One of my favourite places for ice fishing is the Bras D,or Lakes, Cape Breton. I can remember the time fishing with my buddies Vince, Doug.

 

 We got set up and drilled some holes in a little inlet of the main lake. (Tired of constantly drilling holes through the ice to check the depth. Here's something that can help, pour a few ounces of antifreeze into a small plastic bag. Place the bag over the transducer on your depth finder and secure it with a rubber band. Place the transducer on the ice, and you will be able to read the depth).The ice was getting rotten in some places but we had about 10-12 inches with 3-4 feet of water. It didn’t take long for Doug to start hitting the smelts; he was down here before and forgot to mention to us that they like to hit an orange hook and a piece of shrimp.
 That’s ok because we all started hitting trout, nice healthy trout, in total we must have hooked 30-35 trout with Doug hitting the most with the biggest around 1 ½ pounds which I landed. We were hoping to hook a couple of large Rainbows but had no luck with these.The weather was great just like the fishing, it was the first time ice fishing for trout for me and I liked it.

 
 
 What a feeling to hook a good size trout through the ice with that little rod, they feel huge. Vince and I fished that inlet most of the day enjoying the trout, will Doug, the smelt slayer got our limit for smelts. Doug had the secret knack. I have to say it look funny with me and Vince setting over our holes with hardly any smelts and Doug surrounded with them. Were going down again this year and I can’t wait.
  
Here are a few tactics to try on Brook trout when ice fishing

 If you are allowed to use live bait the wiggle of a 2-3 inch minnow is hard to beat. Use a split shot or two coupled with a small treble hook buried in the back of the minnow. A light red or orange jig head with large-gap hook works great too.
 I use a good balanced, short jigging- spinning rod to detect hits. Keep the drag loose so a trout can take line when it hits. You will see the rod tip bouncing and then pull down towards the hole. At the hit, carefully open the bail, tighten the drag, close the bail, and set the hook.
 Worms are a good bait choice for jigging. Try sweetening brown, black, and olive marabou jigs with a taste of worm, they will act like aquatic insects. Orange marabou is a good attractor as well. I sometimes use a piece of canned shrimp on a single hook for Bookies.
 Jigging with grubs, tubes, and light metal spoons will call in a trout from a long way. You can sweeten all of these with a worm or minnow, but there are times when a plain spoon jigged aggressively will work wonders.

   
 
 Recommended clothing to stay warm while Ice Fishing: 
 
 Long underwear, Flannel or wool shirt, Loose-fitting jeans or pants, Wool socks, Insulated or fur-lined boots, Coveralls or insulated pants, Heavy coat with a hood, Stocking cap and warm gloves (bring two pair in case one gets wet).
 (A popular hand-warmer is a coffee can with several inches of sand on the bottom and above that, a layer of charcoal briquettes. The glowing coals will provide heat for hours.)
 As for safety when you’re putting together your  ice auger be very careful handling it because they are very sharp. I imagine that not to many ice fisherman may think of this when in a hurry to get that hole drilled.
 


 Can you imagine what might happen if you run your hand or worst yet your wrist over these razor sharp bets? You think, some of the places we ice fish are quite a ways out on the lake. How far from help are you?
 Always keep those blades guarded when not in use and when putting your auger together to drill a hole. Maybe taking along a first-aid kit with you wouldn’t be a bad idea. I know what your thinking, overkill but it could happen and we don’t want a nasty cut to end our day.
 
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