I have a 1 acre pond stocked with brown trout and have the same issue. I am in Ontario so we have lots of safe ice and ice fishing is popular here.

I do not ice fish a lot outside of my pond, but go occasionally. I have a very hard time catching the trout in my pond through the ice, even though they should be active under the ice. Here is the information I can provide.

Firstly, I thought location was extremely important, but I'm not sure that it is. I say this because I have caught trout in the shallowest part of the pond close to shore and the deepest part as well right in the middle. I think it is far more important to "call in the fish" than it is to choose the perfect location. This is a very popular technique with perch anglers in my area. They use big rattle baits to attract attention and then catch the perch on small jigs with plastics or minnows. I think this is an effective technique on ponds. I've noticed I've caught fish when I am jigging with a active bait very close to my deadstick bait (trout food). I will be trying this technique this week with some flashier lures I've ordered to confirm if it is working on my pond.

Another thing you can do is spread out your lines in different holes. I usually put 2 rods down and watch them both. I don't have electronics but they would be really helpful. With electronics, you can see whether or not there are fish in the area. If there are fish near your bait, it's probably a bait or presentation problem. If you never mark fish, you might be in the wrong spot or calling them in.

I believe chumming trout food has also been beneficial in my pond.

I hope this helps. I've found ice fishing in my pond much more challenging than I thought it would be.

Adam

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