Determining Jig Location in Ice Fishing

Video Transcript

"Let's talk now about how to determine where your jig is in relation to the water column and the bottom of the lake or pond and the ice. You really need to know that. You don't want to be fishing blind and run into a school of fish say that are ten feet below the ice. And then you catch one and then you don't really know where you were and so you miss the entire school while they're there. So the easiest way to do that if you don't have a fish finder, simply to take your jig and drop it down the hole. Let the line go freely, keep the bale open, let the spool go until that lure stops. And so there we go. The line stopped by itself which means that the jig is on the bottom. What I can do now is simply bring it up a couple feet at a time and I'll know now, o.k. I'm about a foot and a half to two feet off the bottom. I can fish that area for a few minutes. If I catch a fish I'll know immediately; drop it back to the bottom, bring it up a couple of feet. Accordingly, if I'm not catching fish there I can bring it up say another five turns of the reel. Now I'm seven turns of the reel off the bottom, fish that for a bit. If I catch fish, I know exactly where the fish are."