Suggestions for Catching Fish Through the Ice

If you are looking forward to going ice fishing this year but are uncertain about where to find fish at the lake, what baits to use for certain species and how to use them, here are some suggestions that might help your chances of success. Generally speaking, in winter fish congregate at various depths in the warmer, deeper water. They often can be found along drop-offs, or over some type of deep-water structure or habitat. Anglers use a variety of tools to make holes in the ice, including a common garden spade, an ice spud, or a hand or power auger. Regardless of what is used to make hole, no ice fishing hole may exceed 10 inches in diameter on any area under jurisdiction of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. This is to ensure that no one steps or falls through a large hole in the ice that has been either partially refrozen, or hidden from view by a thin glaze of ice or blowing snow. There is a lot of talk about what kind of rod is best for ice fishing, but it all comes down to being just a matter of choice. Many ice fishermen use a regular summer fishing rod for ice fishing, while others use short jigging rods or a series of tip-ups that send up flags when a fish take the bait. One advantage of ice fishing is that the equipment need not be sophisticated and no expensive reel is required because no casting is involved. Effective ice fishing baits include wax worms, meal worms, colored Euro-larvae (maggots), mousees, small minnows (be sure to check your Nebraska Fishing Guide to determine whether the Commission allows the use of live baitfish on the area you are fishing). Popular lures include teardrops, slab spoons, soft-bodied jigs, hard-bodied jigs, jigging spoons, and ice flies. Here are some suggestions for finding and catching a limit of your favorite fish: Bluegill – Fish in the daytime in flooded trees and brush 5- to 15-feet deep. Jig- poles with 4-pound-test line or less and No. 8 or smaller hooks are ideal tackle. Best baits include teardrop/wax worm combinations, mousees and meal worms fished near the bottom or suspended in cover. Occasionally jig the bait to attract attention. Small, brightly-colored ice flies jigged slowly in the same areas can also be productive. Crappie – Fish night (best) or day near the face of the dam or in flooded trees in 10 to 25 feet of water. Jig-poles with 4- to 6-pound test line and No. 4 or 6 hooks are standard. Small and medium-size minnows are the most consistently successful baits, but occasionally teardrop/wax worm combinations suspended or fished near the bottom are productive, as are small jigging spoons. Yellow Perch – Fish during the day. Rig a jig-pole with 4-pound test line and a No. 6 hook or teardrop baited with a waxworm, a perch eye, a minnow, or a belly strip and fish it near the bottom of a deep-water drop-off. Northern Pike – Set tip-ups out along a drop-off or a weed line in 5 to 15 feet of water and rig the tip-ups with 20-pound test line, a 1 to 3 foot long steel leader and a No. 1 or 2 short-shanked single hook or a No. 1 or 1/0 treble hook. Jigging a live chub or bluegill, a chunk of red meat, smelt, or a dead minnow (in lakes where fishing live bait is prohibited) within a foot of the bottom or within 3 feet below the ice is often an excellent tactic. Walleye – Set a series of tip-ups along a 10 to 25 foot deep drop-off during the night (best) or day. Use 10 to 20 pound-test line baited with a live chub or a large minnow near the bottom. Largemouth Bass – Fish during the day, morning and evening best. A medium or large minnow or a teardrop/waxworm combination suspended near the bottom or jigged near submerged cover will often produce strikes. Use a jig-pole or tip-up rigged with 6-pound-test line or heavier. Before going fishing, be sure to pick up a copy of the free current Nebraska Fishing Guide for regulations pertaining to ice fishing. The guide also has a complete listing of all public fishing waters in the state, their locations, what species are found there and special regulations that apply at each area. The guide can be found on the Commission’s Web site at www.OutdoorNebraska.org, or is available at all Nebraska Game and Parks Commission offices and at any of the more than 800 permit vendors across the state.