When fishing for bass or other species the prime time for catching them might be during spring or summer months. However, with trout, things are different. Ice fishing for trout is the prime time to catch them. The question now is what are the best ice fishing lures for trout? What are the best colors? How do I fish them?
In this post, we hope to answer those questions. We are going to take a look at 7 good trout ice fishing lures and offer a few tips on how to fish them. So let’s get started….
What are the best ice fishing lures for trout?
Here is a preview of what’s to come in this post, feel free to keep scrolling for a more in-depth look at each one.
- PowerBait Power Tube
- Williams Ice Jig
- VMC Tingler Spoon
- Keitech FS28-422 Fat Swing Impact Swimbait FAT SWING IMPACT
- Rapala Slab Rap
- Sebile Vibrato
- Livetarget Yearling Baitball Rattlebait
Ask any ice fishermen what are the best ice fishing lures for trout and without hesitation they will say a white tube. Yes it is true, trout love white tubes. So for me personally, if I had to narrow it down to just one lure that I would bring with me on the ice, without a doubt I would grab a pack of white tubes, such as the PowerBait Power Tube.
As you can imagine, this is a jigging lure. It can be fished by simply allowing it to go down to the bottom and yo-yo it off the bottom. The important thing is to keep it moving to get the fish’s attention.
What color tube should I choose? Do I have to choose white? No you don’t, many people have had a lot of success with white tubes, but give other colors a try. Try to match the hatch if possible. I always like to tell people, before changing lures, change colors. Sometimes the fish like a white tube one day, the next they may want a different color.
Spoons are great ice fishing lures and another effective way to catch trout. They excel in dark dirty waters and with the right action they can generate a reaction strike. One such spoon that we really like is Williams Ice Jig.
The reason, we like this spoon over others is the colors. It is available in two different colors, silver and gold. These colors work great in causing a flash that looks like a fleeing fish.
The best way to work a spoon is by giving the rod a quick snap and then let the lure flutter back down to the bottom. Also, allow for a pause. Many times trout will strike on the pause. The key to remember when fishing with this lure is that the more flash you can cause, the better chances of getting a fish.
If you have fished spoons before for trout, but you would like to try something new, you have to give the VMC Tingler Spoon a try.
This is a unique spoon specifically designed for the ice fishermen. As you can see what makes it unique is the V-shape. This shape can give you the advantage over all spoons when out on the ice. For one, it flutters slower than other regular spoons. This gives us the advantage, because the longer the flutter the greater chances of a fish taking it.
Another advantage this spoon has over others is that the shape allows you to fish more area. How is that possible? Because rather than falling straight down the ice fishing hole, it flutters out, giving you more area to fish and thus more opportunities to catch more fish.
Learn more about the many features of the VMC Tingler Spoon in the following video:
As we mentioned earlier trout like white. If they aren’t taking the tube, you can try the next best thing, a swimbait. With that in mind we are going to look at one of my favorite swimbaits for trout the Keitech FS28-422 Fat Swing Impact Swimbait FAT SWING IMPACT. What I like about this lure is action of the tail. The tail gives it a subtle action that just might be enough to entice the trout to commit.
One of the best ways to fish a swimbait for trout is to attach it to a heavy jig head. What I mean by a heavy jig head is one that is going to get to the bottom rather quickly. Next, let your lure down the hole until it hits the bottom and slowly swim the swimbait with an up and down motion back to you. This will allow you to fish the entire water column and figure how where the fish are feeding. Once you see some followers on your flasher you can dance it around to generate a strike.
The next lure on our list isn’t limited to catching trout only on the ice, but year around, it is the Rapala Slab Rap.
This lure has a very unique looking body design. This body design allows it to be versatile and fished in many different ways. This is especially effective when ice fishing because it can be fished on a bottom such as mimicking a baitfish feeding on something or it can be vertical jigged up and down the water column.
Pay close attention to how the fish react by means of your favorite underwater camera for ice fishing and adjust your fishing method accordingly.
However, you like to fish it, it will catch fish. It is also available in many different colors so that you can easily match the hatch.
See the Rapala Slab Rap in action in the following video:
The next lure on our list of the best trout ice fishing lures is a very unique looking bait. I believe it would be safe to say that it is something that you have never seen before. It is the Sebile Vibrato. As you can see from the picture, it is a blade with a treble hook located on either side with the hook tie in the center.
This unique hook tie helps to maximize the vibration output, thus appropriately named the Vibrato. It is designed to put out a lot of vibration and draw fish to you.
How do you fish the Vibrato for trout? Simply vertical jig it. Not only does it give off great flash and vibration on the way up, but also on the way down.
Learn more about the Vibrato in the following video:
What a lipless crankbait!? That’s not a trout lure, that’s a bass fishing lure. I know, I have heard many people tell me that exact same thing. However, I must say, lipless crankbaits make great ice fishing lures for many species such as crappie, walleye and certainly trout.
For that reason, the next to add to our list is the Livetarget Yearling Baitball Rattlebait.
While just about any lipless crankbait will do when ice fishing for trout, we really like the live target lipless for two reasons. First, the rattle. This rattle can prove to be deadly. Simply vertical jig it making sure it gives off a rattle on the way up and on the way down. This rattle actually brings the fish to you. You will certainly agree after fishing with a lipless crankbait that ice fishing never has gotten so easy.
The next thing we like about this particular lure is the paint job. One of the best ways to entice trout to commit is to make it seem like they are getting a large meal for a little effort. This is what livetarget has down nicely with the Livetarget Yearling Baitball Rattlebait because it imitates not just one baitfish, but a small group of baitfish. The bigger the meal the better chances of hooking up.
Let’s take a closer look at the action of this lure in the following video:
Final thoughts…
So what are the best ice fishing lures for trout. Well in this post, we talked about several good trout ice fishing lures. Without a doubt you will catch trout on these lure, but what if I could only take 3 lures with me? Which ones would I choose?
For myself personally, I would choose the PowerBait Power Tube, the Livetarget Yearling Baitball Rattlebait, and the VMC Tingler Spoon. The reason being is they are 3 completely differently lures that can be fished in a variety of different ways.
Once I have my 3 lures I would then drill a few ice fishing holes. Then I would fish the crankbait to draw the fish to me in one hole and have my buddy fish one of the others in the other hole. That way I am giving the trout the option to tell me what lure they want. Once I find out which one they prefer I would switch over to both of us fishing the same lure. I feel like this would maximize my chances of catching a fish.
If you could only choose 3 trout ice fishing lures. Which ones would you choose? How would you fish them? Please share with us your thoughts in the comments below.
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