ICE-FISHING CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER OPEN-WATER ANGLER

Ice-fishing and open-water fishing are two entirely different things; we don't need to talk about the differences. However, if you do some experimenting while you're ice-fishing, you can learn things that will make you a better open-water angler.

Take lure color for instance. Let's say you can see fish on your sonar unit or with your eyes below the hole you're fishing. A small black jig is what you're using. You wiggle and quiver that jig right in the fish's face, but it won't take it. Finally, you try the same size jig in white and the fish gobbles it in. Everything was the same except the color. You've determined that color, at times, does make a difference when ice-fishing. It does in open-water angling at times also. Anglers who don't experiment with color are limiting themselves when it comes to catching fish.

Lure action can also determine how many fish we catch. Again, either watching the fish on a sonar or with our eyes will help us learn how fish react to lure movement.

Take a jigging spoon for example. Sometimes the fish want the spoon snapped aggressively, other times they want it just quivering. If you have fish in the hole watching the spoon, but not taking, try a different action. Sometimes that different action will trigger them into striking.

Same thing is true in open water. Sometimes the fish want a bait moved quickly, other times they want it crawled.

Line visibility (or invisibility) is another factor that can be tested through the ice. Many anglers think FireLine is the greatest line ever made for ice-fishing. A few anglers like many of the qualities of FireLine for ice-fishing, but think it might be too visible and could spook the fish. To determine for yourself, try dropping a tiny jig attached to 4/1 FireLine through the ice in a good panfish spot. Again, watch the fish via eyes or sonar and see how they react to the bait. If they take, evidently the line isn't scaring them.

If they don't take the bait, tie about a two foot length of Vanish fluorocarbon line to the FireLine. The Vanish is truly invisible underwater. Now tie the same jig to the Vanish and lower it back down to the fish. If they take the bait, we have determined that the more visible line was truly spooking them.

If they still don't take the bait, something else needs to be tampered with. The results of our experiment regarding line visibility can be applied to open water angling as well.

If you like fishing, you will probably enjoy getting out on the ice on a clear body of water and watching fish. You need to be very quiet, patient, and pretty still to watch them, but the results will be both entertaining and applicable to both your open water and ice-fishing. Watching fish under the ice will make you a better angler both through the ice and in open water. 

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