What is the purpose of chains on ice fishing lures?

[FishingSpud]

I've been looking at restocking my ice fishing lures since it is getting towards the late season, and I saw some spoons and jigs that had chains on them. Some chains had jigs on the end, others just hooks etc. Can someone elaborate on what the reason is for the chains (sound, flash, )?

thx,
Dave

[Corndog]

You kinda answered it yourself. I'm no pro, but I have heard those who use them say bit helps create action and sound that supposedly attracts fish to strike.

[fishermantim]

Yeah, and BIG fish with SHARP teeth!!!

[prestonc]

They are fantastic for panfish!  I use the hali dropper with a bead on the hook.  Ordered mine from fish usa since they are hard to find

[Woodland]

not so much sound...but the action. when you jig vertically  the hook actually compresses toward the lure and drops back down all in a vertical pattern as well. This cant happen with mono droppers the hook ends up swinging from side to side

[FishingSpud]

Now I get it...thanks for the info everyone. I think I'll try some on some of my lucky spoons to see if they help me catch more fish.

...Dave

[burck17]

In Washington state we replace hooks on kwikfish and flatfish for salmon and steelhead normally with a few split rings or a bead chain and hook because a fish can use a solid lure as leverage to pull the hook out when pulling away from you... I though manufacturers would put good hooks on and refused to do this until I saw a 20lb Chinook spin and do it next to the boat... luckily my dads a great netter and scooped the fish up right away... I went straight to the tackle store and got bead chains after that... I would assume that this could be same reason... better job keeping hook in fish

[Reel_Force]

teetertotter posted a excellent chain mod you can do with just about any spoon...


http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=266184.0
 

[gearheart]

The spoon provides the weight to get the package down to the fish quickly.  The chain provides a bit of separation so even if the fish is not really aggressive it thinks it is attacking a very small hook with some bait, not the spoon.  IT WORKS. 

[FishingSpud]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

[buz23]

The chain has a bit of weight and thus doesn't get tangled while jigging.  As far as the fish care, you could probably replace the chain the a short length of mono and get similar results but it would be more likely to foul up.

[Whopper Stopper]

Muskies are intrigued with dangly spinners and chains also. They almost seem mesmerized by them.

                  WS