Salmon Fishing

[mppatriots]

Can anyone give me some pointers on catching salmon through the ice.  I've been fishing for quite a while now and despite my best efforts i get skunked everytime i go for salmon or trout.  I generally will fish them a foot to two feet down with a mono leader with a small minnow.  I typically will fish Onota lake in Pittsfield. 

[FishingNewEngland]

I've always caught my trout and salmon just off the bottom.

[fishingeek]

I've never caught a salmon before but always get trout when I fish for them. Usually, I spread my traps over a drop off in a straight line from the shore and outward. I often get hook up from the one closest to the shore. I also experiment with depth too from 5-8 feet to 15 feet. Goodluck!!!

[pikeking]

I'm going to go out this sunday and try my hand at some salmon. But I will have a few set for pike.

[BigG3206]

Most of the trout that I have pulled thru the ice have been 1-2 feet below the ice.  A few down near the bottom.

[minnow1]

Salmon usually cruise a few feet under the ice.

[MACK_USCG]

heres how to set your tip up:

Tip up: with 100yds of 20 lb tip up line / #8 barrel swivel / improved cinch knot using 8 ft of 8lb Flourocarbon / #14 eagle claw treble / put a small split shot 16" above the hook / use a icicle (emerald shiner) the size of a bic lighter or a little longer / hook that baby in front of the dorsal but dont break the spine.

Heres how to fish it:

1. Fish depths anywhere from 1-3 feet under the ice and try some 3-6.  Try covering each side of the tip up with card board to reduce light hint hint....

2. Drill 5 holes going deeper/further out with the water depth. and set your (5) tip ups at 3 foot intervals and seee where they are hanging out. 

* it sounds crazy to fish just under the ice but if you are lucky enough to land a salmon take a look at the nose of the fish.  It will be all tore up from crusing with its nose on the ice chasing the bait fish.

Best of luck to you in catching one!

Mack

[reelucky]

Set your shiner no more that 3' below the ice. Sometimes that's too much. Even in 60' of water set them at 3'. Caught  over 12 Salmon in 5 years, not so bad. It is sooooooo hard to set them so close to the surface in 60' of water.

[reelucky]

YES YES  WHAT MACK SAID    YES   YES

[thefinlessbrown2]

you should fish water thats 8 to 30 feet over shelfs are the best areas near steep drops and fish 3 or 4 as much as 5 feet under the ice not 1 or 2 feet u will get them but not nearly as many at that level and shiners dont need to be small mediums are fine for salmon .. rainbows also will run in the same water column but will run right into the shore line as shallow as a foot or less of water where salmon will rarely travel.. brookies and browns will be close to the bottom in shallow water from 4 to 15 feet browns will stay in that depth range when cruising the deeper water they will somtimes be deep as well ..you'll have better luck with salmon eggs or power bait when fishing for rainbows. brookies and browns will take shiners  and night crawlers or dillies good luck man bob

[Danderson]

i finally hooked in to a salmon this past weekend and it snapped my 20 pound mono leader with a quick strike 

i stressed the fish way too much and it felt like a serious bruiser.

tip up was a foot below the ice and in 5 FOW over weeds 

wow, i said way too much lol

[FullTmeDad]

If you do get a nice fish on your jigging rod, stick the rod right down the hole into the water, you're less likely to snap off until it tires then you can ease it up. Just don't let go!
FTD

[jpete92]

This is all great info! Esp for those of us who do not reg fish for salmon....Just another reason why this site and its members is great!!

[JS]

I agree with the shallow set of the tilt...worked for me...

[MACK_USCG]

I'm just going by how I used to nail em on lake Ontario! 

[mppatriots]

Thanks everyone.  I will be putting your tips to practice this weekend.  Obviously I know nothing is a guarantee, but it's always good to do whatever you can to better your odds.

[mgarvey]

Salmon have a tendency to stay close to the top. For some reason they stay 2- 3 ft below the ice.   

[JCaughtem]

Can anyone give me some pointers on catching salmon through the ice.  I've been fishing for quite a while now and despite my best efforts i get skunked everytime i go for salmon or trout.  I generally will fish them a foot to two feet down with a mono leader with a small minnow.  I typically will fish Onota lake in Pittsfield. 

Mack is pretty right just be sure to fish over the deepest water you can find i used a 15 lb clear leader last year and caught 3 and one brown at maybe 10 salmon outings also try laurel lake .Good luck.

[thefinlessbrown2]

my guess is that was no salmon you hooked into sounds alot like a large pick or pike man!!!!1

[No Time To_Fish]

Ha! and just to add some mystery. I was talking to a guy up here in Maine who was jigging in his shack in 30 ft of water about a foot off the bottom (for white perch) and he pulled up a 15 inch salmon from way down there on the bottom. He's been fishing that place for 17 years and thats never happened before. They always catch them 2-15 ft under the ice.

[Joser06]

I have gotten 4 salmon in the last 2 weeks up here in Maine, biggest 21.5 inches, and I get them all between 2-3 feet under the ice over or near bottom structure. If you can find a ledge, that would be a great place to start and if there are smelt in the lake, find some to use, they work great. I use 3 foot 8 lb fluorocarbon for a leader and put a small split shot about half way up the line, and make sure you have enough line on your spool because even the 21.5 incher took out about 70 yards of line before I even got to the trap 100 yards away. Good luck