3 ice-fishing secrets for hooking up on busy, pressured lakes

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#1  LIGHTEN UP

If you typically fish for walleye using eight- or 10-pound-test line, spool on six-pound line instead. And if you’ve loaded your perch, crappie and bluegill sticks with four-pound test, swap it out for two- or three-pound. And consider using a high-viz, gel-spun main line that resembles angel hair. Some folks will mutter that super-line ices up more than monofilament or fluorocarbon, but I fish in freezing temperatures most anglers can’t imagine and I’ve never had an issue. Just know that the lighter your line, the more you can manipulate your lure to make it come alive.

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