Ice fishing for Arctic char

Under the ice Arctic char is another fish than the hunting rainbow trout. You sit over deeper water, the bait hangs almost still, and the take is a nibble you either feel in the spring tip or miss because you cranked as for perch. Everything about the species year-round — open water, spinning and fly — is under Arctic char fishing.

We do not judge ice conditions. Ice fishing only where the seller opens for ice, and only when you yourself have judged that the ice holds. Read safe ice.

Tempo and depth

Arctic char is a cold-water fish. It often stands deeper and stiller, and it wants time. Large, hectic jerks scare it. Small calling lifts, long pauses, a bait that shows without flying through the water. You show food. You do not hunt it.

Start near the bottom. Lift a few centimetres or a couple of decimetres and hold. That does not mean it is always on the mud. In cold, oxygen-rich water it can stand higher. Search with one hole, three depths, the next hole. The most common empty bucket is not a bad day. It is the wrong depth for three hours.

A sensitive rod helps. A mormyshka rod with a spring tip tells you about a nibble: you see the tip dip before you feel the weight. The same two- to three-foot rod with a reel as for rainbow trout works if you slow down, and the reel is needed when a large fish runs. Nylon or fluorocarbon, not braid. For the fine work the line can be thinner than for a balance jig, but large char takes line. Do not save on diameter just because the water is cold.

You sit still longer for Arctic char than for a hunting rainbow, so the ground and the mittens matter more. Packing and sit are under ice-fishing tackle. Chair pack, sitting mat, extra mittens. You do not win by freezing five minutes more because it might come.

Mormyshka, flash blade and shrimp

Mormyshka is the fine work. Small, heavy, of lead or tungsten, often with maggot or a bit of shrimp on the hook. A tremble, short pulses, a bit above the bottom. Sometimes the movement is only that you shake the wrist. When the fish is passive it is the method that takes when the spoon is ignored. A larger mormyshka with a couple of maggots is more visible in dark winter water than the smallest competition bead.

A char blade or spoon works more visibly. Small lifts that advertise in dark winter water, then still so the bait hangs. Cooked shrimp on a short leader behind the blade is the classic: a calling disc above and the food below. Ten centimetres of fluorocarbon leader is often enough. If you fish half a metre above the bottom with small calling lifts and now and then a clearer lift, you have the presentation many use for both Arctic char and rainbow trout when the fish wants to see something.

A balance jig also takes Arctic char, more often when it is hunting. Then you fish with more sideways in the bait, but still not as for a hectic perch. Alternate. One hole, one bait, three depths. Then the next.

Bait and number of rods stand with the seller. Where natural bait is forbidden you stick to a bare lure. A tip-up with a bell in an extra hole is only relevant if the permit allows more rods, and it is a still complement, not a replacement for holding the rod. On put and take one rod is common. Read the permit.

In clear, dark winter water silver, gold and light show. In coloured water or against the bottom a more muted or a clear contrast bait can be what shows. Do not change colour every other minute. Change when depth and tempo have already been tried.

Depth, holes and patience

Arctic char in a pond does not always go on the deepest spot. It can stand along an edge, in a hollow, or work its way up when the light increases. You do not know until you have searched. Drill more than one hole and scoop. Do not sit three hours in the first hole because it felt good on the car park.

Sonar can show if fish come to the bait and turn. It is instructive, not necessary. On a small pond it is often enough to move. More on what should sit in the bucket — drill diameter, ice scoop, sit — under ice-fishing tackle and ice drill. 150 millimetres is a sensible starting point here as well. Large Arctic char is not turned through a perch hole.

The take is often a nibble, not a bang. You see the spring tip sink a centimetre. Wait a breath, set the hook, and be ready for the fish taking sideways under the ice. Hold the rod high so the line does not saw in the edge. Give line. Steer the head toward the hole. Net if you can, with a short-handled net, not with a lift through a tight ring.

Where you fish

Arctic char in put and take is stocked salmonids with a permit, not free mountain fishing. The waters are under waters with Arctic char and waters with ice fishing. Filter on the map. A pin is not an ice report.

The first session is under the first ice-fishing trip. The overview under ice fishing.