Page 27 - ODUNovAndDec2018

more educated

fish. Thus, adding a
wiggly maggot,
tiny, lively minnow,
minnow head or
thin strip of cut bait
was often helpful—
but sometimes still
too much for light

biters. Squirts of
fish scent applied
on thin plastic tails
seemed a practical
solution, problem
was, most scents

dissipated rather
quickly, making
frequent re-
application
necessary.

I solved this by using small, thin-tailed soft baits like Berkley Powerbait Ice designs, often trimmed to
super-fine, micro sizes. These scaled down, naturally textured plastics sweetened with natural, fish-

attracting scents and flavors not only feel, but apparently smell and taste real, causing fish to hang on
longer, allowing improved hook setting reaction times.

Similar products, such as Berkley Gulp or HT Ice Scentz,
also feature intense fish-attracting compounds, but since
they’re made from water-based resins, allow more
effective scent dispersal and appeared to attain slightly

better results with slow-moving ice presentations.

ULTIMATE BITE DETECTOR?

On the other end of the connection, intimate contact
with the strike-transmitting line was critical. A fast action
rod or spring bobber was certainly helpful, but closer
examination revealed it wasn’t these things that truly

identified light bites—it was the line itself!

I discovered the best way to detect light strikes was by
working my presentation with a constant, regular rhythm,
looking straight down at my line and focusing on a spot
below the waterline where it was unaffected by wind,
then watching closely for any interruptions in my