The Gill Pill Ice Fishing Jig

9 NEW PANFISHING ICE FISHING JIGS ASSORTED GILL PILL CRAPPIE BLUEGILL SUNFISH    US $9.99

Frostee Jigging Spoon Ice Fishing Jig

FROSTEE TECHNI-GLO JIGGING SPOON #SL175 3/16 NEW    US $5.79

Genz Bug Ice Fishing Jig

The Lindy Frostee jigging spoon is a known fish producer

So what makes the Frostee such a winner?  Perhaps I should be more specific, because actually it is the Frostee jigging spoon that I speak of, as Lindy also makes the plain Jane Frostee that is a single hook with a similar body style.  The jigging spoon variety has a very important distinction that I think it really what sets it apart from its single hook older brother, it has a red treble hook that not only gives the appearance of a bleeding bait but also allows for incredibly more consistent hook sets.  Not to mention the treble hook also is harder for the fish to shake en route to the hole.

A treble hook is hardly anything to get too excited about, but with the glow feature of the lure to go along with the glowing eye this lure has worked wonders for me.  When friends have had a hard time getting the fish to bite I usually can coax them into grabbing a hold of the Frostee jigging spoon. And I have used a wide array of bait at the end of the hook.  And that should be noted, I have not had any luck catching fish on this lure without any live bait on the end of the hook.

What Live Bait To Use With The Frostee

So make sure to tip the hook with some meat, I prefer to use wax worms.  That said, I have also had success with meal worms, spikes, and a minnow head.  When the bite gets really slow I even have used a full minnow below a bobber or on a dead stick setup.  Also don't be afraid to leave the minnow guts hanging out if the fish are finicky.  I like to "T bone" the wax worms and spikes, but at times the fish prefer for the end to be hooked to give it a different look and action.

Other key features of the Frostee Jigging Spoon

Another great feature of the jigging spoon is that it shows up great on electronics.  When it comes to fishing the hard water, there is no way I go without having my ice fishing flasher ready to rock.  It is imperative that I can see my lure down on my screen and how the fish are reacting to it.  This is one of many reasons that I love the Frostee, the thing shows up great even with a small amount of gain utilized on your flasher unit.  There are a wide array of sizes to match whatever quarry you are after.  They are effective for several species of fish, and I have personally caught largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, crappie, sunfish, rock bass and even a bullhead with this very lure through the ice.  I tend to favor the smallest variety which is 1/16 ounce even for the larger species, but it is also available in 1/8 ounce, 3/16 ounce and 1/4 ounce varieties to match whatever size the fish have a hankering for.

What color Frostee Jigging Spoon Should I Use?

The Frostee comes in a wide array of colors, from green to white to pink.  I have had my best luck with two colors, the pink/white which actually glows a shade of red when in the dark and down in the water and the green and yellow color which glows green.  Both have been very effective for me over the past few years and I normally have a few of each color just in case I lose one.  Other colors work as well, but those are my personal favorites.  Feel free to experiment and see what particular colors are most effective where you are fishing.

Hali Marmooska Ice Fishing Jig

Hali Marmooska Ice Fishing

For me, this is the key jig in the Hali line that made me a believer in their product.  Born out of the need for a heavy fishing jig that is still small enough for panfish to eat and not notice it is there comes the Marmooska jig.  The beauty of these jigs to me is the small size that they come in.  You can get as small as a size 14 hook (which is pretty darn small for those that aren't adept at knowing what a size 14 hook looks like.  If you want to know, the next time you are at your favorite fishing store go and find some size 14 hoooks.  Hint the best place to find them is in the trout fishing or fly tying section of the store.  You will notice they are 1/4 the size of a normal hook that you see for catching fish through the ice).  Sorry for that side track, but the small size of these lures allows for the fish to suck the bait and really not even notice that it is there.  This is great for that finicky panfish bite that we run into at times while out ice fishing.   I prefer to tip the Hali Marmooska with either a spike (fly maggot) or a wax worm.  Due to the small size many baits like a minnow are far too large to use with the Marmooska.  There are times you will find that no live bait is even required, but I always start with some meat on the end of my line to test the waters.  If the fish seem particularly aggressive I will go away from adding the bait and see if I continue to catch fish.  It is always easier to not have to bait a hook, especially when ice fishing, but it doesn't seem that the opportunity presents itself near enough.

Hali Ice Fishing Spoons

Hali Ice Fishing Jig Spoon

Designed to add a bit of flash to your underwater presentation, the ice fishing spoon is a willow leaf shaped lure that is meant for slow jigging.  Normally this will have a treble hook at the bottom of the spoon, but single hooks are also used by some ice fisherman.  For me I love the small treble hooks as they just seem to hook up with fish much better.  You can fine tune the color you are using based on the water conditions and what the fish like, but a hammered gold or silver is generally a great place to start.  For those finicky perch a dropper rig like the one shown in the picture on the side here is a lethal weapon.  The flash entices them over for a closer look, with the chain or line "dropping" the hook about 6 inches lower.  This allows for a finesse presentation for the actual bait with the added wow factor of the lure itself flashing and bobbing around.  I tend to fine tune the bait attached to these lures to the fish I am after.  For instance a wax worm or a crappie minnow head are great when targeting perch or other panfish such as sunfish and crappie.  However, this might be too small of a presentation if you are looking to land a northern pike or wallleye.  In those cases I would look to use either a hole crappie minnow or more likely a bigger minnow such as a fathead or shiner.  Really it is trial and error to find what the fish want that particular day.

Hali Ice Jiggers

To round out the Hali ice fishing jigs we have the ice jigger.  This lure is meant to be jigged up and down to entice a fish

Hali Ice Jiggers

to come and eat it.  Usually you tip this with a minnow head of sort sort, I normally go with a crappie minnow or fathead minnow head.  If you use the entire body you will screw up the action it imparts.  Some of these lures have "wings" which cause them to flutter left and right as they drop.  The best way I have found to impart this action is to snap the rod up such that the lure is moving 6 inches to a foot upward and then just drop the rod tip allowing the line to be completely limp.  This will allow the lure to be completely free of the line and be albe to impart any action the water allows.  The drop is where you will get 90%+ of your hits, so make sure to be ready to set the hook once you have made contact with the lure again.  These type of lures I like to match the size to the species I am targeting, so look for a small jigger when ice fishing for perch and a larger one when targeting walleye or burbot (don't laugh, there are some people that absolutely love to fish and eat burbot, or their more derisive name of eel pout).