Dial in winter brook trout

There are few feelings more satisfying than icing a big brookie in winter. The sight of these beautiful fish glistening against the snow makes the heart leap a little. Yet, making that moment happen is rarely easy. Brook trout are notoriously fickle, and adding a foot of ice over them doesn’t make things easier. The good news is that brook trout stay active under the ice and must eat. Larger fish seem especially vulnerable in winter and can get remarkably aggressive in even the coldest weather. The thump of a massive brook trout on an ice jigging rod never gets old. Here’s a guide to dialling in your winter brook trout game. Jigging spoons for brookies The flash and pound of a metal jigging spoon call brookies in effectively. Often, it’s the largest fish that strike. One memory that stands out from a couple of decades ago took place on a lake known for its clear water and very large brook trout. The friend who invited me insisted that minnows “never work” there and told me to just bring spoons. That seemed preposterous, so I brought a dozen large dace along with my spoons. There were several of us fishing, and nearly everyone else was jigging spoons. My buddy and I set out lines with lively minnows, confident we’d show the others how it was done. We jigged spoons, too, just to cover our bets. Within the first hour, two guys iced big brookies on jigging spoons. I’m talking about five-pound fish. Then my buddy cranked up a hog on his Little Cleo that came out of the hole writhing like a warthog. The fish were swimming past our minnows to hit spoons. Lesson learned: not all brookies in lakes behave the same. Fondness for flash Not every brook trout you catch on a spoon will be a monster, but it does seem like larger fish have a special fondness for flash. Spoons work in almost every situation you’ll encounter. Traditional winter jigging spoons like the Swedish Pimple, Crippled Herring, Williams Ice Jig, and Hopkins are all excellent choices. Spoons from quarter to half ounce usually cover the brook-trout spectrum, with lighter ones better for shallow water. The EGB Blinker has been a shallow-water go-to in recent years, with both bronze and silver finishes catching nice fish. When trophy brookies are a possibility, try some heavy metal — paddle-sized fish