cutting a slit a couple of inches deep 
in the ice and on an angle pointing 
toward the hole. If a tip-up bothers 
about staying in the slit, it may be 
backed up by a small cake of ice. 
S OME tip-ups have spool reels. They 
save a great deal of time when tak- 
ing up the tip-ups for the return home, 
and oftentimes will save a fish where 
a fastened line will not. When a reel 
is used it should have plenty of “drag,” 
for the fisherman isn’t generally on 
hand to superintend its outrunning. 
If there is no drag, a fish would be 
liable to unhook on the bottom of the 
pond or else foul the line on some ob- 
struction. 
For pickerel, a heavy line should be 
used and its color should be dark so 
that it is not too easily perceptible. 
Some will say that a pickerel isn’t dis- 
turbed by the appearance of a line, 
that they are different from a trout or 
a black bass in this respect. True, 
they are, but they put to use the law 
of caution just the same, though in 
not so marked a degree. The mouth of 
a pickerel is large, exceptionally so, and 
a large hook should be used to accomo- 
date it. About a half-inch hooking 
space is right. While it isn’t necessary 
to use hooks with snells, it is better 
to do so. Aside from having the hook 
attached to something more invisible 
than a line, the snell also serves as a 
protector against the bite of the pick- 
erel. For simetimes it is a pretty easy 
matter for a pickerel to saw a line 
apart, provided he is deeply hooked. 
For winter fishing, the best bait is 
any lively small fish from two to three 
inches long. The shiner is preferable 
in most sections. Some fishermen hook 
the bait close to the tail, others through 
the back and others through the mouth. 
To state that it must be done any one 
way would immediately start a heated 
controversy. As for my own views, I 
believe a pickerel doesn’t care a hang 
how it’s fastened so long as he gets it 
between his jaws. 
‘THERE is one phase of winter fish- 
ing which cannot be emphasized 
too forcibly; namely, the keeping of the 
bait in motion. One should not sit 
by and await the up-going of a signal. 
He should move about from tip-up to 
tip-up and see that a fish has not died 
or has not ceased his squirming activi- 
ties. If he has merely become dormant, 
stir him up. I have seen many a pick- 
erel caught by the stirring-up method. 
A pickerel wants action in his food. 
And if the food itself doesn’t give it, 
you must. 
Care should be taken as to the dis- 
tance of the bait from the bottom of 
the pond. Of course, no specific rule 
can be laid down, for this is largely 
Page 19 
governed by the depth of water, but 
more largely still by one’s perceptions 
and common sense. The habits of the 
same kind of fish vary, oftentimes, in 
different bodies of water, or, I would 
modify this by stating their degrees of 
habits vary. Fundamentally, their 
habits are the same. In most cases, 
however, from a foot to two feet is 
the proper distance for the bait to be 
stationed. Instead of going by guess- 
work as to distance, an accurate way 
to determine it is to fasten some kind 
of weight or sinker to the hook be- 
fore applying the bait and then measure 
off where it emerges from the hole on 
the part which is in the water. 
When a pickerel is hooked, don’t at- 
tempt to play him the way you would 
in summer time when using light tackle 
and radically different methods. There 
is no opportunity to play a*fish when 
the ice stands between you and him; 
he has the better of the deal every time. 
Simply keep a taut line on him and 
pull him in hand over hand, being cau- 
tious not to permit him to flounce about 
the edge of the ice just before you give 
him the final lift in the ascension act. 
S° far, I have emphasized princi- 
pally the general tactics used for 
pickerel fishing. Now, as to perch, you 
are quite likely to catch them right 
along with pickerel by using pickerel 
methods, but, you won’t get the best 
results. If you are going in for perch 
principally, get into deeper water and 
use smaller hooks and smaller bait. I 
know of one old fisherman who is an 
adept at winter fishing for perch. And 
he “jigs” for them. This is a one-hook 
proposition. Simply keep the hook jig- 
ging up and down. The jigging dis- 
tance, or latitude allowed, should be not 
more than two or three inches—just 
enough to keep the bait in good lively 
condition. This particular angler uses 
a jigging stick about six inches long 
and on the end of which is fastened 
his line. It is more convenient than 
merely holding the line in the hand. 
The jigging should not be done too 
quickly; it should be done rather slowly 
and uniformly. 
Weather has much to do with winter 
fishing, both as to the comfort of the 
fisherman and the success of the catch. 
Invariably, fish will strike more readily 
on a warm day. One of the best times 
is in the latter part of February when 
comparatively warm days may be 
chosen. A “January thaw” is an excel- 
lent time, too. It seems to put renewed 
life into the fish. 
The average pond or lake on a cold 
day is about as cold a place as one can 
find. Perchance, from necessity the 
fisherman is not privileged to select his 
day or days and ventures forth on one 
of these cold ones, about the first thing 
he should do is to build a lively fire as 
closely as possible to his line or section 
of tip-ups. It will keep him warm and 
stimulate cheer when the fish are obsti- 
nate, or some other thing, and won’t 
strike. Then when the noon hour ar- 
rives, he’ll have his fire embered down 
in proper shape for broiling a steak or 
sizzling bacon or whatever else he may 
care to sizzle, and make coffee. And, 
I might add, that a pot of good steam- 
ing coffee going it all day is a mighty 
big producing element in winter fish- 
ering. 
T doesn’t require much freeze to con- 
vert water into thin ice, and so if 
you are fishing on a cold day, you 
‘should arm yourself with a sapling four 
or five feet in length and keep dis- 
turbing the water around your lines to 
prevent freezing. 
Once one gets into line in the sport 
of winter fishing, he will readily sense 
why it is good sport. The cold air will 
make your blood circulate faster and 
when the red signals begin to bob up it 
will flow still faster as you scurry from 
one scene of action to another and draw 
forth a two-pounder, a four-pounder, a 
—but I must stop here for fear the 
editor may charge me with fantasy. 
Editors have been charged with being 
finicky—more finicky, perhaps, than 
any fish ever dared to be! 
(Barring the statement made in the 
last sentence, we believe Mr. Brock- 
way’s article contains a great deal of 
useful informatoin for the beginner 
and indeed, old timers at the sport 
may find therein hints of value. We 
have always left ice fishing to those 
hardy souls whose love of angling an- 
nually has lured them out on the wind- 
swept surface of a lonely lake, there 
to defy old Boreas’ blasts, the while 
they seek to renew summer memories 
of a tugging fish on a taut line. 
Our preference has been for the 
fireside; a comfortable chair in 
the inglenook of the hearth, béside the 
blazing back log, has always seemed 
an appropriate place to spend spare 
time during January and February. 
Here leaders are repaired, flies con- 
structed and memories of June trout 
waters revived. 
But this winter we are to be lured 
from the warmth of our den (so our 
partner says) and initiated into the 
art of ice fishing. 
As intimated before, we are un- 
familiar with the sport; our partner, 
however, informs us that skating 
scares the fish away, and as Mr. Brock- 
way has not mentioned the matter, 
we are passing it along to those read- 
ers who angle thru the ice in sec- 
tions where fish are wary.—W. J. S.) 
