How to Use Ice Fishing Terms

Instructions

1

Dont chase those wind flags. Ice fishermen use devices called tip-ups that have a red or orange flag attached to them, and which alert the fisherman to a biting fish. However, the wind can sometimes cause these flags to trip prematurely. When an angler gets to the tip-up and finds a flag up and the bait untouched, the breeze is often the culprit. It has blown the flag off the trip mechanism, resulting in a wind flag. Use this term to describe these false alarms.

2

Be on the lookout for a flag up. This simply means that a fish has tripped the tip-up and the flag is up. Ice fishermen live for flags going up, and for the excitement of what could be on the other end of the tip-up. Other common phrases to describe this are tip-up and tilt up.

3

Know that you cannot ice fish until ice in. Use this ice-fishing term to describe the formation of safe ice. The sooner it occurs during the winter season, the better as far as an ice angler is concerned. Conversely, ice out means that the ice is in the process of breaking up and is now unsafe to travel on. Ice thaws from the shoreline in. When the ice close to shore starts to deteriorate but the rest of the lake or pond has safe ice, the ice fisherman will say ,Be careful on the edges. He will use a board or a long plank to get from the shore to the safe part of the ice.

4

Learn what the different target species can be called. Large-mouth bass, for instance, are often called bucketmouths. Small-mouth can be bronzebacks because of their brownish hue, or Oswego bass. Yellow perch have been called lake perch, walleye have been known as dore and jackfish, lake trout as togue, black crappies as papermouths and calico bass and northern pike as snakes and gators.

5

Dont lose a lunker at the hole. A lunker isnt a species of fish. It is a term that describes any very large fish. A lunker bass, for example, is one that weighs much more than the average bass and is considerably longer. To lose a fish at the hole is as bad as it gets for an ice fisherman. It means that a fish has been played for a while but escapes just as it is being pulled up out of the hole drilled through the ice.

6

Recognize that a dead stick might catch a live one. Dead sticking is a technique some ice fishermen use that involves setting up a small ice rod and reel with bait and letting it just sit there. The bait is suspended and the fisherman is not holding onto the pole. He waits to see some movement before he grabs the pole and sets the hook. Slammers are ice rods set in holders that have a shiner on them. They are used in a similar way.

7

Watch out for the old chew and screw. This means that a fish has taken the shiner and tripped the tip-up, but either got away with the shiner or just took a taste and decided to hit the road. A stripped reel is even worse news. This ice-fishing term describes a situation in which the fish took the bait and then swam off, taking all of the line off the tip-ups reel and then breaking the line off.

8

Understand that teardrops, mousees and spikes are baits. A teardrop is a small lure used to attract panfish. A mousee and a waxee are grubs that are sold as ice-fishing bait. They can be used on a jigging rod. This is the small ice rod and reel. Jigging means that someone is actively holding the rod and twitching the bait up and down in the hopes of attracting a fish.