Ice fishing lures for active ice fishing
Licenses needed on Lake Saimaa area: None
Please do notice that there are few special license areas such as rainbow fishing ponds, rivers and rapids in which you must have areal fishing license for catching.
Vertical ice fishing jig
Vertical ice fishing jig is the most used and effective lure for catching in Finland. Drop the lure to the bottom. Tighten the line and lift the lure 10 – 50 centimeters above the bottom.
Do a
couple of quick tugs and then wait a moment for the jig to reset
itself. Then vibrate the jig lightly and play the waiting game. It is
usually around this time that the perch will bite. It will feel like
a tug on the rod or a slackening of the line. You can also use small spoons for ice fishing.
Balanced ice fishing jigs (metal body)
Drop the lure to the bottom. Tighten the line and lift the lure 10 centimeters – 1 meter above the bottom. Do long quick tugs of the rod and then switch gears and continue with small, calm jumps.
Ice fishing with softbaits and lightened balanced jigs
You can successfully use softbaits for ice fishing. The most commonly used body size is 3 cm to 10 cm long. Smaller bodies are best for shallow water less than 3 meters deep, whereas bigger bodies from 8 to 10 cm work best in waters 4 to 10 meters deep. The weight of jig heads varies from 3 to 10 grams. There are also special ice fishing jig heads for wintertime use. You don’t need extra hooks for smaller softbait bodies, but it is a good idea to use a stinger with the big 10 to 20 cm bodies. The most commonly used body type for ice fishing with softbaits is a fork tale. The most widely used body size for a lightened balanced jig is 8 to 10 centimeters.
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| Ice fishing softbait |
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| Lightened balanced jig |
Different fish require different techniques for swimming your softbait. For example active perches and pikes both like fast, active and relatively wide swimming motions in shallow water.
When fishing for zander or big perch in deeper water (4 to 10 meter deep), you can successfully use these following techniques with both softbaits and lightened balanced jigs.
1. Technique for perch
Slowly lower your softbait under the ice (30 cm – 10 meters below ice cover). Do a couple of quick tugs and then wait a moment for the jig to reset itself. Then vibrate the jig lightly and simultaneously lift it slowly 30 cm. Then wait a moment keeping your jig still. After that you can allow your jig to sink freely or slowly escort your jig back down by keeping your line tight during the fall. Then wait a moment keeping your jig still and then start from the beginning. If you don’t catch a fish or see fish rising from the bottom attracted by your jig, lower your lure 2 to 3 meters below and start from the beginning. Continue this series of swimming movement until you reach the bottom. Repeat it once again 50 cm – 2 meters above the bottom. When using ice fishing sonar you can easily follow in which depth area your lure is swimming and how the fish react to it.
2.Technique for zander
Zander
is a very timid fish during wintertime. All your movements must be
extremely slow compared to when you’re fishing for pike or perch.
Most often zanders are caught right above the bottom. Slowly lower
your softbait to the bottom. If you drop your lure to the bottom too
fast you will most likely just scare the zanders away. Tighten the
line and lift your lure 20 to 50 cm above the bottom. Do a couple of
very slow tugs (2 to 5 tugs, 40 to 50 cm high, the slower the
better), keep your line tight and lower the lure back very slowly.
Then do 5 to 10 small, very slow jumps by moving your hand up and
down. You can also slightly vibrate your softbait. Keep the line
tight all the time when swimming your jig. After jumps keep your
softbait still for 2 to 3 minutes and vivrate it. Most often zander hits your
softbait when it is sinking or when you are keeping it still and vibrating it. If you
are using a ice fishing sonar and you see bigger fish in middle
water, you can use the same technique there as well. zander is quite often little bit scary during winter time. Follow your sonar to see big fish arrive near your lure. When it does, do not make jumps or lifts to your lure. keep it still and simly vibrate it to make zander hit.
