The 5 Best Ice Fishing Lures To Catch Those Big Fish This Winter

As the weather is getting cold and winter is drawing closer, anglers are all looking forward to ice fishing on a cold winter day. Every ice fishing angler has their favorite ice fishing lures to take, whether they are going for trout, walleye, pike, perch, or bass. Choosing the right fishing lure can make your ice fishing trip much more effective. Although there are plenty of ice fishing lures on the market and it’s hard to pick one, we have selected the 5 best ice fishing lures for you to catch nice fish this winter.

What Is an Ice Fishing Lure?

Ice fishing lure is artificial bait designed to catch fish while fishing for fish from an ice hole. The lure is designed to resemble the prey fish or creature in the water. Fishermen use a lure to create motions, noises, and colors to attract the hungry fish that lives in the ice hole.

The main advantage of ice fishing lures is convenience. It is very difficult to keep live baits living and fresh on cold winter days. While ice fishing lures just stay in your tackle box, and you can use them any time anywhere.

Ice Fishing Lures and Their Characteristics

Before ice fishing, you will have to find an ideal fishing spot, usually a frozen pond. And then drill a hole in the ice. Ice fishing rods are smaller, shorter, and lighter than common fishing rods. So, ice fishing lures are always smaller and lighter than most fishing lures.

Ice fishing lures are usually colorful, small, and lightweight. They are good at intimating the motions of prey fish in winter and catching the attention of big fish.

Types of Ice Fishing Lures

There are a lot of ice fishing lures on the market. But if you are looking for the best lures for fishing, we’ll recommend you choose between jigs, spoons, soft plastics, lipless crankbaits, and jigs with live baits. These are the most effective fishing lure types for ice fishing, enabling you to target from walleye to panfish.

the 5 Best Ice Fishing Lures for Beginners

5 effective fishing lures are recognized to be the best ice fishing lures for beginners, easy to use and work great. Let’s take a look.

Ice Fishing Jigs

A jigging lure is one of the most effective ice fishing lures, no matter if it is a jig lure with soft plastic, diamond spoon, hard plastic, and so on. These jigging lures create lifelike actions and balanced movements with a light weighted body. They work great on catching small fish like panfish and walleye. Jigging lures can generate a loud disturbance in the water to catch the attention of the fish there.

Ice Fishing Spoons

Spoons are great for fishing in all seasons, it is no exception when it comes to ice fishing. They can perfectly intimate the swimming motion of a scared fish or a wounded fish to attract strikes. The excellent light reflection and vibration spoons generate catch good attention. Spoons come in a variety of colors, you can choose different color options. Silver and gold are the most popular options, and so are painted spoons.

Ice Fishing Soft Plastics

Soft plastic lures work great no matter what the air conditions are. Their sizes are not necessarily big, and there are different color options. Soft plastic lures have a light weighted body which creates a great swimming action to attract predator fish. Moreover, some plastic lures also come with a special scent that fish love. They can draw attention easily with a good scent.

Ice Fishing Lipless crankbaits

Crankbaits are preferred use on open water by anglers. But the lipless crankbaits are favored by ice-fishing anglers too. They have horizontal hooks and smooth swimming motion when rigged, perfect to mimic a wounded bait fish. They can generate flash to draw attention and tremble like a dying fish when they sink into the water. They can be used to target larger species like trout and pike.

Jigs with live baits

Anglers are getting used to using artificial lures these days because they are more than convenient and easy to use. But do remember that, although they are perfect at intimating bait fish, they are still artificial ones. So if you want to make sure you can catch something, always keep some live bait at hand, in case the bites are going negative. Live baits can be a game changer anytime, only they are difficult to store and transport.

Fishing Tips for Beginners

If you are a beginner who just starts ice fishing, the primary principle to always keep in mind is safety comes first. Search for the best spot for ice fishing before going and always check the weather. Ice fishing usually takes place in cold winter, it is important to make sure you know when the sun goes down, as the day is shorter in winter, and walking on the ice in the dark can be very dangerous.

When you are ready to start ice fishing, make sure the ice is thick enough. The thickness of the ice recommended for ice fishing is more than 4 inches. You will need to check the thickness after drilling the hole, the thicker the ice is, the more it can hold your weight. If you are going with your friends, the thickness has to be more.

Apart from that, the fishing gear for ice fishing has to be prepared before going. Unlike fishing in other seasons, fishing on the ice requires more fishing skills and equipment. First, you will need an auger to drill the fishing hole, and an ice scoop to remove the excessive ice. And then, you can be ready to fish. Make sure you have all the fishing tackles armed, including ice fishing rods, fishing reels, fishing lures, and anything you think that would be helpful.

Cold Weather Essentials for Ice Fishing

When going ice fishing in winter, there is more to prepare than we think. Ice fishing takes place under cold weather, we need to pack some more to withstand the coldness and the wind, except for just the fishing gear.

The first thing to pack is clothing, bibs, jackets, gloves, hats, and boots are recommended to keep warm. Hand warmers are helpful too, to keep your hands from freezing. Apart from that, always remember to bring enough supplies, including food and water. People need more energy and calories in cold temperatures. If you decide to go ice fishing, bring as much food, water, drinks, or snacks as you can. It is important to stay warm, hydrated, and satiated.