12-31-2005, 09:44 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I have been using unweighted ice "flies" for many years...either above a sinker on the bottom or in conjuction with either a weighted jig or a flash lure. There are times when finicky fishes, beneath the ice, don't want a bouncy jig type offering, but will slurp in something that moves slower and kinda floats a bit. Ice flies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I originally started using them on Pelican, fishing for bluegills. I simply put a split shot on the bottom of my line and tied two short droppers at 12" and 24" up from the sinker. It was a drop shot rig before that term had even been coined. I used either standard trout patterns, on size 8 - 12 hooks, or some colored chenille wraps on the same size hooks. Hares ears worked good, as did Renegades and other dark patterns. Sometimes a simple chenille wrap, in hot red, chartreuse or white...with a hot red head...was the hot ticket. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years, I have experimented a lot with drop shotting flies, both in open water and under the ice. Since I usually tip them with some kind of "sweetener", they are really just another one of my "bait bugs", but without weight. They are all part of what I call my BDD...bait delivery devices.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Colors can play a role in the effectiveness of BDD. Size also. The third biggie, as I have found more and more, is glow. I have just completed a new line of glow ice flies that I am anxious to try next week...after Mama Nature quits being such a "mother".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A lot of us have used small jigs either above or below a little spoon...like Kastmasters or Swedish Pimples. These ice flies work well either above or below the spoons. They are also good to hang above a heavier jig. Sometimes even larger fish will slurp a smaller offering before they will a large jig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I prefer having my ice flies above a weight heavy enough to keep a tight line and a slight bend in either my light rod or my strike indicator. Then, when there is any motion, up or down, you can assume there is something playing with your goodies. And, a lot of "up striking" fish are missed by anglers who do not anticipate something besides seeing their tip dip.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have actually used large streamers and boogers for "drop shot" fishing. I have a couple of long rods, built from fly rod blanks, that I call "bubble chuckers". I used to use them mostly for bubble and fly flinging, but they are also great for hucking a string of split shot...with a couple of flies upstairs...a long distance. Reel them and bounce them back above a CLEAN bottom and hold on. A great way to entice BIG bottom hugging trout, wipers, walleyes and even catfish. I have taken bunches of white bass that way in Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, I digress. Here is a pic of some of my latest ice fishing weightless flies. There are a couple that include bead chain eyes, but technically they are still flies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I originally started using them on Pelican, fishing for bluegills. I simply put a split shot on the bottom of my line and tied two short droppers at 12" and 24" up from the sinker. It was a drop shot rig before that term had even been coined. I used either standard trout patterns, on size 8 - 12 hooks, or some colored chenille wraps on the same size hooks. Hares ears worked good, as did Renegades and other dark patterns. Sometimes a simple chenille wrap, in hot red, chartreuse or white...with a hot red head...was the hot ticket. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Over the years, I have experimented a lot with drop shotting flies, both in open water and under the ice. Since I usually tip them with some kind of "sweetener", they are really just another one of my "bait bugs", but without weight. They are all part of what I call my BDD...bait delivery devices.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Colors can play a role in the effectiveness of BDD. Size also. The third biggie, as I have found more and more, is glow. I have just completed a new line of glow ice flies that I am anxious to try next week...after Mama Nature quits being such a "mother".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A lot of us have used small jigs either above or below a little spoon...like Kastmasters or Swedish Pimples. These ice flies work well either above or below the spoons. They are also good to hang above a heavier jig. Sometimes even larger fish will slurp a smaller offering before they will a large jig.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I prefer having my ice flies above a weight heavy enough to keep a tight line and a slight bend in either my light rod or my strike indicator. Then, when there is any motion, up or down, you can assume there is something playing with your goodies. And, a lot of "up striking" fish are missed by anglers who do not anticipate something besides seeing their tip dip.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have actually used large streamers and boogers for "drop shot" fishing. I have a couple of long rods, built from fly rod blanks, that I call "bubble chuckers". I used to use them mostly for bubble and fly flinging, but they are also great for hucking a string of split shot...with a couple of flies upstairs...a long distance. Reel them and bounce them back above a CLEAN bottom and hold on. A great way to entice BIG bottom hugging trout, wipers, walleyes and even catfish. I have taken bunches of white bass that way in Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, I digress. Here is a pic of some of my latest ice fishing weightless flies. There are a couple that include bead chain eyes, but technically they are still flies.[/#0000ff]
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