When underwater viewing cameras became widely available, I was like a kid the night before Christmas … I couldn’t wait to see what secrets they unlocked! Finally, I would get to see what the structure really looked like and how fish related to it. I’d also have the opportunity to witness, first-hand, how fish response to various presentations.
Ice fishing is the perfect opportunity for using an UW camera as the water clarity usually peaks during the winter months. Plus, once you position the camera it doesn’t move and fish display no fear of it.
Watching a big bass, walleye or pike slide up to your bait is a thrill, but for me the bigger thrill was actually watching how fish respond to my presentations. I was shocked by how many simply ignored what I was offering. Some would move by quickly, while others would simply saunter by acting as it the bait itself wasn't even there! And of the fish I did get to check things out, most of the time they didn’t bite! In fact, in many cases, when I resorted to an aggressive jig stroke to trigger a fish it would often spook!
And the lessons didn’t end there. I also learned that fish would actually take my bait much more often than I realized … at times, they’d take my bait three or four times and I’d never feel a thing despite using the latest and best gear available. How did I know? I watched it numerous times on my camera!
The camera also taught me definitively why heavy lines typically don’t work as well as lighter lines, especially for panfish, and it really had little to do with line visibility. A heavier line is a stiffer line and when you attach a lure to a stiffer line, it can reduce lure action unless you take steps to minimize (like adding a split ring to the line tie). Even the most flexible 8-pound mono makes a small ice fly act like a piece of tree bark under the water, and 4-pound mono was suspect when using the super small stuff for fussy panfish.
Superlines are much more supply than mono and bait action didn’t suffer as much when using the lower pound tests. But there were times, especially in super clear water when fish shied away from bait presented on a superline, I suspect because of the line’s increased visibility over mono.
Bottom line—in open water or on ice, use the lightest lines you can get away with. -- Steve