Last minute tips for first time ice fishing

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Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - doz2 - 02-04-2021

Headed to Panguitch this weekend for some ice fishing. Never ice fished before. Anything that I should have?

Have the essentials. Auger, heater/chairs, beer. Not sure what might make my life a bit better as far as bait/lures?

Thanks!

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - Bertrum13 - 02-04-2021

Not familiar with Panguitch, so I can't give pointers specific for that lake. Usually when going for trout, I've done well almost anywhere with white jigs tipped with a worm of some kind (wax, meal or nightcrawler). But I think the most important thing is to be prepared in the event the weather turns cold/snowy/unpleasant. If you are caught unprepared, it can turn really miserable really fast. Good luck out there!

P.S. Please make sure to clean up after yourself. Nothing make me more annoyed than showing up on the ice to find piles of trash left by other people...

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - doz2 - 02-04-2021

(02-04-2021, 09:28 PM)Bertrum13 Wrote: Not familiar with Panguitch, so I can't give pointers specific for that lake. Usually when going for trout, I've done well almost anywhere with white jigs tipped with a worm of some kind (wax, meal or nightcrawler). But I think the most important thing is to be prepared in the event the weather turns cold/snowy/unpleasant. If you are caught unprepared, it can turn really miserable really fast. Good luck out there!

P.S. Please make sure to clean up after yourself. Nothing make me more annoyed than showing up on the ice to find piles of trash left by other people...

Always clean-up! I am a boater here in Nevada and we usually take a bag or two of trash to the dock that we find on the beach. Absolutely hate the people who dump trash!

Weather should be pretty nice actually up there. If we have to pack it up and go, so be it as we are staying in Duck Creek for about 4 days.

I'll be sure to get some jigs. Planned on bringing nightcrawlers but I'll grab everything. Last minute trip and I could only get a 5" auger here in time. Hopefully its enough.

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - catchinon - 02-04-2021

Give us some idea of what you already have that you're planning to use. It's nearly impossible to find anything ice-related at the stores now. You can do well with small jigs. Tungsten would be best but good old lead works fine. For bait you should take as many of these as you can so you'll have what they might be in the the mood for that day: waxworms, mealworms, earthworms, PowerBait, and cutbait like chub, sucker, shiners, minnows, etc. I don't know anything specific about Panguitch but I assume you'll be after trout. Get a variety of colors including green, pink, orange, and white. If you want to go basic there's nothing wrong with a baitholder hook with an earthworm and a split shot and bobber. You can make a loop in your line and put the bobber on it. When you reel in it will pop off and you can land the fish without worrying about it.

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - doz2 - 02-04-2021

(02-04-2021, 09:36 PM)catchinon Wrote: Give us some idea of what you already have that you're planning to use. It's nearly impossible to find anything ice-related at the stores now. You can do well with small jigs. Tungsten would be best but good old lead works fine. For bait you should take as many of these as you can so you'll have what they might be in the the mood for that day: waxworms, mealworms, earthworms, PowerBait, and cutbait like chub, sucker, shiners, minnows, etc. I don't know anything specific about Panguitch but I assume you'll be after trout. Get a variety of colors including green, pink, orange, and white. If you want to go basic there's nothing wrong with a baitholder hook with an earthworm and a split shot and bobber. You can make a loop in your line and put the bobber on it. When you reel in it will pop off and you can land the fish without worrying about it.

Don't have much. I don't do a lot of trout fishing other than the local pond. Have weights, hooks, powerbait, and panther martins. Found some jig-heads and going to pick up a few more and grab night crawlers and mealworms tomorrow before I head out.

And yes, stores are cleaned out of stuff. We couldn't even find thermals for the fiance locally (had to order them online). All the winter stuff is being cleared out already down here.

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - Jbworkin - 02-04-2021

I like to use a wire strike indicator on a short fishing rod to detect the light bites. Fish in the winter often are slow and noticing just a slight movement of your rod tip can be the difference between a great day and a boring one. I also like lighter line. Florocarbon leader in 4-6# is my preferred line. Sometimes less is more. A small 1" piece of nightcrawler tucked inside a skirted jig often works better than a long nighcrawler dangling off your jig. Then you can fool around with all the different jiggs, sizes, colors and various presentations. Sometimes dead sticking it works best sometimes a slight movement up and down sometines a quick jerk and a free fall, you just never know. I find many fish will hit on the drop. So try to keep contact with your lure and if it stops dropping before you think its on the bottom set the hook! Ice fishing is often finess fishing and then sometimes they will pull your rod into the water.

Standard lures are the ratfinki in (white, orange, pink, glow). Paddle bugs (white), Maniac Cut'r Bugs, and tube jigs are my go to ice tackle. I also like to tip them with wax worms, and meal worms or a small piece of nighcrawler. Minnows often work well too. I like to hide my bait in the tube jigs. Colors include white, red/white, yellow/white, etc. Sizes from 1 1/2" to 4" You can also use a small kastmaster as an attractor above you jig or lure.

Your 5" auger should be fine unless you are very lucky and catch a monster. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - addicted2fishin - 02-04-2021

(02-04-2021, 08:58 PM)doz2 Wrote: Headed to Panguitch this weekend for some ice fishing. Never ice fished before. Anything that I should have?

Have the essentials. Auger, heater/chairs, beer. Not sure what might make my life a bit better as far as bait/lures?

Thanks!

I can't say it often enough....the #1 item should always be warm, waterproof boots. Get them a size or two big and layer socks. Hunting boots that say waterproof will usually NOT cut it. Even a good day fishing can get miserable if your feet are freezing.

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - Saltslam - 02-05-2021

The slush was starting to get bad last weekend. Be sure you have waterproof boots or socks

RE: Last minute tips for first time ice fishing - doz2 - 02-13-2021

Thanks for all the tips. We had a great time. There was a LOT of slush on the southeast end. We had a few bites there but didn't catch anything. The next day we went to the northeast and nearly no slush with ice around 14-16" in places (ice was 10-12" southeast end).

We didn't end up catching a lot, but we caught some nice fish. A couple 2.5 lb trout (only 1 pictured, the top fish) and about 3-4 1.5 - 2 lbers. Caught a few small planters as well. Cold wasn't really a problem but my boots needed to be waterproofed a bit (I just had my work boots, which are also used for my hunting boots).

All in all, it was a great time.