Jigs and Spoons and Hooks

Ice fishing with Jigs and Spoons and Hooks

The only thing that matters to your next meal will be the ‘presentation’ of your bait. Because we live in a world of ‘plastics’, it is easier to represent the bait most fish like. Jigs work the best for finicky fish. Spoons work best when “the bite is on”, and plain hooks (tipped with bait) work best when there is a feeding frenzy.

Any decent ice fisherman will have an assortment of all of these in his tackle case. The jigs need to match the size of fish you are looking for. A one ounce jig will not work for a perch, no matter how you want it to. The jig is the “weight”, and adds a little color. Rarely will a plain jig catch a fish, so you want to tip the hook with a piece of something the fish might like. That might be a wax worm, or possibly a minnow, or even a part of a minnow (pinched in half at the head).

A plain hook will work just fine when the bite is “on”. I might only need a part of a worm on it if there is a feeding frenzy.

Spoons are just plain cool. They can, sometimes, be displayed without any extra bait. They just seem to work. Color is the most important thing, so check with local fishermen to find the right color for your lake or river.