Trolling trout ice out

[dwaytkus]

I was wondering if trolling for trout can be effective after the ice goes out?  Looking to target rainbows.  What are your experiences with this?

[jjf]

I'm no expert but ....Ive read  many posts stating that trolling after ice out  was one of the most productive times of the year for trout. Personally I've had "moderate" success with lake clear wabblers and crawlers in the past.  I will also say that I have limited myself. I typically only get out during the weekends...gotta work during the week. I'm pretty sure my wabblers can only get so deep in the water column. I'm sure it would be more helpful to use leadcore. All that to say....lets hear from someone with some real ice out experience

[mealworm]

its been from my experiance that lake clears work ok right after ice out but i have had better luck with lures the first time i went trout fishing on ponds and lakes i noticed every one was trolling wablers the fish(brookies) were near the surface and there were no bugs as the ice had been out for 1or2 days and noone was catching a thing no bites nothing so i trolled a tiny lead head jig with a feather tied to it and started catching fish there were 3 of us in my boat and all day we were the only ones to catch any fish ever since then thats what i'v been doing and it works like a charm my friend took me to his fav lake early last year and i tied on that jig to troll with he laughed he trolled with wablers along with another friend when we met up half way through the day and they saw i had my limmit and they seemed have been trolling with a skunk in there boats they wanted to borrow some lead head jigs

[Cedar Swamp]

What kind of feather? What did this thing look like ? Can this be bought or do you have to tie this?

its been from my experiance that lake clears work ok right after ice out but i have had better luck with lures the first time i went trout fishing on ponds and lakes i noticed every one was trolling wablers the fish(brookies) were near the surface and there were no bugs as the ice had been out for 1or2 days and noone was catching a thing no bites nothing so i trolled a tiny lead head jig with a feather tied to it and started catching fish there were 3 of us in my boat and all day we were the only ones to catch any fish ever since then thats what i'v been doing and it works like a charm my friend took me to his fav lake early last year and i tied on that jig to troll with he laughed he trolled with wablers along with another friend when we met up half way through the day and they saw i had my limmit and they seemed have been trolling with a skunk in there boats they wanted to borrow some lead head jigs

[mealworm]

What kind of feather? What did this thing look like ? Can this be bought or do you have to tie this?

i bought these but you could tie them i think i paid 50cents a piece here are a few pics hope this helps as far as colors i use all different black chartruse orange it depends on the day and i troll them about 40' or more from the boat

[Jimmy]

Yeah, streamers (Black Nosed Dace, Mickey Finns) trolled with sink-tip line are almost identical to those jigs... 

And incredibly effective on ice-out rainbows...

Here in the Adirondacks, most ice-out brookies are in WAY shallow and better trolled from a canoe, but the rainbows may be out a bit further, but again in that upper column of water.  Later in the season as the water warms the Wobbler/Crawler rigs will take over...  But only after the trout drop to 20ft or so...

At least in my experience, I have better luck trolling slowly from my canoe than from my fishing boat.  I am not sure if that is noise-related, or the fact that gentle sweeps of the rod while in the canoe probably look more like a darting baitfish that they are keyed in on...

Regardless- those first few weeks after ice out are awesome for some really nice early season trout!

[bigbrookie]

might have to add a few micro jigs to my spring trout box. i slow troll small thomas spoons about 50-70' behind the canoe if they are deeper. another good troller are small rapalas and rebels. also love putting a streamer about 100' back if they're up high

[Cedar Swamp]

Thanks Mealworm I'll have to try this !

i bought these but you could tie them i think i paid 50cents a piece here are a few pics hope this helps as far as colors i use all different black chartruse orange it depends on the day and i troll them about 40' or more from the boat

[dwaytkus]

At what depths do you usually pick up the rainbows at ice out? 

Mealworm do you know what size them feather jigs are?  I am a fly tyer and can certainly whip a few up and give them a whirl. 

[dwaytkus]

I have trolled wobblers before using speed #1 on a trolling motor.  Would this speed work for trolling streamers as well?

[mealworm]

At what depths do you usually pick up the rainbows at ice out? 

Mealworm do you know what size them feather jigs are?  I am a fly tyer and can certainly whip a few up and give them a whirl. 

i'm not sure the size i think there 1/8oz or 1/16oz i do have a couple different sizes though and as far as the depth i dont have a fish finder on my boat i'm just guessing but i speed up or slow down and let out more line at times to get deeper i did just get a finder so i can get in more detail once the ice is gone i do know that when they hit these little guys they really pound it i hope this helps