Ice advice: The most effective way to rig and use live bait

Trick #1

If ever there was a need for delicate, spiderweb-like line, super-sharp, wafer-thin wire hooks and negligible weight, it’s when you’re presenting live bait beneath a float or noodle-tipped deadstick rod. For tight-lipped black crappies, brook or rainbow trout and perch that I can see on my sonar screen, I drop down ultra-limp one-, two- or three-pound-test line (above). For bigger walleye and saugers, I’ll consider going to four- or five-pound test. You simply can’t believe the difference a one-pound change in line strength will deliver.