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Mark Knapp

Ice fishing and the ice flies

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Took some friends from Ohio ice fishing for rainbows this week end. We fished for two days and while the fishing was a little slower, we had a great time.

 

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David with his first rainbow and his first fish through the ice ever.

 

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We caught about 20 fish on Sunday and kept three for eating. The biggest was a 20 inch rainbow. We spent the night in the cabin at Quartz and had a wonderful trout dinner. On Monday we only caught about 7 fish but still had a lot of fun with each others company.

 

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Here are some of the ice flies we use, these are all built on lead head jigs. On the left are bait fish imitations. About half of the fish I catch are caught on these. In the middle are cased caddis patterns with one emerger. Many of the fish we catch have caddis in their stomachs. Caddis look-a-likes can be effective at Quartz Lake. The rest are all impulse or instinct patterns. They don't look like anything in particular but are intended to induce a bite with color and movement. White, chartreuse and salmon-egg red are the most effective colors in many of our trout lakes. The marabou and flash chenille add movement and sparkle. I usually fish one rod with an imitation pattern and no bait while I fish a second rod with an impulse type jig and bait.

 

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Some other effective flies. The top row are snail patterns. Almost all the fish we clean have snails in their stomachs. Some days the fish are almost only keyed on snails. In the middle bottom are midges, they can also be very effective. Bottom left, another impulse inducer.

 

DSCF3513-XL.jpgSnail patterns at the vise.

 

More pictures soon.

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Mark, thank you for nice photos and great report. Will soon apply some of this detail to create more flies for some ice—fishing friends. I have been on the right track with the baitfish and attractors but the aquatic insects surprised me. Winter snails, too.

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Mark, thank you for nice photos and great report. Will soon apply some of this detail to create more flies for some ice—fishing friends. I have been on the right track with the baitfish and attractors but the aquatic insects surprised me. Winter snails, too.

Look in the stomachs of fish you keep (if you can) and match that.

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Thanks Mark, I just tied some wooley worms on jig hooks. Now to get out and give them a try.

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Thanks Mark, I just tied some wooley worms on jig hooks. Now to get out and give them a try.

I think woolly worms on a jig hook would work great as long as they were weighted enough to pull the fly down to a depth you want to fish.

 

For some reason they need to be heavier than what you would need for soft water fishing. It may be because we are fishing vertically through the ice, because line is stiffer and kinkier in the cold temperatures and because there is slush on top of the hole.

 

Obviously, we are not fishing near the surface when we're ice fishing. In fact, I spend most of my time fishing down by the bottom.

 

The jigs will need about three times as much weight as you would need in summer. I use lead wire or substitute, tungsten beads, lead head jigs and/or dumbbell eyes.

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My mistake Mark. I said jig hooks when I meant jig heads. I tied these woolies on 1/4 oz. jig heads and when fishing brook trout I only fish in less than 8 feet of water and usually prefer 3 to 4 feet. I am also going to tie some 1/8 oz. to make a smaller offering but as you said they might be a bit light.

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My mistake Mark. I said jig hooks when I meant jig heads. I tied these woolies on 1/4 oz. jig heads and when fishing brook trout I only fish in less than 8 feet of water and usually prefer 3 to 4 feet. I am also going to tie some 1/8 oz. to make a smaller offering but as you said they might be a bit light.

Looks like you're on the right track. Show us some pictures of the bugs and the fish.

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Pictures of the bugs, no problem. The fish ??? Maybe. LOL

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