Every time that we go out fishing, typically, search mode with an ice fishing spoon and finding the fish always kicks in. We ponder about fishing shallow and/or deep and try to start with a game plan. But as any angler knows, some game plans get thrown out and a new version needs to be created.
Shallow water fishing allows you to get away with lighter baits, as you may only be fishing 6 feet of water. These lighter baits can get to the strike zone fairly quickly and back to hooking another fish, but, what happens when the fish are related to deep water, 30 feet or more.
Now, these lighter baits can still be productive, but, by the time that you can get them down to the fish’s level, more times than not, they have moved on. Nothing more frustrating than watching them leave the screen of your electronics.
The Eye-Dropper Spoon allows you to get to these deeper fish much quicker and that in turn, allows you better chances of keeping the fish in the area. Lately, I have been tipping the spoon with half of the Impulse Stone Fly plastic and by bringing the size of the plastic down, this is more enticing to the more of the finicky fish.
If the fish have moved off of your screen, you can rapidly jig the spoon while giving it some erratic movements for drawing them back. Also, you can pound the bottom with this spoon and that will create a disturbance in the silt which will also attract the fish back out of curiosity.
Once the fish are back on your screen, you can try this same jigging technique to see how they react. Some days they like this erratic motion and will slam your bait and other times you need to tone down the action a bit. If they like this fast motion, these are the best days, as they come in fast and hit hard which makes for exciting fishing.
If they aren’t this aggressive, then scaling down the jigging action to just barely moving the spoon, which in turn moves the appendages of the plastic, may be exactly what they are looking for. This minimum movement can trigger either an aggressive bite or a very subtle one that you can hardly detect.
By watching your electronics screen, you are able to observe the reactions of the fish and this will help you determine their moods. Let the fish tell you what they want and in turn, that puts more success in your favor.
The Eye-Dropper Spoon can be fished in a variety of ways, used for getting back to deep water fish much quicker, and can be a bait that will attract fish in a variety of moods. You can also fish this at varying depths of the water column especially when fishing suspending fish and these are the ones that make for a fun day on the ice.
By: Kevin Dahlke