Hillbilly Trout Fishing

[ozark trout fisher]

I am a fly fisherman. 90% of my fishing is done with a fly rod, and a fly, preferably with a dry fly. And I am also almost exclusively a catch and release fisherman. But I break all those rules in winter when the big freeze comes, and fishing options become much fewer. For a mile from my house, there is a small pond that is stocked each winter with rainbow trout.

It is frozen most of the winter, so usually the only way to fish it is to go out on the dock, break a hole through the ice with an ice pick, and dangle a hook baited with Powerbait through the hole. Fly fishing isn't even possible, and it probably wouldn't be very effective even if it was. This is not the kind of fishing that will keep you up at night in anticipation, but it is the only game in town this time of year (when there isn't time to go somewhere like the Current River), and it does have it's own sort of charm.

So I've been sitting out on that dock quite a bit lately, dangling my line through a little hole in the ice, waiting for the rod to twitch with a bite. Sometimes I'm waiting there a matter of hours between bites, where I reel up to check the bait every half hour or so, but for the most part I just watch and wait. This is the sort of fishing where it's a good idea to bring a book along, and that is really what keeps the slow times from being dreadfully boring. But in any case, it's better than sitting inside, and it is fishing, at least in a since. If the weather is warm (above freezing), it will be very pleasant, but things can get a little grim when the temperatures is in the low 20s or colder. Not only do you freeze your hands off in this kind of weather, but you also have to constantly stir around the water in the hole to keep it from re-freezing.

But then the bite comes. It almost always does, although on a slow day it's possible to get no more than one or two. First you'll see the line jiggling around a little, and then the pole starts to vibrate up and down on the dock. That's when you set the hook. The fish will make a little dive toward bottom, and it's best to let it tire itself out for awhile. When it get's a little tired, you reel it up onto the ice, and then bring it onto the dock. The fish probably swallowed the hook, so you'll keep it. The limit is three on that pond, and if I can catch that many I usually don't feel bad about taking that many home. They'll all be baked and eaten by the end of the day. And don't believe what they say about stocked trout tasting bad-if you bake them with lemon and butter, wrapped in foil, they're a regular treat. And why not keep them? They'll die when it warms up in spring anyway.

When spring does come, and there are other options, the little ultralight Powerbait fishing rod will be put away for the year. It will be back to the fly rod, and the hoppers and the woolly buggers, and the Pheasant Tail Nymphs. Back to the roll cast and the double haul, and all the grace, poetry, and complications that go with fly fishing. But for now, I' m plenty happy sitting on the dock, waiting for a bite, and generally enjoying the heck out of this hillbilly trout fishing thing.

[FishinCricket]

Yay for us ignernt hillbillies and our ignernt hillbilly ways.. Sorry it's too frozen for flipping your fly...

[troutfiend1985]

See, where you have it all wrong is the breaking of the ice with an ice pick. Recently at James A. Reed I witnessed an act of genius that is nothing short of theory of relativity material. For on the banks was a man with a rock attached to rope, in which he threw to break the ice repeatedly while never losing the rock(hopefully that has the poetic wax needed of a fly fisherman;) I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I'm not sure if I was more impressed with the Macgyver type creativity, or that there was another angler who decided to substitute the rope for an extension cord. Either way it was quite the eventful afternoon watching these guys playing catch with a rock tied to rope/extension cords.

[flytyer57]

Living in WI, I had often times thought of going ice fishing. Only problem was, trying to fly cast into a 6" hole in the ice from 45' away with a stiff north wind blowing seemed like a bit too much.

[flytyer57]

On a side note, this weeks fly of the week over at flyanglersonline is a fly called an "Eye Fly" that is tied for ice fishing.

[ozark trout fisher]

Fly fishing through the ice for dumb, pellet fed trout is making a point that seems a little too obscure for me-although that doesn't mean I won't try it sometime.

[Greg]

OTF I enjoyed your post. I'm a fly fisherman too. Mostly for trout. I've never fished through the ice with powerbait like that. But when my kids were younger I spent many an enjoyable afternoon fishing off the Branson city docks for trout with powerbait. It was a lot of fun and not just for the kids. I'll probably do it again sometime.

Greg

[Gatorjet]

See, where you have it all wrong is the breaking of the ice with an ice pick. Recently at James A. Reed I witnessed an act of genius that is nothing short of theory of relativity material. For on the banks was a man with a rock attached to rope, in which he threw to break the ice repeatedly while never losing the rock(hopefully that has the poetic wax needed of a fly fisherman;) I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I'm not sure if I was more impressed with the Macgyver type creativity, or that there was another angler who decided to substitute the rope for an extension cord. Either way it was quite the eventful afternoon watching these guys playing catch with a rock tied to rope/extension cords.

Don't be too impressed with this guy. He was a mere armature at "Hillbilly"trout pond fishing. In my days of fishing the winter trout program, I've seen, and used boat anchors, pieces of railroad track, coffee cans filled with concrete, and all sorts of ice breakers. The real pros use about 6 ft of chain between the weight, and the rope to act as a saw to cut a larger hole. When the weight breaks through, the rope is pulled and released rubbing the chain over the ice.

I have also seen home made sheet metal "skimmers" to clear thin ice from ones favorite hole from yesterday.

The technique is to throw the baited hook and weight out past the hole, then drag it back until the weight falls in. When a fish is hooked, just pull him up through the hole, and slide him across the ice to you.

Far from the proper rod, line, tippet, fly, and technique. But it works!

[troutfiend1985]

Don't be too impressed with this guy. He was a mere armature at "Hillbilly"trout pond fishing. In my days of fishing the winter trout program, I've seen, and used boat anchors, pieces of railroad track, coffee cans filled with concrete, and all sorts of ice breakers. The real pros use about 6 ft of chain between the weight, and the rope to act as a saw to cut a larger hole. When the weight breaks through, the rope is pulled and released rubbing the chain over the ice.

I have also seen home made sheet metal "skimmers" to clear thin ice from ones favorite hole from yesterday.

The technique is to throw the baited hook and weight out past the hole, then drag it back until the weight falls in. When a fish is hooked, just pull him up through the hole, and slide him across the ice to you.

Far from the proper rod, line, tippet, fly, and technique. But it works!

Ah, so the chain is the key. Going to have to get some so that I can open up larger holes, although I do have to tell that these guys were pretty good and the extension cord was a nice touch

[Fishinokie1]

Ah, so the chain is the key. Going to have to get some so that I can open up larger holes, although I do have to tell that these guys were pretty good and the extension cord was a nice touch

Would have been more hillbilly if you would have told us the extension cord was still plugged in......