When fishing a line that just sits there on its own, Mark Martin prefers the liveliest of live bait and lets it work its magic; but when he’s the one giving action to the lure, he often prefers modern-day softbaits to the real thing.

Walk the aisles of your favorite tackle store, and you can’t help but note the large array of packaged softbaits hanging from the pegs, as well containers of gooey lures and scent additives on the shelves. Many anglers feel these newfangled lures have replaced all need for live bait.

The fact is, there’s a place for both live bait and softbaits. Even in ice fishing.

Understanding softbait

Softbaits have become more lifelike than their soft-plastic predecessors. Notice the difference in names: softbaits vs. soft plastics. What’s the difference?

As name the soft plastic states, these less-pliable lures were made of plastic; they were stiff and smelled just like what they were made of. Not the feel and flavor of something most fish want to eat.

Now, I’m not saying the soft plastic lures didn’t work back in the day, but they were used more for bulking up a lure’s profile when fishing at a fast pace.

Today’s softbaits, on the other hand, have little to no plastic in them at all. The materials they are made of are ultra-soft, and easily bond to whatever scent is infused into them. Some are made of natural, biodegradable material, and are more lifelike in shape and color than ever before. You can use them the same way as the old-fashioned soft plastics, to bulk up a lure, or use them plain, as you would live bait. They are that versatile.

A place for everything

While modern-day softbaits definitely have their place when ice fishing, so does live bait.

Because tip-ups are used as a deadsticking device (lure/bait sitting motionless, without jigging), they are best suited for live bait applications. In the case of setting my tip-up for walleyes, I used a large, lively shiner minnow of at least 3 inches in length.

My tip-up rig consists of a Berkley ball-bearing swivel tied to the main line, and a 2-foot leader of 10-pound-test Berkley fluorocarbon leader. To the end of that, I use a thin-wired, size 10 red, Bleeding Bait Daiichi treble hook, and pinch a small split-shot on the fluorocarbon about a foot above that. (Tip: When using split shot on a tip-up, use just enough shot to keep a lively minnow in its place, but not so much that, when a fish grabs the minnow and trips the spool, the weight falls too quickly. A walleye, for example, which feels the sudden tug as the weight plummets and makes the line suddenly taut, will spit out even the most appetizing minnow in an instant when this happens.)

And, when fishing a live minnow under a tip-up, I just nip one point of the thin-wire hook just under the dorsal fin, making sure not to go too deep and prick the spine; that will render the minnow motionless, defeating the purpose of using live bait in the first place.

In short: Any time I am using a rig that I am not adding action to by jigging—be it a tip-up or a deadstick rod—I use live bait, as it will create action of its own.

The ups and downs

When jigging, the great bait debate of live verses fake bait can go either way. I prefer softbaits when jigging, and here’s why: I can hop hole-to-hole much easier with softbait, as it stays on the hook better, and I can easily change out the style and size of softbait to best match the lure I am using.

Hole-hopping can be the death of even the liveliest live bait. As you take the bait out of the water, the extreme cold will instantly freeze it, and it will become more lethargic the more you move. Also, depending on the lure you are using, too large of a bait could impede the action of your lure.

By far the best softbait on the market I have found for ice fishing is Berkley Gulp. This softbait stays pliable in cold conditions, comes in several different shapes and sizes, and has a scent that attracts fish of all species. And with the ice angler in mind, Berkley developed a few different softbaits in smaller shapes that won’t impede the action of lures such as Rapala Jigging Raps, Slab Raps and Northland’s new Glo-Shot Jig and UV Forage Minnow Jig—all some of my favorite go-to lures.

In the Gulp line, and made just for ice anglers, are their tiny 1-inch Minnows, Alive Waxies and Ice Fish Fry. All have a small profile that won’t ruin the action of your lure, yet all have the scent of larger Gulp softbaits.

For more ice fishing tips from the pros who know, read the January issue of MidWest Outdoors, available the first full week of January at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.