Ice Fishing Updates

So much for the 2015/16 ice-fishing season in Southern Alberta, a few die-hard anglers are still putting in an effort but I’m cautious of bad ice, it could be fine in the A.M. but go to cubes in the P.M. It seems that the entire season has been a season of bad ice and non-co-operative fish, everyone we talked to has had a tough year.

No caption needed here but.. "Stay safe out there"

Rachel and I got out a few times this winter but did not fish much. It was more fun giving out samples and talking to anglers for us than fishing. We would approach a party of anglers then give one sample to one person and rig it for them to make sure they were using it correctly. Then we would leave and return in a few hours to see how they were getting along. Our greatest thrill this season was the response everyone had using our Electrons. They all asked for more samples. Most folks caught fish and the ones that did not said the Attractors brought them in no problem; they just could not catch them.

Hans about to release a nice Walleye

This Rattlesnake Lake angler in Alberta we only know as Hans was about to release his 7th Walleye when we returned to see how he liked using the Electrons. He had killed his limit of 50 cm Walleye and had a few nice perch on the ice.
Hans admitted that he does not catch anything and will never fish without the Electron again. He was so excited and thankful that we had some to sell him.

We learned a lot this winter regarding salts dissolved in the water, total dissolved solids or TDS seem to disappear as winter drags on. Lakes that were 150 to 200 PPM have dropped to less than 100 PPM; some lakes like Ghost Lake went as low as 50 PPM. We keep track of this because it affects conductivity in the water.

The lower the TDS the less conductivity means the more Electrons you use.
We had no idea that this decrease in TDS was so dramatic in late winter although Jason Fraser, a Calgary area biologist, warned us of this.

Here are the hottest Electron rigs per species

Whitefish

The rig that out fished anything else this winter for Whitefish is the Fresh Water 1 or 2 Low TDS a glass bead (supplied) on a short shank beak hook and a single maggot. This rig clobbered Whites everywhere in Southern Alberta. We suspect it will work for Whites anywhere.
The Electron is so small you can cast it with a fly rod suspended from a strike indicator or a small bobber cast from a lite spinning rod.

Walleye

The rig that Walleye preferred is the Electron Fresh Water 2 or 3, low TDS, a glass bead in clear or yellow (supplied), a short shank hook with a minnow or a scented minnow by Berkley Gulp, Trigger X etc.
A bill-less crank bait with the Electron and a glass bead can be unbeatable.

Perch, Crappy and Pan fish

Perch can’t resist the Electron Fresh Water 1, 2 or 3 series, a glass bead and a hook with maggots, minnow, scented grubs and minnows.
- For very low TDS use the Fresh Water 3 Low TDS
- For a TDS over 200 PPM use the Fresh Water 1 Low TDS.

Tube jigs work great, only use the tube, thread it on the line then thread the appropriate Electron, a glass bead and a short shank hook. Pull it all into the tube (bait is optional). This rig can be used in open water suspended from a bobber or jigged over the weeds.
Fish shallow (3 to 6 feet) at first ice and deeper (50 to 60 feet) at last ice.
See below for photo of small white tube jig.

Northern Pike

Dead lining is Canada's all-time favorite method to catch Pike, a species that quickly responds to the Electron Fish Attractor. The all-time favorite rig for pike is a 6 to 10 inch nylon coated steel leader or equivalent threaded through the anus of a bait fish coming out the mouth. Slide an Electron on the leader into the mouth of the bait.
I seem to have my best luck when the bait lays on the bottom.

Trout

Use an Electron Fresh Water 1, 2 or 3 Low TDS, a glass bead, a short shank hook with maggots, scented grubs or minnows. Pull this into the tube.

Small spoon baits with the Electron slid on the line isolated with a glass bead can be jigged with great success for larger trout of all species.

Do not use any terminal tackle, keep it moving covering all depths.
All Char species respond to tapping the spoon on the bottom.

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Photo byJason Fraser

This beautiful Lake Trout was caught in extremely LOW TDS conditions
using 5 Fresh Water 3's in a tube jig.

Tight Lines
Rick Crozier

Time to check your balls! Your cannon balls that is.

It was great getting out on the water and take a break. I have to say the fishing was great for us but not so much for allot of people I talked to on the way in. Some were extremely knowledgeable anglers and should have finished hours ago. Most said they caught a few fish early and then nothing.

It’s the most frustrating feeling to watch other boats pounding fish all around you and you can’t buy a bite. Most of the time we can write this off to inexperience but when it happens to seasoned anglers there is obviously something wrong.

If you’ve fallen into this category and don’t know what to do, here is Rick’s list of possible problems for fresh or salt water fishing.

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left to right:
Painted black ball with brass alloy eye, gives you 30 minutes before it repels fish.
Lead ball with stainless eye, gives you 6 to 8 hrs.
Latex coated ball with twine leader, indefinite use.

Fishing Salt Water

Check your balls:Cannon Balls should have an expiry date, this is when they become batteries producing so much electricity they repel fish. Do NOT buy cannon balls with brass, copper, aluminum or any other soft metal eyes. Any soft metal touching lead will cause a reaction and start producing electricity. Most of these will give you about 30 minutes of fish attracting EMF then they progressively get too strong and repel fish. Rubber coated cannon balls can be worse if they have soft metal or brass eyes and any metal is exposed to water these will give you about 20 minutes of fishing before they start repelling fish.

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Buyer Beware: Buy and use only cannon balls with Stainless Steel eyes. These still produce electricity but give you about 8 hours of fishing before they give off a weird EMF that repels fish. Unfortunately they are hard to find. Every time I check out the tackle section of the big box stores all I see are brass or aluminum eyes on all their cannon balls and weights.

Lengthen the life of your balls: Drying and letting rest for a few hours will stop the ionization of the metals until you use it again. Using oil, like X10 will help dramatically; make sure the ball is dry before you apply it.

I coat my balls with latex rubber. Tie a short piece of twine to the ball and give the whole thing 3 coats of latex rubber. If no metal is exposed to water there is no EMF = No Problems.

Terminal Tackle: No Brass: Make sure all your terminal tackle is good quality stainless steel. No brass. This combination gives off a weird EMF signal fish don’t like.

No Rust: There is such a variety of hooks out there it’s hard to know what to buy. Heinz 57 alloys produce a weird EMF that fish don’t like as does tempered high carbon steel in salt water. Manufactures know this and coat the hook with a rust inhibitor that reduces the EMF to minimal but the minute the coating is compromised ionization starts with earnest and will soon repel fish.

I buy stainless steel for salt water use and test them in a sea salt paste. If rust occurs in the first 24 hours don’t use them. They are hot! You will get a couple of hours of fish catching ability, if no rust occurs in 24 hours they are perfect and can be used indefinitely.

Brass and Aluminum: Should never touch salt water. Like most outboard motors are loaded with brass nuts and bolts. These create a huge EMF field that fish hate. Newer outboards are notorious for this. They rely on a thin coat of paint to isolate the brass nuts from the aluminum frame. In time the paint deteriorates due to ion transfer and the motor produces more EMF than your zincs can handle. So guess what? The whole dam thing is a battery and if it’s mounted on aluminum boat now you are amplifying it. Keeping the surface greased with an anti corrosion spray will give you about 12 hours fishing before the whole rig gets too hot to catch anything.

Fishing Fresh Water

The same principle holds true for fresh water but the difference is you get more fishing time before your gear starts repelling fish. Fresh water has infinite variables when it comes to EMF’s depending on what dissolved minerals are present in the water. Every lake and river has its own EMF signature. When fresh water has less than 50ppm of TDS none of this matters. Water this pure poorly conducts electricity.

Check your boat:

Zincs – clean all your zincs regularly. Remove if possible and remove all white corrosion then re-install or replace with new ones. Heavy corrosion will not let the zinc do its job.

Loose wires – always check for any loose wires as this could put out a huge EMF field. You’ll never catch fish until it’s fixed.

Rusty nuts, bolts and screws: If you have read this far you get the picture, right? Replace with stainless steel