Wire Worms for Whitefish - All You Ever Wanted to Know - Updated for 2021/2022

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by sureshot

I see lots of whites on the south side of the lake but I just can't get them to bite.

Sureshot ... experienced similar shy behavior, a couple things I tried seem to work on those slow days. Such as, No camera, don't remove all the snow off the ice, only one hole (I normally drill 2 - 10" side-x-side) 4 Lb Floro line, small #12 or #14 hook size W/W's. last be ready, they normally don't give you a second chance.

Edit ... should of mentioned, if you see fish & have had no action in 1 to 1.5 hrs .... move 20 or 50 ft either shallower or deeper depending on the time of day.


It's good to see others contributing to this thread, hope the tips help.

D

[Jawjacker]

Zip-In-Z does Halfords sell the colored wire to make the wire worms ?

[wbaj]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

Zip-In-Z does Halfords sell the colored wire to make the wire worms ?

No just the beads, but they sure have a nice variety of colors.

[Jawjacker]

Originally Posted by wbaj

No just the beads, but they sure have a nice variety of colors.

What size of beads do you buy ? are they a size #10 ?

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

Zip-In-Z does Halfords sell the colored wire to make the wire worms ?

Jawjacker ..... Like you, never visited this place, but plan to check it out the next time I'm in town.

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

What size of beads do you buy ? are they a size #10 ?

I find the Glass Beads have a larger hole diameter & fit/go over the hook shank/barb of a #10. The non-glass are much smaller in diameter and you may have to unbend the shank or pinch down the barb to get them over. I personally like the glass ones, they look like "Eyes".

Regardless of your choice, neither will break the bank.

Cheers

D.

[NSR Fisher]

Thanks for the tips Z!

If you don't mind I'm going to post a few pics and you tell me what you think of these lures for targeting whites! Will any of these work?

[NSR Fisher]

Those little mini-minnow soft plastics by north lands are really soft! They have a ton of wiggle action, same with the blood worms. Really supple material, I think they should work!

[Dweb]

Originally Posted by NSR Fisher

Those little mini-minnow soft plastics by north lands are really soft! They have a ton of wiggle action, same with the blood worms. Really supple material, I think they should work!

Nice assortment !

[NSR Fisher]

I think I'm going to try the little tiny dimpled brass slender spoon (2nd photo) as my dropper weight and have a wire worm 18" above it with a little maggot.

Drop shot rigs are deadly for ice fishing!

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by NSR Fisher

I think I'm going to try the little tiny dimpled brass slender spoon (2nd photo) as my dropper weight and have a wire worm 18" above it with a little maggot.

Drop shot rigs are deadly for ice fishing!

NSR Fisher as member Dweb suggested, that's a great assortment you have. I use 5-6 different colored or shaped spoons, they all have worked depending on the day, depth, water clarity etc, your proposed method also has a lot of merit. In most lakes you never know what will show up, fish will surprise you, I've even caught a few burbs on a yellow/red W/W shown below over a red spoon. You may wish to change out the treble hooks for 1 smaller single hook, it will improve your success.

Cheers

D.

[NSR Fisher]

I got one of those 7g model Vibro jigging spoons you mentioned and downsized the trebles because the hooks looked just huge :-)

Thank you so much for the advice!

[sureshot]

Originally Posted by Zip-in-Z

Sureshot ... experienced similar shy behavior, a couple things I tried seem to work on those slow days. Such as, No camera, don't remove all the snow off the ice, only one hole (I normally drill 2 - 10" side-x-side) 4 Lb Floro line, small #12 or #14 hook size W/W's. last be ready, they normally don't give you a second chance.

Edit ... should of mentioned, if you see fish & have had no action in 1 to 1.5 hrs .... move 20 or 50 ft either shallower or deeper depending on the time of day.


It's good to see others contributing to this thread, hope the tips help.

D

Thanks for the tips Zip. Any certain kind of presentation I should use?

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by sureshot

Thanks for the tips Zip. Any certain kind of presentation I should use?

Sureshot .... that's a great as well a tough Q ... for all my years fishing for pleasure or tourneys back in Manitoba, the only advice I can share for netural/finique fish is lots of finnese with technique and use a very small W/W or tiny 1/32 oz jig, tiny spoon or something similar tipped with fresh bait.

If the barometer is going crazy with extreme low that just passed fish react like they have a severe migraine headache, those are real tough conditions so you need lots of finnese to convince them to take your small & tasty presentation.