Welcome to Fishing Guide

Trolling Crappie Fishing Lures Article

Thumbnail example . For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.

You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.

Summer Tackle Used For Ice Fishing Lures

from:

Ice fishing is a sport all of its own, but there are several ways that summer fishing enthusiasts can continue to use their current fishing equipment even in the harsher winter months. The most versatile of these dual purpose tackle essentials is the jig, which can double up as one of the best winter ice fishing lures.

Jigs come in many different shapes and sizes but they are definitely the key component in the tackle box for ice fishing lures. A seasoned ice fishing enthusiast will have several different sizes, styles and colors of jigs in their tackle box, and will also ensure that the hooks on the jigs are as sharp as possible, especially for the nibbling behaviors of most winter feeding fish.

Winter ice fishing lures used in jigs are typically very bright in color because they will be fished at a far greater depth in winter months than in the warmer summer months. Ice fishing lures for jigs are typically white, yellow, chartreuse, orange, lime green, pink or bright purple. Often the colors on the jigs are white with accent colors or black with accent colors. Some of the jigs or ice fishing lures may have additional brightly colored tails to slow their drop in the water give them more of a jigging action once they are at the depth that is desired.

Ice fishing lures or jigs are a designed with a molded body that includes the hook and the eye. A leader or swivel is usually attached to the line and sometimes a weight can be used up from the jig to allow the bounce back or jig along the bottom. In very deep water the ice fishing lures are suspended in the water using downriggers or bobbers as depth finders and then the end of the rod is moved up and down to give movement to the ice fishing lures.

The key to fishing with the various ice fishing lures is to experiment with different colors and sizes of jigs as well as the motion or jigging action. Some fish may be attracted to very extreme jigging motions whereas others will require less jigging action and a different color contrast with the water to make them bite. Ice fishing jigs are typically baited as well, using either plastic or live worms, bait or minnows. In some areas live bait is restricted, but plastics can also work very effectively. In using lures close to weed beds or debris baiting the hooks can help reduce snags and hang-ups, but it is very common to loose a few lures so always plan to bring more than you will need.

Ice fishing lures are relatively inexpensive so it is not costly to have a good variety of sizes and colors and even a couple of specialty ice fishing lures in the tackle box.