area come from the hills lake algonquin park strain, some are nipigon strain, espanola uses a hybrid, bracebridge uses the hills lake strain as well as another strain not from nipigon.

 

Incorrect. Hills Lake is in Charlton ON. That's where the Hill's Lake strain comes from. They raise both the Nip stain and the local strain.

[4x4bassin]

Thanks alot everyone , outstanding tips ! I'm sure they will help alot of people here . About the stocking , I have a couple friends in

the Parry Sound/Bracebridge MNR so I will ask them .

[Joeytier]

Specks are about the places they live. Just being there is enough to make me happy. The fish are a bonus.

 

S.

Ain't that the truth.

[Musky or Specks]

If Im fishing two lines. My dead line will be a tiny spoon with the treble removed instead six inches of 6lb flouro with a single hook and a lively minnow. The minnow will jig your spoon for you while you work your other rod. Yes they will hit right after you open the hole. I remember drilling a set on a new lake checking my depth visually after clearing the slush and start lowering my line. Not really thinking I've let out about 20 feet of line and its still going down the hole. Hold on, I'm only in about three feet of water. SET boom nice speck on the ice. Another thing we'll do is drill a set put out dead lines in 2-6 ft of water and go up on the shore for a fire and some bevs. Sometimes staying off the ice so your not making noise in such shallow water seems to be a key. Leave your spool open and use a gad type indicator though, seen many a reel go bye bye on the hit as MR Brookie drags it home

Edited January 10, 2012 by Musky or Specks

[TroutSlayer]

 

Specks are about the places they live. Just being there is enough to make me happy. The fish are a bonus.

 

S.

 

I feel the same Sinker.

[Dabluz]

If Im fishing two lines. My dead line will be a tiny spoon with the treble removed instead six inches of 6lb flouro with a single hook and a lively minnow. The minnow will jig your spoon for you while you work your other rod. Yes they will hit right after you open the hole. I remember drilling a set on a new lake checking my depth visually after clearing the slush and start lowering my line. Not really thinking I've let out about 20 feet of line and its still going down the hole. Hold on, I'm only in about three feet of water. SET boom nice speck on the ice. Another thing we'll do is drill a set put out dead lines in 2-6 ft of water and go up on the shore for a fire and some bevs. Sometimes staying off the ice so your not making noise in such shallow water seems to be a key. Leave your spool open and use a gad type indicator though, seen many a reel go bye bye on the hit as MR Brookie drags it home

 

 

Great info here. However, where I live in Quebec, the ice fishing for brook trout starts at the end of April so I can only go for a few days before the ice gets too dangerous. We are not allowed to use minnows (dead or alive or in parts). So, I do not use a spoon with my nightcrawler. I let the head of the night crawler move. However, a flutter spoon with no bait that is gently jigged near bottom gets excellent results. Yes, noise is an issue. It both attracts trout and frightens them. I use a spud to make my holes so when I chop a hole not far from my first hole, I check the rod that is already set in that first hole because my noise will often push fish towards my first hole. Yes, moving around on the ice often drives fish away so it's best to move around slowly and silently. Same when fishing in a boat....less noise is best. Another thing that will most definitely scare brook trout is casting a shadow over the hole in the ice.

 

Ice fishing for brook trout is my favourite way to fish. Here where I live, the limit is 20 trout. I usually get my 20 trout before noon. The range in size from 10 to 20 inches. Average size is a good 14 inches. This is way more than I can eat. I fillet all my brook trout and give some to older parents but after the opening day, I only keep what I want to eat within the next few days. After my first couple of fish, I use a Sutton lure on 4 lb mono (no bait) and it's rare that I cannot release the trout I catch. Unfortunately, there are lots of meat fishermen in my region. Anyway, when trout in a lake get hard to catch, they go elsewhere and the trout that are still in the lake get large and more intelligent. These are the trout I prefer to fish for.

 

All of my early season brook trout fishing is within 20 minutes of home in lakes that nobody wants to fish anymore. I can usually fish these lakes for a few years before people find out that the fishing is fabulous. I then go to another lake. It's true that 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish. I'm lucky because for brook trout, I'm one of the 10 percenters.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Dabluz