Lark 11 Report post Posted March 17, 2022 Hi. I've fished barbless spincasting enough in bc on open water to know it's a bit of a different game. Setting the line and use of drag certainly play into things more than barbed. I'm pretty new to ice fishing. That said, I'm off to Quetico for a few days with wife and child and some walk on opportunities for fishing on a lake with whitefish, ling, and lakers; and a "no organic bait, no barbs" rule. Which is a fun challenge. Any tips on ice fishing barbless which differ from open water barbless fishing? Any other general tips besides? Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AB 98 Report post Posted March 18, 2022 A little longer ice fishing rod with a slower / softer action is useful when you are fishing barbless though the ice. If your rod unloads to fast you can unintentionally throw the fish some slack and they will take advantage of it! The whole province of Manitoba went barbless many years ago and there are lots of places here in Ontario that require barbless lures. It just means you need to adapt on your end of the equipment because the fish aren't going to change. on a positive note, barbless lures make it a whole lot easier to release a ling right in the hole without having to get in a wresting match with it to remove a hook! good luck! AB 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scandiman 114 Report post Posted March 22, 2022 Good advice from AB. I think the province of Ontario should go the same route as Manitoba with respects to barbless hooks throughout the province. Also would be fine with seeing the use of live bait go bye bye. It's never hindered my ability to catch fish only using artificials. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lark 11 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 To come full circle after the 3 days of intermittent fishing in Quetico - I'll be the first to admit that the lack of barbs has no discernable effect on my success. Which was diddly squat- something that I'm quite logically attributing to not getting any bites. Not a single one, as far as I could tell. Mind you, I was targeting ling (or eelpout, burbot, lawyers, etc) which are fish known for their attraction to large smelly baits. And I was of course using artificials. If anyone has tips for artificial, barbless, burbot ice fishing, share away, please! Methinks I should have directed my original question towards the artificials handicap, not the barbless one. I'll try again though. Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishog 215 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/22/2022 at 10:40 AM, scandiman said: Also would be fine with seeing the use of live bait go bye bye. It's never hindered my ability to catch fish only using artificials. Wonder how many bait shops would agree with you taking their income away from them? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zackcorbin1401 542 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 On 3/22/2022 at 10:40 AM, scandiman said: Good advice from AB. I think the province of Ontario should go the same route as Manitoba with respects to barbless hooks throughout the province. Also would be fine with seeing the use of live bait go bye bye. It's never hindered my ability to catch fish only using artificials. I’m definitely team live bait most of the time… the odd time I will have plastics outfish live bait for numbers of fish but that’s Mabye a few times a year. I fish barbless most the year it’s gets annoying struggling to unhook fish at times and I have not noticed any loss of fish due to barbless. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AB 98 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 10 hours ago, Lark said: To come full circle after the 3 days of intermittent fishing in Quetico - I'll be the first to admit that the lack of barbs has no discernable effect on my success. Which was diddly squat- something that I'm quite logically attributing to not getting any bites. Not a single one, as far as I could tell. Mind you, I was targeting ling (or eelpout, burbot, lawyers, etc) which are fish known for their attraction to large smelly baits. And I was of course using artificials. If anyone has tips for artificial, barbless, burbot ice fishing, share away, please! Methinks I should have directed my original question towards the artificials handicap, not the barbless one. I'll try again though. Thanks. Lark, Ling can be a bit of a challenge to locate under the ice so don't be to disappointed. The good news is that once you find the right spot its going to produce year after year. As you know, ling are one of the very few fish that spawn under the ice in the winter. The fish will be using shallow main-lake rock and gravel flats, in close association with deep-water foraging areas. On West Hawk Lake, on the Ontario / Manitoba border, they usually spawn the last week of March. If you find the key areas, usually in about 40ft of water it can be mayhem on bucktail jigs with powerbait or other scented soft plastics. We knew one such location and it was one ling after another for about a week anytime you punched a hole there. One reason why you may not have had much success is the Ling in the lake you were fishing were prepping for, or even spawning. If you aren't in the right location its going to be crickets like you experienced. One other tip would be to fish in the very early morning or late into the evening, well into darkness after you have found their preferred area. AB 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
