April: The Last Ice Hurrah for Ice

It’s April, and in many ways, it’s a period of transition. For hard water anglers, though, April is the month to be trout fishing. April is when the warm rays of the sun penetrate the cold steeliness of the ice, and sparks life in the water below. Trout that were inactive in the heart of the winter are now up and moving, and some of the best fishing days of the hard water season are in the here and now.

Active presentations come into their own, and a lightly jigged fly, like a spratley or a prince nymph, are devastating on April trout. Baits work too. If I had a dollar for every time I caught an April trout with trout worms, maggots, shrimp, or a minnow, I’d be rich. And there is one other neat thing that goes with April trout, and that’s where I find them. I catch them shallow, but not only that, I often find them feeding just under the surface of the ice. I’m talking a few inches under the ice surface sometimes. Whitefish did this back in the day when you could ice fish them in April, and this is what got me thinking about April trout, and I’m happy to say this shallow water deal is a real thing.

There is also one cool advantage to April ice fishing. Quite often, temperatures barely hit freezing at night, which means you can come back to your very same holes the following day and either lightly chip out the little ice that froze over them, or just go straight to fishing, as they remained completely ice free. And after a winter of augering deeper and deeper holes, this, in and of itself, is a wonderful thing. April trout fishing; it’s fantastic, and warm, and fun, which is why this April, you will find me back at my favourite trout lakes, enjoying my time outdoors, and having fun.