By: Mark Romanack
When it comes to ice fishing success on walleye, sometimes doing less is more. For those who have put in their time starring down an ice hole, it will come as no surprise that the lowly “dead stick” is a fish producer day in and day out.
For those who are just getting up to speed on ice fishing tactics, a dead stick is little more than a fishing rod armed with a small jig and lively minnow positioned close to bottom. This rod is placed in a conveniently located holder and left alone to do what minnows do best.
THE JIG
The jig serves a few simple purposes. It sinks the minnow to depth, keeps the minnow positioned horizontally in the water and provides a touch of fish attracting color. Beyond that, the value of the jig is primarily about the hook.
Because a “dead stick” is just that, the hook featured in the jig must be a thin wire design that is sharp enough to bury home as the fish bites and swims away with the bait. Anything less is going to yield nothing but disappointing results.
Over the years at Fishing 411 TV we have used a lot of different jigs on our dead stick rods. In recent years that honor has gone hands down to the Eagle Claw Eagle Eye Jig. This aspirin style jighead features the legendary Eagle Claw Laser Sharp Pro-V Bend hook. We simply can’t say enough good about the Eagle Eye Jig and much of that credit boils down to the Pro-V Bend Hook.
Any fish foolish enough to bite the Eagle Eye Jig has made a life altering decision. Plain and simple, this jig/hook combination sticks the fish that bite and keeps them stuck.
Normally it’s the 1/8 ounce jig that gets the nod, but there are times when dead sticking in deeper water or heavier current that the 1/4 ounce version is required.
THE ROD
The dead stick needs to be a special purpose rod. The tip needs to be extra light and sensitive for telegraphing strikes and more importantly, not alerting the fish to danger. Secondly, the dead stick needs a solid backbone so when a fish takes the bait and swims off, the angler can hit that fish hard enough to drive the hook home 100% of the time.
The typical ice fishing rods marketed for walleye fishing are just too stiff to function properly as a dead stick. JT Outdoors was one of the first rod manufacturers to recognize the need for this special purpose dead stick. The JT Walleye Snare Rod is exactly what dead sticking is all about. The super light tip is equipped with a brightly colored bead that makes easy to detect the lightest strikes even in the dimly lit environment of an ice shack at crunch time.
THE MINNOW
A dead stick can’t function properly if the minnow isn’t alive and struggling on the hook. The moment the minnow dies, it needs to be replaced.
The subtle, but critically important action a struggling minnow provides is a big part of the magic associated with fishing a dead stick. We like to hook the minnow through the lips then rotate the hook so it can be lightly stuck into the skin of the minnow’s side. This keeps the minnow alive and struggling, but prevents the minnow from easily wiggling free of the hook.
Guys will tell you the type of minnow used is critical to success. We disagree. Keeping the minnow alive and wiggling is way more important than the species of minnow. In our opinion, use whatever minnow species is widely available and take every effort to keep that minnow alive and wiggling on the hook.
WHY THE DEAD STICK WORKS SO WELL
The dead stick works as well as it does because it marries nicely with other presentations. Aggressively jigging with one rod, while keeping a dead stick close by is a “one-two” punch that is tough to beat in the world of winter walleye fishing. Often the fish are attracted by the aggressive jigging cadence, but it’s not always the jigging that wins the day. Aggressive fish will often pounce on the lure/bait that is being moved actively, but less aggressive fish almost always settle on the dead stick as their preferred meal.
Secondly, when a fish is hooked using an aggressive jigging presentation, the dead stick keeps bait in the water and other nearby fish interested during the time it takes to land a hooked fish, unhook that fish, rebait and get back down the hole. This function and value of the dead stick simply can’t be underestimated.
WHAT ABOUT TIP-UPS?
In a way, a tip-up functions similar to a dead stick. The static minnow on a tip-up works well at triggering strikes from lethargic fish, but once hooked, a fish on a tip-up takes longer to land and longer to rebait and reset than a dead stick.
In states where anglers are allowed to fish three rods per license, jigging with one, using a dead stick with a second and a tip-up as the third line makes a lot of sense. In states, where only two lines per license can be fished, the jigging rod and dead stick are the two that will put the most fish on the ice. Period.
SUMMING IT UP
The magic of the dead stick is something an angler has to experience first hand to fully appreciate. Once you have fished a dead stick, chances are you’ll never be without one again. Now that says a lot about how effective the simple dead stick is in catching winter walleye.