ice fishing -- brown trout feeding activity

[therm66]

Does any one have any idea how often Brown trout feed?

I'm asking because I found a nice spot Ice fishing that I've hooked into a nice size brown at least twice -- Lost him both times.   The hits came three days apart.  I fished both days in between the hits as well as the day after the last hit -- with no action at all. 

During the winter do Browns eat everyday or only a few times a week?   

[salmotrutta]

Browns will feed everyday.I don't believe the early,early morning bite is that important with Browns.Actually late morning seems better to me(8 am to 10 am).

[iceintheveins]

Browns feed best in the early morning and evenings, especially larger ones. You can still have decent action throughout the day for brownies if you over them.
Another thing is I have never found belief of browns to be smarter than other trout to be true. All big trout are smarter than smaller ones. But in general, trout are aggressive predators, and browns, especially smaller ones, can often be found in shallower water and tempted with faster presentations. Browns seem to like rocky areas that hold a lot of baitfish. Finding the baitfish is one of the best ways to find the trout.

[deadsmelthead]

Brown trout are pretty active under the ice, most of the time I find them  right under the ice in anywhere from 5 to 30 feet of water.. They have great eyesight  and can be very picky at times, for instance 2 weeks ago I couldn't get one to bite unless I had a shinner on 3" or smaller thats why I alway put a little variety out when fishing for them...

[therm66]

****  UPDATE ****  Finally Got Him!!!    Kind of a neat story that goes with it.  I was ice fishing after work last night with a 3" shiner minnow on a tip-up.  My tip-up flag went off but when I got to it and pulled my line up nothing was there and my bait was gone.  I walked over to my bait bucket and put on a new shiner and dropped it back down the hole.  As soon as I dropped it in I felt the line pulling harder than it should from just the bait.  I let the line run through my hands for a few seconds and then jerked it and felt a strong tug.  To my surprise I had a nice Brown on the other end (22").  He hit the bait right under the ice as soon as the minnow hit the water.

[salmotrutta]

AWESOME!You are the man.Persistance pays off my Brown trout brother.

[bigfish57]

nice

[TroutFishingBear]

good job, next year, you'll get the big ones

[TroutFishingBear]

Browns and trout in general are about the same to catch through the ice. (excluding lakers) Premium depth is anywhere from 10-25 ft. In the morning they seem to suspend and that's when most people catch them but later in the day you can find them in the deeper (20ft-25ft.) of water and they are on the  bottom. Tempt them with slower presentations.

remember, they will suspend and be in shallower water earlier in the day, but later in the day (11 am on until afternoon bite) they will be in 20-25 ft. of water and on the bottom.

They are easy to catch all day if you stray from the normal, because they just don't stay shallow always like many people think. That's where most people go wrong. Follow my advice for consistent success.