Fishing the
Moosehead
and Sebec Lake
Region

By Captain
Steve Lemieux

This Month:
Lets Get Ready for Ice Fishing

  For those of you who have been in the woods this fall after the whitetail, I hope your season was enjoyable. I had a great time there this fall. My 11-year-old son got his first deer, which was very exciting for him. I had the opportunity to take a nice bull moose during the annual Maine Moose hunt and a nice doe with the muzzle-loader during the first week of the muzzle-loading season. It was a very enjoyable fall. I spent many days in the woods watching many of nature’s wild creatures in action. There were lots of songbirds and squirrels. I also saw grouse, rabbits, beaver, muskrats, mink, fox and of course, lots of deer. Now that the deer hunt is nearly over, I thought it would be good to talk about getting our ice fishing gear ready to go.

Lets start by saying that at least in my area, most lakes are still ice-free. Some of the smaller ponds are frozen but only have a little over an inch of ice. Be sure not to got out on them until you have checked the ice thickness and are confident that it is safe everywhere. Having said that, probably one of the first things you want to get ready is your ice chisel. You’ll thank yourself later for getting it sharpened now. If you have a power auger, now is the time to get it tuned up and sharpen or replace the cutting blade.

Do yourself a favor and dispose of the old gas in it and put some new gas in.

As far as your ice traps (or tip-ups, as many fishermen call them), there are several things that can be done to make them operate better. Make sure that the reels spin freely. Many fish will drop your bait if they feel pressure on the line from a poorly working reel. Be sure to check your line. Usually a good dacron type ice fishing line will last several years under normal use, but it can get frayed from hooks and other sharp objects that it might come in contact with in your pack. Many people just lightly stick the hook into the line on the reel after they have wrapped the line up at the end of the day. While this works, a better idea is to cement a small piece of foam or cork on the face of the reel. Then once you have wrapped the line up, you can just stick the hook into the foam or cork to hold it. It works best if you trace the shape of the reel and then cut out the foam or cork the same size. Cut a hole in the center for the reel shaft. Make sure you have plenty of line on the reel. I like to add about 4 to 6 feet of monofilament line at the end of the dacron line. It is less visible to the fish. This "leader" should be replaced every season. I attach a good strong snap swivel to the dacron line and make a loop in the end of the mono leader. This way I can unsnap a broken or damaged leader and quickly replace it with a new one that I have already made up and stored in a container in my pocket. I also place a snap at the other end of the leader where I attach a snelled hook. This enables me to quickly change hooks when I need to. I cut off a lot of hooks in the run of a winter. If I can’t see the hook, I just cut it off without pulling the fish out of the water if I’m going to release the fish. Speaking of hooks, be sure that you have good sharp ones on all of your traps. Make sure that the mechanism that trips the flag is working properly. If it sticks, a fish will likely drop your bait or rip it off without getting a chance to get the hook in his mouth. Put a small dab of grease on each end of the tube that the trip wire runs through. This will help keep the water from entering the tube and freezing. Also set up you trap and pull on the line to make sure the flag goes up. When a fish takes out the line and doesn’t trip the flag, it makes you feel a little foolish.

Another thing that I often get caught on is when I get out on the ice and try to dip a minnow out of my bucket, I find my minnow net has holes in it. These are cheap and it’s a good idea to have a couple extras unless you don’t mind sticking your hand in that freezing bucket of water. It also goes without saying that you should check your minnow bucket for leaks before you head for the bait shop. They don’t survive very long in a dry bucket.

Because everyone uses lots of different equipment when they go ice fishing, it’s hard to list all the items that should be looked at. It’s just a good idea to get all your things together just as if your were headed out fishing. This way you can check everything out ahead of time. You’ll thank yourself on some cold morning, when all your gear is working smoothly and your buddies are struggling with tangled lines and poorly working equipment.

Get this stuff ready now and be ready to go. It won’t be long and you’ll be out on the ice pulling those fish up through the hole. Oh yes, be sure you get a new copy of the ice fishing laws and look up the waters you’ll be fishing.

Now is also a good time to book your spring fishing trip. Don’t wait until all the good dates have been taken. For information on fishing with Mickey Finn Fishing Charters, go to our web site at http://www.mickeyfinncharters.com/ or send an email to steve@mickeyfinncharters.com

    Click HERE for Previous Articles by Captain Steve Lemieux.