Article - Coarse
Pike fishing - on the rocks!
By Fredrik, added on 15/02/2009
Introduction
Ideas for this article actually arose when reading a piece in Pike & Predators regarding ice-fishing for pike in Canada. As most of you might know, winter climate of northern Scandinavia also provide fishable ice covers every year, and being so, the ice-fishing tradition is very strong over here. Nowadays, serious pike anglers use short ice-fishing rods, bait runners, unhooking mats, and different alarm/indicator systems when ice-fishing for pike. The scene is more of a combination of general ice-fishing and standard pike fishing on the bank. But add one really important aspect - it’s a truly effective method for catching big pike!
This article is meant as a short introduction to modern ice-piking in Sweden. Neither comprehensive nor complete, but hopefully interesting.
Season of opportunity
Sweden is a country with more than 90 thousand lakes and rivers (yes, it’s true!) and pike inhabit almost every water system. Pike is all around, so to speak… and in combination with Sweden’s Right of common access, which gives every citizen access to our nation’s countryside, most of these lakes are quite easy to explore. All you need is a fishing license for your lake of interest, which is usually purchasable at the nearest gas-station. All these lakes become even more accessible when ice covers form in early winter and entire lakes can be fished without a need for boat-trailers or boat hires… no wonder the ice-fishing tradition is strong and nation wide!
How to do it
Many of you may never have come across any principle of ice-fishing, especially not ice-piking. In its simplest form it is merely fishing through a drilled hole in the ice, with some kind of pike bait – dead or alive. However, modern ice-piking incorporates a rod and reel (in the olden days pikes were actually hand-lined), with the same kind of traces as when float fishing for pike. The rod is placed by the hole with the line attached to a certain kind of spring-indicator with the bait hanging on a straight line from your rod tip. Think of it as float fishing where the spring-indicator acts as the float, keeping the bait at your chosen depth. When you get a bite you strike hard and play the fish standing on your knees besides the hole. When playing pike from snow-free ice you can often see the fish through the ice long before you have the possibility of landing it. This is an amazing experience, especially if you’re playing a big pike, as you can follow every move through the ice and see it thrash its head as it tries to pull away. When fighting big pike you should also be prepared to put your rod tip down the hole to avoid friction between ice edges and mainline. Landing is best done by hand, as you can not use a landing net - for obvious reasons!
Tackle
Ice-fishing for pike incorporates most of the gear you normally use when pike fishing on the bank (unhooking mats, weight sling, scales, and camera etc.), but some tackle and equipment are more specialized for these specific conditions.
Rods: these are built as a compromise between reduced rod length and retained playing action. You want to be as close to the hole in the ice as possible when playing a fish, yet the rod must still be long enough to keep the pressure on a big and violently thrashing pike.
Rods of about 4 foot are nowadays more or less standard in modern ice-piking and come in different test curves.
Reels: In cold conditions some reel grease freeze and mechanisms such as freespool systems and bait runners doesn’t work properly. Then you’re better of using multiplier reels that actually seem to put up with the worst conditions. However, in really cold conditions you shouldn’t be fishing at all. Besides freezing your ass of, there is a huge risk of causing freeze injuries to the pikes eyes and skin. Serious and sensible pike anglers put pike welfare first, and so should you!
Line: braided main lines are becoming very popular in predator sport fishing and certainly have many important advantages in lure fishing or jerk baiting compared to monofilament lines. But beware! Braid is not a good choice of mainline at lower temperature since it carries water and therefore freezes easier. Besides, ice-fishing is done on relatively short distances as you always fish on top of your intended quarry. Thick monofilament is the best choice since the ice can be quite harmful to your mainline when you are playing big pike through a ten inch hole in the ice. Stick to large diameter monofilament and you’ll be fine!
Leads: always use small inline leads. The weight of the lead is determined by fishing depth and the size of your bait fish. As the lead is only used for keeping your bait down and there are no floats that need additional weighting, you very seldom use leads over 1 oz. in weight. ¼ - ½ oz. leads are most common.
Indicator system
One huge difference separating ice-piking from other pike fishing techniques is the indicator system. It is of major importance that the indicator acts both as a visual and audible indicator. Normal ice-piking is done with three or four rods placed some distance apart. Such a set-up requires that, besides hearing a take, you must immediately be able to tell which rod has had a bite. So for this reason the spring-indicator is not merely an indicator, it’s an indicator with bells on! Literary speaking of course… and must also be fitted with a hi-viz ball acting as a sharp contrast to snow and ice. The mainline is locked in a line clip on the spring-indicator, and when you get a bite the spring-indicator is released, signalling a bite that you can both hear and see.
Electronic alarms are not visual enough, battery time is limited in cold conditions, and they might even freeze solid and fail to indicate a bite. We all love ‘em, but don’t use them… snowy and icy conditions calls for low-tech, not high-tech!
Know your lake
As with all pike fishing, you can’t really know too much about the waters you choose to fish. In every lake there are some features or areas that produce more bites than others. This is of course most often also weather dependent. So the best way to learn ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ in your particular lake is being out there fishing! But this is not the only way to enlightenment. Other valuable sources of information comes from analysing topographic maps, active feature finding, and knowing about catches made by other anglers… no information should ever be considered superfluous or unnecessary. To find your way back to a hot-spot in a small lake you might only need a few good land marks, but on larger lakes we use GPS-positions, which is a real advantage when fishing far from the shoreline.
When and where?
In more recent years we have adapted a more static approach to our ice fishing for big pike, only fishing big live-baits in a limited area for entire days. However, such an approach is indeed only suitable if you know where to fish. Big pike have very low metabolic rate in cold water and don’t need to feed very often during winter. Periods of active hunting for prey fish can be really scarce and short, but when such feeding periods do occur you better be on big pike hunting grounds. In this sense our approach is really basic and simple; fish interesting areas where you know or think big pikes will be hunting, and stay there no matter what!
And we know big pike prefer big baits. The reason for using big live-baits is that we believe that their activity, and their shear size, is more advertising for a hunting pike. Big bait fish are also highly selective against jack-pike attacks. There have been several occasions when we have had to do with smaller live-baits, just to find ourselves running out of bait before mid-day. Of course it can be fun to catch up to thirty smaller pike in a day, especially if you never tried ice-fishing before. But in due time you want to catch a really big one – we all do!
Pike welfare
Once a thick ice sheet is formed it usually takes months before it melts again, often growing thicker during nights. This means that harsh and cold conditions is not an everyday scenario when ice-fishing, in fact it’s quite uncommon. You should also realise that it is only advisable to ice-fish for pike when you are sure that weather conditions allow your catch to be returned safely. But fish handling can always be further improved. Be sure to have the correct equipment in place, and you can effectively minimize the time pike spend above water. Hand landed pike can be unhooked in the water, and mat, sack, and sling can be soaked in advance. If you keep this discipline you’ll have enough time to take some really nice photos as well!.
Your own safety
Ice-fishing can be a wonderful experience in a spectacular landscape, especially in spring time with a warming sun in your face. But weather-, and certainly ice conditions, can change very rapidly. If you’re not used to fish from the ice you should always be prepared for the worst, and never go fishing on your own! Take no chances, as falling through the ice can be a terrifying experience, not to mention lethal… Be sure to pack ice safety gear, including a long rope so that friends can pull you out of the water if needed. Proper clothing, food and hot drinks are also essential for safe and enjoyable ice-fishing.
Conclusions
Hopefully this small introduction has given you some preliminary insights into the world of modern ice-piking. As with all fishing techniques there are loads of technicalities to discuss, ranging from trace materials, hook-sizes, and indicator adjustments to broader aspects as which type of lake to fish during certain conditions, or how to catch and keep good live-baits.
But the essence of ice-fishing for pike is the feeling of fishing on top of an icy glass window through which you get a glance of - or sometimes even direct contact with - the watery world below your feet. I sincerely hope some of you get to experience it!