You also never want to just reel up a jig from any depth before hesitating it 5 or 10 feet below the ice. The act of reeling it up is in itself a powerful triggering maneuver.

Lance Sokero, of Waterford, New York, sent me a note this year about how he often finds and triggers the trout on waters like Lake George and the Finger Lakes. On smelt waters like Lake George, he likes to search large flats in 70 to 80 feet of water. Sokero: “The fish usually roam these large flats; one of my favorites is about 1 mile by 1 mile with a mix of mud, gravel, and rock. The fish follow smelt, which are suspended. When I first search a deep flat, I cut holes about 100 feet apart until I find fish. I usually don’t have to move unless the smelt move completely out of the area.

“In lakes with alewife, big trout spend a lot of time near bottom, although there are suspended fish too. A lot of the flats in these lakes are 120 to 180 feet deep. I begin with my lure 10 feet above the bottom. If fish move through suspended at any depth, I quickly reel the lure up to them.”

Sokero usually fishes with spoons, one favorite being the Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon, in 1/2 or 3/4 ounce. He uses all the standard maneuvers I mentioned for triggering fish, save one that hasn’t been widely talked about and might work to trigger hesitant trout anywhere they swim. He likes to take a lure away from such fish. That is, if he encounters fish hesitating once they get near the lure, he takes the lure away anytime fish start toward it, bringing it steadily up toward the surface before the fish can actually swim up to scrutinize the spoon.

Sokero: “I try to keep the lure away from the fish. This often triggers them to swim faster and overtake the lure. At times, though, they follow all the way to just under the ice without striking. After stopping the lure for a moment, I immediately drop it back down 40 feet or so. If the fish follows, I then immediately reel the lure steadily back up toward the ice, again with the fish following. Often I’ll do this 3, 4, or 5 times before a fish strikes. Any time I run into hesitant fish I also start experimenting with spoon size and color.”

In lakes with a shad forage base, Sokero says that trout often don’t move as fast as those feeding on smelt and ciscoes. He again begins with his spoon about 10 feet off bottom. As fish come up to look at it, he gently lifts the spoon while quivering the rod tip. If fish are aggressive, they hit the lure when it’s been lifted only a foot or two. Typically, it takes at least 10 feet of lift to trigger a strike.