How to Ice Fish for Trout

When trout season rolls around, it’s treated like a holiday where thousands of anglers put their lives on hold, forgoing other fishing opportunities, work, and even their marriages so that they can spend hours, days, and even weeks pursuing these beautiful fish throughout the spring, summer, and fall. However, truly obsessive trout bums take it a step further by not slowing down once winter rolls around and taking their love of trout to the ice.

Ice fishing for trout is a unique and rewarding experience where the wide world of trout fishing is narrowed down to a small hole in the ice. Beneath it, trout swim in a dark and mysterious void, just waiting to be pulled into the cold light. Admittedly, ice fishing for trout does have its challenges, but when you know where and how to fish for them, you can keep your trout obsession going all winter long.

Trout are a cold-water species, so they’re particularly active during the winter months. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re always willing to hurl themselves on any bait or lure you throw at them as soon as it drops into the water. Like every other fish, winter trout can be sluggish in the cold water, and just like every other time of year, trout can be picky and particular about where and when they feed.

In the lakes, reservoirs, and large rivers where you can ice fish for them, trout behavior can change on an almost hourly basis. Yet, this doesn’t make the trout under the ice entirely unpredictable as they’ll generally stick to the same habits and feeding schedules.

With the exception of lake trout, which can be found and caught in deeper water, most trout species will stick to moving and feeding in the shallows during the winter months. They’ll spread out on large flats in four to eight feet of water, roving and suspending in the middle of the water column beneath the ice and feeding both along the bottom and just under the surface.

Trout will eat a variety of things during this time, from small minnows and baitfish to nymphs, chironomids, and worms they dig up from the weeds and mud. This makes finding muddy and soft spots in the middle of rocky and sandy bottoms particularly important, as the bulk of the trout swimming in these areas will be looking to feed.

Just like in the early part of the regular, open-water season, trout beneath the ice will be most active on the warmer days. On bright sunny days, they’ll feed in the shallows in the mornings and evenings before moving into deeper water to rest. However, on cloudy, overcast days with less light penetration, they can be on the hunt all day long. This makes any cloudy, warmer winter day when temps are 35°F and above prime times to get out on the ice.

Ice fishing equipment for trout can be both basic and complicated at the same time. The fish’s moody, hard-fighting disposition combined with an often sluggish feeding style means that you’re going to want to combine simple techniques with specialized equipment for success. This usually means fishing with extra sensitive jigging rods and hair-trigger tip-ups paired with fairly heavy lines and simple baits that will help you tempt trout into biting, detect their gentle strikes, and allow you to fight what are often very scrappy fish.

Winter trout can be spooky, so you’re going to want to use short, ultra-light jigging rods spooled with 4- to 8-pound fluorocarbon line. These short rods will allow you to lean in over the hole to help block out light while keeping your baits and lures active and in the center of the hole. If you’re fishing with tip-ups, you’re going to want to spool them with darker-colored main lines that won’t stand out in the darkness of the water and spook the fish before they get close. Tie these lines to one end of a barrel swivel and then add a longer 2- to 3-foot leader of 6- to 8-pound fluorocarbon line to the other end. This will help make your presentations look as natural as possible and keep trout from boogying off as soon as they see the tip-up line.

As far as baits and lures go, you’re going to want to stick to smaller, more natural presentations. Just as with most other fishing situations, live bait is probably going to give you the most bang for your buck. Trout commonly forage on small nymphs and other underwater insects during the winter months and will rarely refuse any sort of immature insect bait when it’s presented correctly. Baits like maggots, spikes, and waxworms all imitate caddis, mayflies, and other aquatic insect larvae that trout are used to eating, and whole or cut worms will also be hard for a winter trout to turn down. For larger, more predatory trout, you can also have a lot of luck using small minnows and even live smelt.

On a jigging rod, the best way to present live baits for trout is by suspending them underneath a bobber. Small oval- or pencil-shaped bobbers usually work best as they will slip underwater easily with very little resistance. Attach the float to your line or use a slip bobber and bobber stop so that you can suspend baits six inches to three feet above the bottom.

When using tip-ups, you’re going to want the bait to suspend at roughly the same distance from the bottom, so set your flag to ensure your bait hangs right in the strike zone. In both cases, it can be helpful to add a small split shot to your line around six to eight inches above the bait to help keep it in place. Don’t be afraid to adjust your depth throughout the day. Moving your baits between six inches to three feet will help you get dialed into the depth where trout are cruising.

Jigging lures for trout should also be as natural and subtle as possible. Small micro jigs between 1/20 ounce and 1/24 ounce in subtle black, white, silver, olive, or brown colors usually work best, especially when tipped with maggots or worms. Spoons like the Swedish Pimple, Little Phoebe, and Kastmaster can also be incredibly effective, especially when tipped with bait.

If you’re targeting larger, more aggressive trout than larger jigging lures like the Tungsten Roach and the Tikka Flash can really trigger a big trout into striking. Still, all the lures and baits in the world can be absolutely useless for trout if you aren’t drilling holes and fishing in the right spots.

Just like when you’re buying real estate or setting up a tree stand, success in ice fishing for trout is all about location. Active rainbows, browns, brookies, and cutthroat trout all generally move into the same spots in the same ways, pushing up from deeper water to patrol shallow flats to feed and then back to the deeper water again. While this means you can catch trout anywhere on a flat, your best fishing is usually going to be found in the areas where trout are moving from deeper to shallower water or where softer bottoms offer more food.

The best way to start finding spots to ice fish for trout is by looking at bathymetric maps or a mapping app that shows you the depth and bottom contours of the water you’re fishing. Trout tend to be most active around inside bends in bottom contours or where deeper 10- to 20-foot water makes the closest approach to shallower flats.

Once you find and mark these areas, concentrate your fishing along narrow areas of shallow water that extend out into deeper water, such as the points of islands or peninsulas or along long points of shallow flats. Drill a couple of holes in these spots and then start jigging or setting up your tip-ups from the shallowest water to the deeper water, fishing methodically out to the edge of the drop-offs.

If you use electronics that show you the structure of the bottom in these areas, it can be a big help. Underwater cameras and some sonar systems can show you the muddier, softer-bottom spots where trout will most likely be feeding.

The time of day is also vital to your fishing success as it often takes winter trout a bit of time to put on the feedbag. Usually, fish will begin moving onto shallow flats at first light but won’t really begin to feed until the late morning or early afternoon. However, as trout can be spooky and will immediately dash for cover at the slightest sound above them, it’s best to get on the water early so you can set up with the least amount of disturbance.

When you’re actually fishing, try to move as slowly and silently as you can when changing spots and even when jigging. Try to insulate your steps by walking in snow or laying down blankets or other cushioning, especially when fishing from a shanty with a hard wooden or plastic floor. Stay as silent as you can, cover your holes to block out the light, be discreet with your movements, and you’ll have a lot more bends in your rod and a lot more trout on the ice.

Trout are fish of the old world, with angling practices centered around their pursuit for more than 400 years. When you look at it that way, it’s little wonder why we can get so obsessive about catching them. They’re a fish that represent hundreds of years of angling and the quest for them has shaped the very foundations of the sport as we know it today.

They can be caught on both bait and fly, the fish of both paupers and kings, a fish whose beauty has inspired artists and writers all over the world. Most importantly, though, trout are a fish that can be caught at any time, so as long as you’re willing to brave the cold and know your way around an ice auger, they’re guaranteed to brighten even the darkest days of winter.