131

Ice Rainbows tactics.

Posted on February 3rd, 2022

I love to fish for both warm-water & cold-water species through the ice. Among the cold-water species Rainbow trout are at the top of my list. Rainbows are extremely active through our cold winter months and they can easily adapt to feeding at any depth from 5′-over 50′.  Rainbow Trout are native to the west-coast of North America but they have been distributed throughout the world. All of our Rainbow Trout in our Ontario lakes have been introduced.

Rainbow Trout
Rainbows are exciting trout to hook through the ice, especially when they strike a small jigging spoon.

Some lakes have been purposely stocked for sportfishing and then there are those Rainbows that are “escapees” from aquaculture operations. Here are my favorite ways to catch both:

Rainbow Trout
The TipNJig Total Ice Fishing System is ideal to fish live bait or to use the rod/reel to jig with.

-Fishing minnows, worms, roe bags using a tip-up or using a jigging rod with 6 lb. test, the smallest hooks possible and a light fluorocarbon leader. Rainbows have great eyesight in clear water so using the least amount of terminal tackle is an asset.

Rainbow Trout
Small rattling and non-rattling lipless crankbaits jigged aggressively can bring in Rainbow Trout that may not be interested in feeding and get them to strike.

-Jigging vertical jigging spoons and small lip-less crankbaits in the water column. Rainbows are aggressive strikers and quick-snaps of both lures work well to bring them in and to get them to hit.

Rainbow Trout
Small plastic grubs like the Fishing Compete Lil Hellgrammite can be deadly on Rainbow trout under the ice.

-Gently jigging a soft-plastic grub like the Fishing Compete Lil Hellgrammite. I fish these on a 1/8 oz jighead and gently shake them starting from the bottom to the mid-column of the water depth.

Rainbow Trout
Fishing plastic grubs slowly near the bottom will get even the weariest Rainbow Trout to strike under the ice.

My goal is to make the small plastic grub look and act like a small live organism. Jigging gently and slow is the key.

I use all these presentations at different water depths. My key is to locate where the Rainbows are feeding. I start shallow early in the day and work my way a little deeper as the light intensity increases.

Make sure to check the fishing videos on our Italo Labignan YouTube channel and if you have any questions just email them to me at Ask Italo throughout our www.canadian-sportfishing.com website.

Like me   Follow Me  
Subscribe youtube   Newsletter Subscriber   InstagramFollow in instagram