The New Age question for two old age techniques. What’s the best and most effective way to approach panfish through the ice? My philosophy is to do what gives you the most confidence in catching fish. If you lack that mental edge in a certain technique, you are off to a bad start right out of the box.
Tightlining is by far my favorite approach to catching gills and crappie. Give me a matched rod and reel, equipped with the right lb test line to fit the weight of the lure that I am using, and off I go. I personally will take that setup over a spring bobber rig 98% of the time.
Some folks call it line watching, and to a certain extent that is true. You do watch the line for tell tale signs of the action below, BUT it really is more than that. Tightlining is a concept as well as an approach to ice fishing for pannies. Examine the word itself and it tells you the first step in the technique.
Tight and line, combined are two key parts of the tactic. You have to have a heavy enough jig, with the right lb line to keep that line straight. If the jig is too light and your line doesn’t go straight down the hole, you have lost the key component in the method. Without the proper weight at the end of your line, it makes identifying hits more difficult and your line can stay curled and unreadable.
What to look for in fish bites, there are several things to look for, and you will catch on the more you use the technique. Most obvious is when you notice your line starting to move out of the center of the hole. A gill or crappie has sucked it in and is slowly starting to move off. Another ID for a bite is when you are jigging and the line becomes suddenly tight, or to say the slack is went out faster than during the time you have been jigging. Either the fish is taking the bait down or is swimming off with it. Line bunching up on the surface of your hole tells you that either the fish is holding steady or rising after the bite. This can also be accomplished by suddenly dropping your rod tip down an inch or two, if you have the same results, set the hook.
Going back to the description of line watching, you need a fairly high visible line to accomplish this goal. Under most conditions I use 2 lb Hi-Vis Gold Stren, occasionally I will have some reels spooled with 4 lb test. Again, it all comes down to the weight of the jig and keeping your line tight. In deep, DEEP water bites for gills and crappie cruising I break out my Yellow 5 lb Power Pro. The no stretch properties ensure a quick hookset.
In all cases, I use either 2 or 4 lb Vanish Fluorocarbon as my leaders. I pick up the pony spools at the beginning of each season and that 110 yards usually makes it through the winter. You might have a different type of line that you like, and what I said about confidence still goes, if you like it, use it. Connected with a double uni knot, this way to connect two lines together hasn’t failed me yet.
I will get into spring bobbers in Pt. 2 of this. Sure feels like the ice isn’t far off this morning.