Ice fishing without a float requires extra skill on the part of the fisherman as he must be alert for the almost imperceptible tugs on the line indicative of a nibbling fish. A trick used by some of the experts who fish without a float is to put a kink in the monofilament line just above the surface of the water. When the kink straightens out, it is very likely a fish has taken the bait. At certain times, a gentle up and down motion of the rod tip serves to impart a waving action to the flies which makes them appear mire lifelike and usually adds to their effectiveness.

In the wintertime, fish are not apt to feed as readily or as heavily as in the warm seasons, and they ordinarily show a definite preference for live baits, usually in the smaller sizes. A good trick is to use ice flies baited with small grubs until the fish are located or until they begin feeding actively. Then, a little experimentation quickly indicates whether the grubs or the ice flies can be eliminated.

The most popular baits for ice fishing are waxworms, which are larvae of wax moths; mousies, or rat-tailed maggots, larvae of syrphus flies; and “spikies,” or blow maggots, larvae of blow flies and flesh flies. Some fishermen find mealworms as effective in winter as in the summer. Mealworms are larvae of darkling beetles. Minnows, of course, are always popular and a good bet to have along on an ice fishing trip.

Some fishermen have discovered there is an excellent source of live bait awaiting the man who will hunt weed fields and wood edges for goldenrod plants that show the characteristic swelling or gall of the goldenrod moth larva. However, most of the gall worms reach the adult stage and emerge from the gall by fall, so the fisherman often must cut into several dozen galls before finding one larva, or worm suitable for fishing.

Most of the popular live baits are readily available in bait stores, but some of the more avid ice fishermen like to rear their own live baits with a preference shown for mealworms and waxworms. There are two kinds of mealworms, namely yellow mealworms and dark mealworms. They are very similar except for color.

Mealworms derive their name from the fact they feed on grain. In fact, they are a serious pest when they get into stored meal, bran, grains, course cereals, oatmeal, and similar products. They also occur in meat scraps, among dead insects, or in mixtures of feathers, refuse, grain and other litter in chicken houses. Mealworms are the larval form of the darkling beetle. The mealworm is sometimes called the false wireworm, but it can be distinguished from the true wireworm by the presence of an upper lip in front.

Ice Fishing Lake Manitoba Narrows

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