Ice Fishing
By Brian Chan
Courtesy Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC
It won’t be long before winter arrives in the interior of B.C. Thousands of small, productive trout, char and kokanee lakes will freeze over and signal the start of another season of ice fishing. The switch from living in open water to under the cover of ice for four to six months changes the feeding and habitat preferences of these popular game fish. For anglers, it is important to understand what's going on under the ice, and where in the lake we should concentrate our efforts for the various targeted species.
Found throughout the province – and the most abundant in terms of water-bodies that support them – rainbow and brook trout are probably the most sought-after fish during the ice fishing season. Early on, when the ice is just thick enough to travel across safely (15 centimetres of hard, clear ice), the biggest concentration of these fishes’ preferred foods is found on the littoral or shoal zones of the lake, in water less than about six metres in depth. Commonly found invertebrate prey (like freshwater shrimp or scuds, juvenile damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, leeches, and chironomid larvae or bloodworms) will be living in the now-decaying plant material, and within the mud/marl bottom of the lakes. This means fishing water where the rainbows and brookies will be feeding – anywhere from as shallow as one metre to no deeper than five metres. The first six weeks of the season are often the best time to target these two species, while oxygen levels are still high, and the fish actively feeding. As winter progresses the metabolism (and need to feed) of the fish will slow due to lowering water-temperatures and levels of oxygen.
Popular ice fishing tactics for rainbows and brookies include using both flies and baits. Instead of moving the lures horizontally through the water as you would during the spring and summer, jig them up-and-down in slow, short pulls. Use the same leech and shrimp fly-patterns that you used during the open water season, along with popular baits like maggots, mealworms, earthworms, cooked saltwater shrimp, and synthetic baits like Berkley Gulp or Rapala Trigger X. Whether fishing with flies or baits, you should try to suspend them within a few centimetres of the lake bottom, where the fish will be cruising while searching for food.
Kokanee are a different story. They are plankton feeders, searching out zooplankton like daphnia or Cyclops. Zooplankton are typically green or reddish-orange organisms that form bands or layers in the water-column. You can often see zooplankton when looking into the water off the side of the boat or through a hole in the ice. Zooplankton (and along with them, kokanee) are found in the deeper parts of the lake. It could be 20 to 40 metres deep where you are fishing, but kokanee and zooplankton are found at the six- to ten-metre depth range. Finding kokanee is a lot easier with a depthsounder, as these SONAR units will mark both fish and bands of zooplankton.
When it comes to ice fishing for kokanee, having a lot of anglers out on the ice is a good thing. Since kokanee are a schooling fish, as soon as someone finds the school and its depth, everyone in the area can enjoy the fast and furious action while the fish pass through. Some of the best kokanee fisheries are found in the South Cariboo. Bridge, Deka, Little Deka, Sulphurous, Ruth, and Horse lakes (in the Interlakes area) are all easily accessible during the winter.
Kokanee gear includes a one- to 1.5-metre-long ice fishing rod set-up (or just use a regular spinning rod and reel). Use 7.5- to 12.5-centimetre spoons in silver, gold, or other bright colours to attract the fish to a maggot- or krill-baited hook suspended from a short leader, so it’s about 30 centimetres below the spoon. Jig the spoon and bait slowly up-and-down in a sweeping motion so the fluttering spoon attracts the kokanee to the baited hook.
Whether ice fishing for rainbows, brookies, or kokanee, it helps to understand where and why the fish live where they do during the winter. I hope this information will help you catch a few more fish.
Visit Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC website for fishing information.