The following video was originally published for members of My Fishing Cape Cod during January of 2018.
Growing up I would do a lot of saltwater fishing on Cape Cod, as well as freshwater fish for bass, sunfish and pickerel during the spring, summer and fall.
During the winter I never got into ice fishing, probably because none of my family or friends did it. Of course Cape Cod does not get safe ice all too often either.
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Yet whenever a "deep freeze" descends on Cape Cod, and the ponds freeze up, a devoted crew of ice fishing anglers can be found fishing for a variety of different species from the many ponds scattered throughout the Cape region.
I joined one such crew the morning of January 3rd, and I learned a lot about the intricacies of fishing on the ice. During this ice fishing trip we caught a bunch of fish and I captured a lot of the experience on video.
Ice Fishing Video
In this new video you can watch as I explain everything I learned about ice fishing.
If you have never ice fished before, or have very limited experience ice fishing, then you will find this video tutorial particularly helpful.
Please click play below to watch! 👇
Video timestamps:
00:00 - How to make a hole in the ice
00:52 - How to ladle ice out of the hole and introduction to Polar Tip-Ups
01:17 - Rigging live shiners for bait
01:39 - How to find the bottom, and the depths we are fishing at
02:34 - How to transport your ice fishing gear using a sled
02:54 - First pickerel of the day!
03:23 - What a bite looks like on the Polar Tip-Up, and how to reel the fish in
04:04 - Shiner hooks, fluorocarbon, split shot, swivels and other rigging + exactly how we set our ice fishing baits
05:34 - Monster pickerel!
06:24 - Lunker largemouth bass!
06:48 - Yellow perch!
07:44 - Overview of ice fishing jigging rods and jigs
08:25 - White perch!
08:56 - Korkers for your boots, and ice spikes for safety
09:25 - Closing thoughts about ice fishing in Massachusetts
In Conclusion
Please keep in mind that I do not by any means consider myself an expert ice fisherman.
I am just doing my best to pass along some quality information throughout this video.
Also PLEASE BE SAFE! Ice fishing can be extremely dangerous for obvious reasons.
Tight lines! 🎣
I loved your Ice Fishing video Ryan. It brought me back to my days of Ice Fishing for Walleye on Lake Michigan many years ago (FYI: my toes and fingers still tingle from the unrelenting wind). I look forward to setting up for ice fishing next season – many thanks as always. One ? – perhaps we could have an MFCC winter fishing event next year???? Respectfully submitted, Walter.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video Walter! Ice fishing for walleye on Lake Michigan sounds like a fun (and cold) experience. I think a MFCC winter fishing event is a great idea. Please keep in touch with me about that. Thank you!
Great Video. I,m going to try Fresh Water Fishing also. When it gets Warm!!! LOL When does the Season start? How much for a Fishing License? Thanks “Cape Cod Dan”
Thanks for watching Dan and great to have you onboard MFCC as a member!
The season will start whenever the ponds thaw out. The trout are very active in the cold, so as soon as the ice melts away you can start casting lures and bait and will have a good chance of success.
Fishing licenses are around $11 and you can pick one up here https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/IS/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch
Not sure if you have already noticed, but you can read more of our freshwater posts by going here https://myfishingcapecod.com/freshwater-fishing-on-cape-cod/ and also by going to the “Freshwater” category of our forum https://community.myfishingcapecod.com/c/freshwater
The guys in the forum are great, so make sure to introduce yourself!
Thanks for sharing Ryan.
Question: had the rig on LP last summer and for giggles and to entertain my kid I threw a sabiki over and slow trolled. was catching 6-8 large white perch per pass once i found the school. Do you think jigging a sabiki in this situation would produce similarly?
On lakes and ponds during open water season, you are limited to two hooks per angler. Five hooks per angler for ice fishing. I don’t think that I would want to test an E.P.O.’s patience by using a loaded up multi hook Sabiki rig in fresh water. It’s your call, but I’m just saying, Doug.
Thanks Gary! duly noted and in full agreement. I’m predominantly a salt dog, so this is helpful.
Oh wow that sounds like some pretty great white perch action, and I’ve never heard of anyone catching them on sabiki rigs before.
I’d say slow trolling them is the go-to technique. Of course I would of given drifting/jigging a try, but if you were nailing them on the troll then why change what you’re doing! lol
PS – I just re-read your comment and I see you were referring to me dropping a sabiki down the hole while ice fishing. I bet it would work, but as Gary mentions, need to abide by regulations. I’m primarily a salt dog too, so I’m still learning a lot with regards to ice fishing.