Trout Tips From Trautwein: Where To Look On Ice

The wind finally gave up for a couple days this last weekend on the Laramie Plains Lakes and I had a chance to set up for what turned out to be a very productive afternoon of jigging on Twin Buttes.

Location has everything to do with the success of an angler on this particular lake, and since I often float tube and fish from a boat on this lake in the summers, I am able to make a mental note of where the fish hit. I often try to relate the productive locations to ice fishing.

An angler without a GPS unit could not go to the exact spot of a fish strike on open water, but remembering certain land marks on shore, an angler can dial in the productive locations by starting this way. For me, one spot on Twin Buttes is more productive than any other spots I have tried and I returned to this area Sunday afternoon.

In two hours I brought six fish to the hole and lost a couple others. The success of this story doesn't lie in what to use or when to fish, but rather in relating success on open water to the areas you fish on the ice.

When the wind allows.

Try to make a mental note of how far from shore or a specific mark on the land when catching fish in open water and this will help an angler with an idea of where to start looking for fish on the ice.