7 expert tactics for catching more—and bigger—perch and crappies through the ice

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Use a longer rod when you’re out in the open

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#6  FISH TWO RODS

Since you’re allowed to ice fish with two rods during winter in most places, I always have a second outfit tipped with a tungsten jig and soft-plastic minnow or creature. Truth be told, I typically have three or four jigging rods at the ready with jigs of various weights, shapes and colours. When you set up your rods like this before you head out on the ice, you’re much more likely to use them. When you have to rig them up outside, with the wind howling and the snow blowing in your face, you’re less likely to do so.

As for the right rod length, 28- to 36-inch ice rods with soft tips are essential for panfishing success. The soft tip functions like a spring bobber, allowing you to see a fish strike long before you feel it. I recommend using the fluorescent red-tipped extensions to not only help you detect strikes, but to also make for flawless presentations. I shake the spring bobber as lightly as possible—especially when I’m using a shorter rod with a tip that recovers too quickly—so my jig barely bounces down below. It is so deadly.

Just don’t make the mistake of allowing the soft tip to extend down into the backbone, where it will compromise hooksets. I look for rods with strong spines through the first two-thirds of the blank, terminating in the soft tip. Panfish anglers like to debate the merits of short, stubby rods versus longer ones, but my preference is to use slightly longer rods (32 to 36 inches) when I’m fishing out in the open, and slightly shorter rods (28 inches) when I’m jigging inside a shelter.

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Your ice rod should have a strong spine and a soft tip

There’s also some debate over which line to use for perch and crappies. No question about it, super-lines ice up more than monofilament and fluorocarbon, but their high-visibility, no-stretch strike detection and hooksetting power outweigh any negatives. Some folks will tell you, too, that fluorocarbon is better because it sinks faster, but in the light two-, three- and four-pound-test lines that are best for panfish, it’s totally academic. So, I opt for a bright red, yellow or green high-viz braid with a light two-foot monofilament leader attached by a Crazy Alberto knot.