Angler

My buddy and I went Brook Trout fishing in the backwoods this past Thursday. The temp was mild and the sky was overcast. Got to the lake around noon with no sign of anyone ever fishing this lake! We started to set up are holes when my buddy yells "FISH ON!" I thought he was joking as I had not even finished drilling my hole?! I looked over my shoulder only to see his rod bent straight down the hole. I ran over to help him land an 18" Brook Trout. The fish gave a great fight stripping out lots of line. We decided to keep him for dinner that night. I hustled back to my half drilled hole to finish the job. "Fish On!" My buddy has another monster taking big runs of his line! After another good fight we land the fish. Looks to be a bit bigger than the first fish. I quickly snapped a pic of him double fisting two beautiful Brookies before we released it. I finally got to finish setting up my rods, one dead set with a minnow and the other jigging a small spoon. It wasn't long before I had a hit. My still rod slammed down, I set the hook and it was on. Another fighter! Got her through the ice for a quick pic and a quick release. Looked to be about 16 inches? The action slowed down so we decided to move around the lake. We drilled hoes off points spending about 40 minutes on each new spot before moving on. By 4:30 we decided to pack it up and move on to fish for evening Walleye on another lake close by. As we headed back across the lake we passed our orignal holes from earler in the day. "Let's drop one line each for 5 minutes before we head out" I said to my friend. We both dropped are lines for a quick jig. SLAM! My spoon gets crushed! Looks like this is the spot! We quickly forget about moving lakes and spend the next hour hitting beautiful brook trout.

The next morning we hit a backwoods lake stocked with Lakers. We got to the lake around 11am under cold overcast skies. The wind was ripping so we decided to take the truck out on the ice to keep warm. It didn't take long before we both started to catch fish. No monsters but good fighters. We did see a few big fish come through the ice close to us by other anglers. They were using big 3-4" minnows or suckers? I will definitely be back with bigger bait.

Over the two days we used still rods with minnows and small spoons. Both produced equally.
We tried using maggots but only caught Perch? (About 20 Perch in an hour!)
After filleting the Brook Trout I looked in the stomach to see what it has been feeding on. (3 frogs, 1 minnow, and 1 nymph)

Heading back up in a few weeks for some more action. (Going for Rainbows)
I will keep you all posted.

Great day of fishing. I hit up a small Splake Trout lake around 9am. Worked the shoreline in 3 to 10 feet of water. I had a small minnow with a split shot on one rod and a small jigging spoon tipped with a wax worm on the other. Worked each hole for about 15 min before moving down shore. Hit a small Splake around 11am in 8 feet of water off a small point. I quickly changed my spoon to another small minnow and split shot. I find that 90% of my catches are on the minnow? I use the spoon to call them in? (that’s the theory) As soon as I mark fish I like to get both rods rigged with minnows. I put them in rod holders a wait for strikes. For about an hour I had non-stop action. Caught 6 Splake and lost a monster at the hole. The largest fish was 17 inches, the others were all small. One big fish popped the hook out at the hole. It gave a big head shake as I was trying to land it. The hook hit the side of the hole and popped out . It gave me an incredible fight and at least I had the chance to see him, even if it was just to watch him smile at me as he backed down the hole. Action stopped around noon. Decided to head over to another lake for some late afternoon Walleye fishing.

After some food and a short nap I set up my portable ice hut on a Lake with Walleye, Pike, and big Jumbo Perch. Put the hut off a sunken island in the middle of the lake next to the main basin. I was fishing in about 22 feet of water on a steep drop off that starts at 3 feet and drops to about 30 feet. I normally fish the evening Walleye bite in shallower water. I’ve had great success in 8 to 12 feet of water. The Walleye come up from the main basin to the closest shallow water structure to feed. The only problem is I never get any Jumbo Perch in the shallows. So the executive decision was made to set up in 22 feet of water, hoping to get some Perch in the mix. I lowered a medium sized minnow down the hole rigged with a split shot on a 8lb fluorocarbon leader with Fire Line Fused Crystal as my main line. (used 4lb floro leader for Splake) BAM! As soon as my bait hit the bottom I got a solid hit! Great fight, my line was running hard! After a few minutes I get the fish to hole. Big Smallmouth Bass?! I quickly release the fish after a quick snapshot. Lower my bait back down the hole, SLAM! Another fish is on! This goes on from 4pm till 6:30pm. A mix of Smallies, Jumbo Perch, and a few tiny Walleye. A great day of fishing. Without complaining, the next time I set up for evening Walleye I will hit up my old depth of 8 to 12 feet of water. I was catching too many Bass in the deeper water. Granted I did get a ton of big Perch No pike, but I plan on targeting them in the shallow weedy bays during the late ice spawn.

Hey all,
I was up in the Bancroft area this past weekend.
Hit up lots of Walleye and a few Splake Trout. Ice was over 10" thick on most lakes. Lots of huts on the ice.
We tried to make a mission to some stocked Brook, Rainbow and Lake Trout lakes but the road conditions were poor
Caught a few Perch and got snapped off by a Pike. Walleyes were hitting hard!!! Spent a day on a stocked Splake Trout lake with 4 miss hits and 3 caught.
Great few days of fishing! Heading back up in 2 weeks.

I'm heading up to the Combermere area to hit up some small lakes with Splake/Brook trout. (I normally fish Walleye, Pike, Perch)

Anyone have any tips or techniques for fishing Brookies through the ice?

I'm thinking to put a hole in about 5 - 10 feet of water just off shore. (last year I saw a ton of holes offshore in shallow water)
Set up my rod in a rod holder with a live minnow a foot or two off bottom.
I have heard it's better to sit onshore a few feet from the rod so you don't spook the fish. (unfortunately I saw garbage onshore close to the holes)
Or if your sitting by the hole you need to be super stealth. (Not the time to be talking with the boys)

MY BIG PROBLEM IS THAT I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET MINNOWS. (long story)
This would throw my above technique out the window.

Can I use the above technique with a live worm?
Anyone have any artificial suggestions for Brookies/Splakers?
Will jigging in shallow water spook the trout?

Thanks for your help!

One last mission to my favorite river.
Fished the last 2 hours of daylight yesterday.
Caught one, lost one. Saw a few other fish around.
I had the whole river to myself! Must of been some good boxing day sales around.

Just wanted to thank everyone for the hints and tips.
I will be posting in the ice fishing section till the 4th Sat in April
Happy ice fishing!