Ice fishing rainbows

[JoshS]

Hey guys, I'm taking a stab at ice fishing inland rainbows for my first time this weekend. I'll be up at a small Haliburton lake .

 

I've never targeted inland rainbows through the ice.... any tips? I've read to target shallow flats, edges, but also deeper suspended fish (that's pretty much everywhere lol).

 

Does it make most sense to run and gun looking for them or sit put on a good looking point or drop off and lay down some set lines and jig?

 

What setups and baits should I be concentrating on?

Edited October 27, 2016 by JoshS

[Freshtrax]

My experience is that the roam, often times just under the ice even over deep water. I haven't had great success with them , my limited success came with a minnow hooked through the back 12 inches under a small flutter spoon dead sticking 5 ft under the ice over 15 ft of water near the biggest structure on the lake.

[jimmer]

Try a worm on a drop shot rig. Fish in any depth of water, but if you can find about a 6' flat that drops into deeper water, that's where I would start.

[Sinker]

Yup flat muddy bottoms. Set your line about halfway down. They are sneaky. Worms and minnows is all i have ever caught them on. Never get them jigging always a set line on a willow branch. Hook and minnow usually.

 

S.

[jimmer]

It makes sense since they are probably feeding on fresh water shrimp or scuds.

[chessy]

spawn sacs with egg sinkers jigged off bottom works for the river i do not know why it would not work in a lake

[adempsey]

I fished Little Esson last year. We caught very few, but the ones I caught I used a small williams spoon as a flasher (no hook) and added a 12" or so leader with a small hook. I baited the hook with Berkley Gulp Nymphs or Alive Fry (can't remember sorry). You can also try slip floats with similar baits, that worked for me with Splake. We didn't move around as much as we should have and primarily fished the narrows leading into the western bay near the shore. Not saying that's a good spot though, because we didn't do that well. I'd probably try near the western side of the islands near the deeper water. There's also a nice looking hump in the middle of where all the cottages are on the north side that looks interesting.

 

I'd like to hear how you do and how the ice is. We wanted to go back this year, but I wasn't sure about the ice conditions. I haven't gone out on the ice at all this season.

 

Depth Map of Little Esson Lake

Edited March 2, 2016 by adempsey

[Big Cliff]

When I first moved up to Elliot Lake I decided to try for some hard water rainbows. I found a place just off a point on a small lake where someone else had fished and there was a bit of blood on the ice so I figured they must have caught some fish. I set up with a minnow hooked through the back and a piece of split shot about 18" above that.

 

When I put my line down I found I was in about 15' of water. After fishing for about an hour without a bite I decided to move, I reeled up one of my lines but left the minnow in the water about 2' below the ice. As I was reeling up my second line my first line went off, so I dropped line two (which was now about 2' under the ice) and proceeded to land a nice rainbow.

 

No sooner did I have the first fish on the ice and the second line went off, again another nice rainbow. The rest of the day and many trips after that I fished about 2-3 feet below the ice and believe me I landed a lot of hard water rainbows.

 

Hope that helps! Good luck and enjoy.

[Moosebunk]

Have caught so few bows ice fishing but the one's I have caught on inland lakes, jiggin' a small 1/4 Krocodile spoon in orange/yellow with browny red dots and a single minnow or worm. Weird...

[Joeytier]

Small minnows, small hooks, small line. Ive caught them in 35 feet, and in 7 feet, always well off bottom. Spread out on good structure and stay put. They wont stay put on one piece of structure, although they usually will be shallower in the fall and winter than in the summer. I would focus on 6-12 feet.

[chris.brock]

I would always have 1 set line with a small split shot and minnow just below the ice, then play around with your other line and electronics.

 

Be careful, it's easy for a tip up or rod to get pulled down the hole with only 3 feet of line out, done that before.

[JoshS]

Awesome thanks for the tips guys. And the map adempsy! If anything exciting happens I'll let you know.

 

How do you guys setup your set lines? And what's the best method using the tree branch? I used to do this with pike and a spool of line, but not sure the best way do to so with the speedy rainbow and light line.

[myot]

I've caught quite a few of them off of laydowns coming off of shore bad part is you loose half of them due to breakoffs by the time you get to the rod

 

Dan

[Big Cliff]

Awesome thanks for the tips guys. And the map adempsy! If anything exciting happens I'll let you know.

 

How do you guys setup your set lines? And what's the best method using the tree branch? I used to do this with pike and a spool of line, but not sure the best way do to so with the speedy rainbow and light line.

Same way you do for pike or if you are using a rod set your drag really loose and make sure you have your rod tied off just in case.

[Joeytier]

Use a tip-up that will freespool, or set a rod in a holder with the drag backed right off (just enough to support the weight and bait)

[JoshS]

Well happy to report we got some fish, not a lot, but cracked my first inland bow on the ice. The rainbows in the lake average 12"-14" or so. There are older year classes but that seems to be the average.

 

Adempsy, don't trust that map. We drilled a bunch of holes in the west basin and depths are similar to the main basin. We ended up targeting the west and fish came in 11ft on minnows. Didn't have luck on other baits but jigging small spoons did seem to get some interest on the fish finder. There are perch in there too.

[Joeytier]

Good job, they can be infuriating at the best of times, but awesome fun to catch, especially on the short rods!

[Big Cliff]

Well happy to report we got some fish, not a lot, but cracked my first inland bow on the ice. The rainbows in the lake average 12"-14" or so. There are older year classes but that seems to be the average.

 

Adempsy, don't trust that map. We drilled a bunch of holes in the west basin and depths are similar to the main basin. We ended up targeting the west and fish came in 11ft on minnows. Didn't have luck on other baits but jigging small spoons did seem to get some interest on the fish finder. There are perch in there too.

So, were they on the bottom or suspended?

[JoshS]

The hooked fish were suspended about half way down. Did see some lazier fish on the fish finder come up to my bait off bottom, not sure if they were perch or bows.

[grimsbylander]

Most fun I ever had fishing bows was through the ice! The water was 4' deep and gin clear. The bows were staging off a small creek flowing into Georgian Bay and we would use tiny row bags and lie down on ice looking through the hole. Then, three feet from your face, a 6 lb bow would cruise in and stop your heart. You could see every marking on the fish at that distance. Finally, it would suck it in and you'd have to set the #12 hook and as fast as possible, shove the tip of your short ice fishing rod down the hole! The fish would peel off 60 yards of ice under the ice in a blink. If you didnt have your rod tip down the hole, you'd get broke off on the edge of the ice. That was real hit and miss every year because of the ice conditions. The ice had to be think enough during the winter to sustain the initial spring thaw so the creek would begin to flow. Great time, probably never again with these winters.

[Big Cliff]

Most fun I ever had fishing bows was through the ice! The water was 4' deep and gin clear. The bows were staging off a small creek flowing into Georgian Bay and we would use tiny row bags and lie down on ice looking through the hole. Then, three feet from your face, a 6 lb bow would cruise in and stop your heart. You could see every marking on the fish at that distance. Finally, it would suck it in and you'd have to set the #12 hook and as fast as possible, shove the tip of your short ice fishing rod down the hole! The fish would peel off 60 yards of ice under the ice in a blink. If you didnt have your rod tip down the hole, you'd get broke off on the edge of the ice. That was real hit and miss every year because of the ice conditions. The ice had to be think enough during the winter to sustain the initial spring thaw so the creek would begin to flow. Great time, probably never again with these winters.

Now that sounds like a blast!!!!!!

[adempsey]

At least you caught some fish! The accuracy of all the MNR maps is questionable. That map might even be in metres. Half the time they don't note if the contour lines are in feet or metres.

Edited March 9, 2016 by adempsey

[dave524]

At least you caught some fish! The accuracy of all the MNR maps is questionable. That map might even be in metres. Half the time they don't note if the contour lines are in feet or metres.

 

 

Yep, spent years in that area many moons ago, Little Esson is about 60 feet deep max so that 20 contour is metres. If you can find some Delfin Alligators they are dynamite on Haliburton Bows.

[JoshS]

Just did some research on the deflin alligators. Looks like they are back and distributed by KTL Canada.

 

http://www.delfin-fishing.com/store/new_where_to_buy

 

Fishing world and natural sports in kitchener are the closest retailers to the GTA that carry them FYI

[dave524]

Just did some research on the deflin alligators. Looks like they are back and distributed by KTL Canada.

 

http://www.delfin-fishing.com/store/new_where_to_buy

 

Fishing world and natural sports in kitchener are the closest retailers to the GTA that carry them FYI

 

The secret is they were truly silver plated as opposed to chrome plated, just like the silver Williams, plus they have good action. When Haliburton was my stomping grounds the modus operandi was Spec Lake = E.G.B , preferably copper toned and a Bow Lake= Silver Alligator with the 1/4 red stripe. If the new ones are not real silver plate I wouldn't drop the cash.