Rainbows Throught the ice.......

[Howie Ketchdem]

Having troubles catching rainbows through the ice on inland lake in s/e michigan. I can catch them very constantly on soft water in this lake but cannot catch one to save my life throught the ice. If anybody has ever caught a rainboe through the ice even on accident please let me Know what bait and how deep they were. The lake i am fishing has a very deep average id say 30-35 ft average 65 being deepest but its a small lake with minimal structure,sharp drop from 8-10 down to 30 feet one big point on the lake but that is it for structure. In the summer i catch them in 38 ft usually suspended in the middle of the water column. Any info on how to catch a rainbow would be greatly appreciated...Thank you Mickey---

[bignate]

When we fish for them up north we usually move in shallower to 10' to 15', usually with a minnow but we have cought them on jigs.

[sightfisher]

 I have heard they do well up north in 2'-4' f.o.w. using wigglers and #14 treble hook set 6'' below ice. The trick is to set drag light or open bail let them take. They also tell me stay of the ice and on shore as to not spook the fish due to it being so shallow. Try to set up near creek or river entrances.

[bignate]

Staying away from the hole is very important.  Even when we are in a little deeper water we stay a long ways from the tipups.  I have seen people catch them in very shaollow water like you are saying and it is cool.  If there is alot of action on the lake the fishing is dead for them. The best time we have seen is early in the morning when everybody else is asleep .  I have even heard of people getting them at night.

[wyohunter]

I do well in 4 to about 15 fow, when jigging for trout I use swedish pimples or 1 inch tubes tipped with a meal worm and have caught them with a dead stick and #4 treble hook with power bait suspended about 1 foot off the bottom

[BCice]

 Gotta agree with everybody here. In years past, we'd get the incidental rainbow jigging for other species out deep, but if we wanted to target them specifically, we'd set up a shallow rod away from all other activity, just suspended under the ice. My buddies dad lived right on the lake & he'd fish them quite abit & showed me how he did it. He'd set up a couple dead rods on  buckets in 5 - 10 feet of water right by the swimming beach in front of his house. Open the bail & loop your line under a rubber band with a little line marker.
He'd work in his yard & keep an eye on his rods (pretty intense, huh?). Used different baits, wigglers, trout worms, minnows etc... Get quite afew that way.

 But, sadly they've quit planting our lake & I've had to switch to another lake and I'm just learning that one, so we'll see how the technique works there, this year. Oh well, new challenges, I guess.

[bacoj1]

Just caught some bows yesterday in 11ft of water fishing 8ft down with a 35mm (1") Hali Jig tipped with a tiny red plastic tail.  Fish shallow and you will succeed.

[Howie Ketchdem]

 Thanks Fellas,
I was about to pull my hair out over those rainbows now i Know what i was doing wrong, Everything LMAO, I was fishing the deepest spots possible and jigging the hell out it and was standing right on top of my hole with no thoughts of spooking the fish, I will try the shallow water tricks without my loud feet anywhere near the hole. Thanks amillion Bros Oh and by the way if any of you Rainbow fisherman are up for a challange send me a p/m ill take you to 2 lakes that have good numbers of trout and the one lake the DNR told me he gu8arentees the next bluegill state rcord out of so its a sweet gill lake......c-ya later

[fishinfool96]

I caught a bunch over 20" on accident in 5 fow, not far from a creek mouth. The ice was bad out further so we fished where we felt safe(2") and was surprised when we started catching big rainbows. Try shallow water near a creek or river, just be careful.

[theozmeister]

ive always done real well on the 'bows in close to shore (2-10 fow) free floatin a minnow on a #18 trebble or egg hook. when i do fish deep, i use a tip-up with the same rig previously mentioned just below the ice, say 3-5 foot down. if the minnows fail me, i will switch over to a wiggler or a waxie. i also use real small sweedish pimples tipped with waxies when i fish between 5-15 fow. as stated in previous posts, the less motion you make on the ice, the better, since the 'bows can be real spooky.

[mbrooks]

I personally have never caught one thru the ice but my buddy has,
he fishes shallow and sets up well away from his tip up. He uses rosey reds and spawn sacs. I tried his technique but all I caught was a 18 inch brown



I also had luck with jigging a fresh spawn sac for splake when no one else could get a bite.