Ice Trout tips and tricks

[basscat75]

How many times have you been out on your favorite Trout lake, and have seen many swim up to your jig, only to go away without even touching it?

Happens alot i know. heres a few tips on catching alot of those fish..

1st and most important is when tipping your bait with a meal worm, make sure and allways pinch about an 1/8 of an inch off the head. Why you ask? Well its simple, the guts and juices from the meal worm will slowly come off the mealy and creat a scent trail that drives these fish nuts. I hvae seen it where 2 of us will be using the same exact bait, and only 1 of us is catching, because they are pinching the head off.

2nd  When you get a fish in and you have been jigging, slow your jigging way down, you want your bait to barley be moving, allmost like its twitching, if you jig to much theyll just go right on by maybe swatting at it 1 or 2 times.

If the fish comes in and your bait is motionless(deadsticking) dont do a thing, that fish is not agressive and wants an easy meal. If he passes it up, Give it 1 good twitch then stop, many times they will turn back around and suck it in.This is where the pinched mealworm really comes into play, with that 1 good twitch, the guts and juices will fall out big time, and many times thats all it takes to trigger those fish.
Theres a few tips to hopefully help out with your next outing

Good Luck and Be safe
Jim Douglas

[Prairiegoat]

Hey Basscat, thanks for the tip!

Do you hook a meal worm head or tail first? I don't know if it really makes a difference, but it seems I get more bites if I hook tail first and leave a little of the head off the hook to wiggle. Granted they don't live long, but it seems to help. Maybe my imagination.

Good talking to you today. Depending on weather I am still planning on going up tomorrow.

[checkers8]

Prairegoat,

Just as Basscat75 has stated, "Pinch the head off and squeeze the mealie just a bit to get the juices oozing." Once you've pinched the head off run the hook through the end that you tore the head off.

If the fish are short striking or you get hits but can't seem to set the hook it's probably because you have too much of the mealie hanging off the hook and their getting a free meal. If this is the case thread the mealie on your hook just like you would a twister body and leave approximately 1/8 " or less off the end of the hook. I've caught numerous fish on just a painted jig head with a mealie presented like I stated above.

If they want it bad enough they have no choice other than to put the hook in their mouth!!!