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{April 2008} 

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January 2004

We have about 15 inches of quality ice covering the surface of Long Pond and its time to go ice fishing.   As we start our 26^th season here at Adirondack-Champlain Guide Service I feel qualified to offer some ice fishing suggestions that have proved affective though the years.

If practical, you should setup your tip-ups as early in the morning as possible. The feeding habits of fish don’t change much in the winter; they still like to feed early in the morning, particularly northern pike.  You should setup a few tip-ups near shore in shallow water just in case the fish are feeding shallow.  The tip-ups should be spread out to cover a good area of ice from shallow to deep water.  If a particular few tip-ups become very active I would suggest moving more tip-ups into that area, you may have discovered a school of fish.

In preparing your tip-ups I would like to offer a few hardware suggestions:

I like to use a heavier braided nylon line for a few reasons.  First, you don’t want use a line with a thin diameter because it might cut your hand when setting the hook.  The skin on your hands becomes a little more brittle in the prolonged exposure during cold weather.  If your fishing for a species of fish that is line shy you’ll have to use a monofilament leader.  We’re going to discuss a technique that can be used for fish that are not line shy.  I also carry a pair of our cutting pliers (see the ACGS store for details) should you have to cut a hook that a fish may have swallowed. 

If I’m going to cut a dozen holes or more than I like to use a power auger which makes the task much easier especially in thick ice conditions. If I’m going to cut just a few holes than a hand auger will do the job.  I prefer a hand auger; 6 to 8 inch seems to work the best.  I do feel using a power auger does spook the fish in the area temporally.  I like to use a No. 5 snap swivel attached to the end of my line.  The snap swivel allows you to change hooks quickly, plus the weight of the hook and the swivel will force just about any size minnow down to the desire depth.  Speaking of depth, I like to start fishing about one foot off the bottom.  I locate the bottom by using a sounder (a sinker type weight) clipped to the hook on one of my tip-ups.  I pull up the line about a foot and tie a loop knot, which is easy to untie, another reason to use a heavier line.  I like to use an Eagle Claw style 421NW hook in size 1/0.  This hook comes with a snelled flexible steel wire leader that should be used if you fish for northern pike, walleyes or pickerel.  I like to use a 4” medium/ heavy golden shiner minnow for bait.  A 4 inch shiner may sound big but believe me a good size perch will take this bait with no trouble at all.    When hooking the minnow, great care should be taken not to hook the bait too deep in front of the dorsal fin because that procedure will kill the minnow very quickly. If hooked properly the minnow will live for hours or until taken by a hungry fish. This hooking procedure allows the minnow to swim freely and makes for a very enticing presentation. Lower the minnow down the hole in the ice as the weight of the snap swivel and the Eagle Claw hook take the bait to the desired depth as indicated by the loop knot. Depending on the type of tip-up your using set the tripping mechanism and lock the flag in the down position. Lower the tip-up into the hole in the ice carefully to insure the flag does not go off and hit you in the face.  Follow this same procedure with each tip-up you’re going to install on the surface of the ice.  In most bodies of water in New York State you are allowed 5 tip-ups per person and two hand lines, but there are some exceptions.  Make sure your name and address appears on each tip-up you are going to use, it’s the law.