Maine Outdoor Journal

A great way to catch fish ice fishing has always been to utilize ice fishing traps. With ice fishing affording the angler to set out multiple lines per person, you and your fishing buddies can set out quite a maze of tip ups designed to way lay passing fish. While the general tactics to use a trap is easy enough to understand, much like all forms of fishing there are definitely ways to fine tune the approach and land more fish. The following are 5 tried and tested methods to bring your tip up game to the next level.

Cover The Hole To Keep Light Out
Now if you have the thermal tip ups that cover the hole then this tip does you no good. However, if you are using the majority of other traps then there will be a portion of the hole that is uncovered and therefore lets light into the depths. The best best methods I have heard of is to either kick a bunch of slush down the hole after you set your trap, or what I prefer which is to fashion a cover out of cardboard. Yes, this will take more time, but the fruits of your labor can be very impressive.

Tend To Your Traps Every 15-30 Minutes
Again, the idea behind a trap is to set it and forget it, so to speak. However, I have noticed better catch rates when I make sure to move the bait around a bit every 15 or so minutes. Again, this can be a pain, but more fish on the ice is often the result.

Use Dead Bait
It seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes using dead bait is more effective than a live minnow. It usually helps to squish the bait a bit and perhaps even allow some of the entrails to hang out for more scent dispersion. Some good dead bait to try is sucker minnows or smelt.

The above tips are a bit different than what you will likely see from a lot of your ice fishing compatriots that are setting out tip ups and traps next to you. However, being a little different while fishing is often the key to landing more fish. If you aren't completely sold, try one of these tactics on only one of your traps and keep the rest the way you always set them. Note any diffferences in catch rate or size of the fish. Have you ever tried any of these tactics or have others to share?