It is the dawn of another ice fishing season. Soon our small lakes and rivers will be frozen over followed by Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba. I have to say this year I am looking forward to catching perch more than any other species. Don’t get me wrong, I will be chasing a wide variety of species but last year got into some really nice big perch, quite a few in the 13 to 15 inch range. Catching those fish is fun, and somewhat of an art form in itself. Matching your ice fishing equipment to the size of the fish only increases the challenge and fun!
 |
| Dale with home made rod crafted from a hockey stick |
I have spent the last week rigging up some small fly reels matched with longer, very sensitive ice rods. In order to cut down line spooling I took a tip from an article I read recently and added some foam backing on the inner spool. To this I put on Dacron backing then tied line to line with some 2 and 4 pound Trilene ice line. Try and stretch the first twenty metres or so by tying to a tree or pole and pulling on it slowly. It might be a little difficult right now around here depending on the snowdrifts you have to go through! (I tied it to a pole in my basement and it was a lot warmer.)
Which brings me to the picture on the right. Here is Dale holding a lake trout from Clearwater Lake at the Pas caught using a tube jig on the end of a line spooled on a custom made ice fishing rod crafted from a hockey stick. Dale caught the most trout of anyone on this trip and I figured out why when I talked to him at length. When you watch his tube jig in the water, there is absolutely no spin to the lure. This is the key to putting more fish on the ice!
IN LINE SWIVELS
Other options designed to prevent line twist, are the use a small in-line swivels a metre above your lure. I prefer using a fluorocarbon lead for that one metre of line and Nanofil on the rest of my spool when using spinning gear. Made by Berkley, this line does not twist and is extremely supple, even in the coldest of weather. Also made by Berkley is a beauty of an ice reel, the Abu Garcia Orra SX 10. This is an incredibly smooth machine in even the coldest weather because of the Carbon Matrix drag system. I have been using Abu Garcia since I started in the industry 30 years ago and I would have to say this is the best spinning reel they have ever made.
