Ice Fishing for Pike

A laugh a minute with this hard water strategy

Ice fishing for pike is a remarkable time when the bite is on. The days when your tip up won’t stay down are always days to remember. But if you want to really add a new spin to ice fishing pike, consider something a little less conventional.

One of the best times you will have ice fishing for pike will involve an empty 2 liter pop bottle, about 100 yards of 20 pound test and a good supply of bait. Oh yeah, and some boots you are comfortable running in!

Some folks call this jug fishing. This method is also a great way to have fun with kids on the ice.

The first step is to make sure the lid is tightly screwed on the bottle. This will prevent any water from getting in the bottle allowing it to retain maximum buoyancy.

After that, lower your bait through the hole to the depth you are going to fish. Don’t use your rod however, use a bare spool of line and tie your hook right to it.

While pulling line from the spool to maintain the desired depth, take about 30 large paces away from the hole.

Next, loop the fishing line around the neck of the bottle about 5 times (so it is impossible for it to slip off the bottle). Finally place the bottle in a position where it is easily seen.

Now sit back and wait. The fun begins when your bottle starts to race across the surface of the ice. As soon as that bottle starts to move you know you have a fish on.

It’s great fun when you have an aggressive pike on the line. Sometimes the bottle takes a big jump out of the snow on its way to the hole. When it’s a race to the fishing hole, the laughter really begins.

The good news is if the fish wins the race and the bottle beats you to the hole, the fish isn’t strong enough to pull it through. The bottle will remain in the water column you drilled with your auger. Ice fishing for pike this way shouldn’t give you any concern.

When you get your hands on the bottle you will find yourself engaged in a skillful match of tug-of-war. Test your skills to see if you can wrestle the pike to the surface. Some anglers grab the line and slowly back away from the hole. This gives them a better chance to judge how to manually give some slack if the pike starts to run.

No matter how you ice fish for pike, give this method a try sometime. It will challenge your skills and provide you and your buddies with a load of laughs.

Thanks for reading.

Good fishing.

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