Our kind and generous outdoors editor, Susan Bard, recently asked if I do any early season ice fishing for brook trout. I replied that I have, but not much anymore. Here’s the thing.
Brook trout hold a special place in my heart. I cut my flyfishing teeth on them and have pursued them across Maine and from the wilds of Labrador and Quebec to the deep cold water lakes and lagoons of Patagonia. Big or small it makes no difference.
Brook trout are a masterpiece in shape, form and color, and there is no fish, freshwater or salt, more pleasing to the human eye. I’ve caught bigger fish, more powerful and showy fish with more inspiring acrobatic displays once hooked. But give me a fly rod on a remote pond or in a stretch of moving water inhabited by brook trout, and I’m as close to heaven on earth as I can get.
Ice fishing for brook trout is very popular, and many local ponds are stocked on a put-and-take basis, including some large one-to-four-pound brooders each fall specifically for the ice fishing season. I know it will raise some hackles when I say any brook trout is too special to haul through the ice. I don’t have anything against those who think differently or who enjoy winter fishing for them.
I understand the passion and know that’s why ponds and lakes open to the taking of brook trout during the winter season are stocked in the first place. So, disagree and call me what you will, but ice fishing for brook trout just ain’t for me.
This doesn’t mean I don’t ice fish. I do. Or that I don’t occasionally ice fish for trout. I do that as well, but I’m less of a bigot when it comes to ice fishing for browns and rainbows. Neither is native to Maine waters; they were introduced to fill a void. When I’m looking for winter trout action, I avoid shallow water near shore and other areas that brook trout prefer. I focus on deeper water or places the lesser trouts, as I call them, frequent during winter. Sometimes I avoid water with brook trout altogether.
But to be honest, I don’t specifically target trout through the ice that often. Rarely, in fact. A number of area ponds not far from where I live are stocked each spring and each fall in anticipation of the winter season, but I generally find winter trout action slow and tedious. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, fishing the wrong locations, using the wrong baits or something, but the best thing about targeting trout through the ice is the solitude.
There’s nothing quite like it. As V. Paul Reynolds states in a recent article, being on the ice is “the essence of solitude.” Nicely put. But when I ice fish, I like action. I like to keep moving.
Except on rare blissful days when the temperature rises into double digits and the wind is down, temporarily feeling like early spring, it’s too cold to sit idle for long. Jigging doesn’t create much body heat. I don’t fish any one lake or pond enough to put out a shack. A portable ice fishing shelter would make things more tolerable, but without that, keeping busy running after tip-ups keeps the blood flowing and the mind interested.
Which is why I prefer the early ice fishing season and generally target the so-called warmwater species: black bass, yellow perch and various panfish.
The number of ponds in my neck of the woods with dominant populations of these species far outnumber ponds where a mixed bag of trout is the primary fishery. Before winter fully sets in for the long haul and warmwater fish have yet to go fully lethargic, they are still easy to catch.
Black bass are a favorite winter target due to their size. Ice fishing for largemouths and smallies can be nearly as slow as ice fishing for trout at times. But when you hook into one jigging, handlining or when one flips a tip-up flag, it can be something worth catching. On other days, the same rock piles, humps and surviving weed beds I fish during open water season produce steady wintertime action.
For several reasons, I particularly enjoy ice fishing yellow perch. Much of my winter fishing specifically targets them. The first reason is some of the ponds in my area are loaded with them. Another reason is there is no daily, possession or length limit on yellow perch, so you can catch all you want. This is a good thing because they tend to hang in schools, so once and where you find one, the chances are good of finding others. Once found, yellow perch always seem to be on the feed bag and are good biters whether jigging, handlining or fishing tip-ups with live bait.
I’ve stood over a single hole and hauled in a hearty meal’s worth with a small Swedish Pimple or Kastmaster. That brings me to the biggest reason I target yellow perch: there aren’t many fish in Maine freshwater that make better table fare. The white meat is flakey, mild and somewhat sweet. I like it lightly breaded with my favorite seasonings, pan fried or deep fried and served with a side of French fries dipped in tartar sauce. Yum yum.
Although I don’t specifically target them like I do bass and yellow perch, I do catch other warmwater species.
This is especially true of pickerel. I don’t like pickerel. They are ugly, slimy things but sometimes quick to bite, and the bigger specimens can put up a pretty good tussle once hooked. They have no visual appeal or dining value in my opinion. The same is true of other panfish commonly found in Maine waters, too.
The ice fishing season is just getting started, and across the state enthusiasts will be heading out and cutting holes for their favorite targets. It could be one of the trout or warmwater species, but whatever the case, it’s a way to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Have fun, but be safe.