Ice anglers are finally coming around to the idea of fishing shallow during winter months. Especially during early and late ice, skinny depths of eight feet and less can hold large numbers of actively feeding panfish, walleyes and other species cruising weed-mottled flats.
But shaking up the shallows梐nd putting fish on the ice梒an抰 be done sitting in one spot. Because you have less water column to make fish aware of your bait, it抯 critical that you cover a lot of real estate to find active biters.
Here抯 the good news: You don抰 need to lug a bunch of gear around after you find an area with fish. But you do need one key component梐 long rod.
What I抦 talking about is a brand new stick with a funny name. Yet it抯 the kind of funny implied by a gangster nickname like Louie 慔a Ha,?because when used correctly, it抯 mercenary stuff.
Enter Frabill抯 Jiggler system.
I call it a 憇ystem?because it抯 the newest way for ice anglers to take full advantage of 搇ong-rodding,?a technique once limited to the playbooks of European tournament anglers and a handful of in-the-know stateside sticks.
Much like you抎 approach a trout stream梒rouched to prevent fish from noticing your movements梥hallow water ice fishing requires stealth. Especially in situations of little or no snow cover, sitting back from the hole with the Jiggler prevents beefy shallow-water pans and 慹yes from vacating the area. And even when there is snow, shallow water fish can sense movement and variations in light from above. Orienting yourself 48- to 54-inches back from the hole definitely puts the odds in your favor.
Jiggler Specifics
The Jiggler is available in two sizes. The 48-incher is panfish weaponry, while the 54-inch is perfect for shallow water walleyes and jumbo perch when matched with 6-pound Bionic Braid and a mono or fluoro leader. With that, you can horse fish up and out of the hole as fast as you can catch 慹m.
Because the Jiggler is designed for outside use, a hollow, line-through blank protects against the adverse effects of ice and wind, which means you can get your bait back in the hole easier and faster, despite frigid conditions. And say goodbye to line twist, already proven to turn off tight-lipped quarry.
The Jiggler also has built-in reel, but it抯 there simply to hold your line. The line flows straight off the reel and through the blank梐nd since you have 8 feet or less of line out, it抯 simply a matter of plucking fish out of the hole梞uch like fishing with a cane pole as a kid.
The System
Once you抳e found fish with your digital GPS mapping, there抯 no need to carry a flasher or graph from hole to hole. Due to the limited depth, the strike zone is actually quite small. If a fish is going to bite, he抯 going to bite right now. And when you do catch a fish, it抯 easy to eyeball what depth it was caught at and stay in the same strike window from hole to hole. It becomes a hole-hopping and numbers game. Put that bait in as many living rooms as possible!
So instead of eyeballing electronics, it抯 time to focus on your spring bobber, which is conveniently built right into the Jiggler抯 tip.
That brings us to the long rod抯 amazing hookset efficiency. All of a sudden, you抮e a lot quicker with the rod梬ith both the line running directly through the hollow blank and the addition of a stethoscope-sensitive spring bobber. There are no loops, curls or slack in the line, so your response time becomes lightning quick. When you see that spring bobber move, the added leverage of the rod length puts physics in your favor and hooksets become instant and dead-on.
And because you抮e using one set length of line梥ay, 4-, 6- or 8-feet梬hen you set the hook, it抯 just a matter if sliding them up and out of the hole. Handling fish and taking them off becomes a breeze. There抯 no need to readjust depth. Simply drop your jig and rod back down to the horizontal position and focus on the spring bobber. Catch fish. Repeat.
A Perfect Match
Although the Jiggler system works with all kinds of jigs梙orizontal, vertical, tungsten, lead梐nd waxies, spikes, you-name-it梱ou can really push the system over the edge by combining it with the best in today抯 microplastics like Northland抯 Impulse Baits to fish faster and more effectively than ever before. Not only is there zero time spent readjusting depth, there抯 zero time wasted re-baiting!
We certainly have no problem going completely artificial in open water, why should it be any different on the ice? And should it come as any surprise that the more time you spend with your line in the water, the more fish you catch?
