Mid Day, the case of missing fish

[iceintioga]

I fish a large farm pond of about ten acres....do well on gills and perch from dawn to about 10 am...then its a long stretch of nothing until the school bus goes by...when the rascals start moving, and biting again.

During the slow period, to put it mildly, I can hardly ever show a fish on the sonar...(which I never use when things are "normal") I drill all over the pond in that slack time.... and get nuttin"

I Have tried all the known methods-light tackle, very small jigs, no jigs...one spike on a size 16, dry fly hook......nuttin'!
I figger" when no fish show on the screen, there is nothing there to bite, even on weed edges, humps, transitions, all the good places turn sour, mid day?

Plenty of big gills in this lake, never have to worry about lack of fillets, put many fish back..

What should I try, so I don't have to go home, and come back when the orange bus goes by?

Thanks for any input.

ford aka iceintioga

[BuffaloIceMan]

Search around punch a bunch of holes before you setup shop in the am then go back and forth on the other holes when the orange bus goes by this way youll be able to follow the fish so to speak

[Swift]

Phytoplankton react to different levels of light and are the base of the food chain, where the chain is most active is where the fish will be. Move around as suggested. It tends to reverse itself towards evening back towards the dawn areas. They simply are following their food, so should you

[rags]

I fish a large farm pond of about ten acres....do well on gills and perch from dawn to about 10 am...then its a long stretch of nothing until the school bus goes by...when the rascals start moving, and biting again.

What should I try, so I don't have to go home, and come back when the orange bus goes by?

Thanks for any input.

ford aka iceintioga

Well you done said the answer ,,,,, they was at school and had to wait till they was dropped back off 

[iceintioga]

Thanks Buff-
 I am doing that. drilling a lot of holes in the late morning-running and gunning all afternoon. forgot to mention that their are pickeral in that pond. Of course, they are active all day, and to add to my misery, they seem to bite me off more after the Bluegill flurry...


Thanks Swift
You are right...Biology needs to considered---I should just go home at ten , and return when the pulse of life begins to flutter.

Thanks Rags
"they was at school and had to wait till they was dropped back off "
  I love country wisdom and humor.
I have to wait 'till "school" is out I guess

ford

[rags]

I just couldn't pass that one up  . We have a pond we fish that is like yours, clear water , clear ice, tons of trees  sure makes things tuff

[trapster]

The lakes that I fish have a lot of hammer handle pike.  I use about three feet of Crystal Ice Fire line.  The can't bite that off.  That being said, if you have the drag set too tight they can break you off.

[Swift]

Thanks Buff-
 I am doing that. drilling a lot of holes in the late morning-running and gunning all afternoon. forgot to mention that their are pickeral in that pond. Of course, they are active all day, and to add to my misery, they seem to bite me off more after the Bluegill flurry...


Thanks Swift
You are right...Biology needs to considered---I should just go home at ten , and return when the pulse of life begins to flutter.

Thanks Rags
"they was at school and had to wait till they was dropped back off "
  I love country wisdom and humor.
I have to wait 'till "school" is out I guess

ford

Wouldn't necessarily go home, would basically keep looking for them. Mid season is better for the midday bite but have done well, midday, during early and late season. Often the food preferences change towards a larger (still smallish, horizontal plastic) minnow or worm (Whip in the muck) on the bottom presentation, some of my best 'gills ever were taken with this approach. Small Jiggin' Rap types will often nail nice  Crappies and Perch when working the water column as well

[panfishman13]

well, if the subtle stuff isn't working, you might try going more aggressive. jigging spoons, larger jigs, pieces of nightcrawler or minnow rather than spikes, maybe even jigging rapalas.

my reasoning is this: if plankton activity goes down during the day, then the gills are likely to switch to a more obtainable food source, say, snails, minnows, and larger invertebrates. those kinds of prey often hide in weeds, so the fish are likely to be tight to the bottom, scrounging for whatever they can find. a helpless snail floating a few inches above the weeds will be a welcome morsel, and it's easily imitated with a piece of nightcrawler.

bluegill aren't JUST about microscopic morsels, they're as opportunistic as any other fish. start thinking outside the box, and a LOT more options become available.

[DR.SPECKLER]

when I go ice fishing I go from sun up to sun down.lots of people go home mid day but I do real well catching fish suspended over deep water.there is a slow time from noon till 2 but I still get cruisers that are willing to bite.my best pike fishing seems to be mid day also.

[Van_Cleaver]

Today was a classic example of a lake that fishes poorly mid day. My buddy called me as I was driving to work. I planned to work four hours and meet him around three. He had three decent gills in several hours when I arrived. I iced at least  two dozen or so between three and 5:30. Kept seven, and a nice perch and let the rest go. Also missed a lot since I had out some dead sticks. No monsters but all 8"+. Most lakes around here are great right at dark but tonight  the fish really shut down when the light went. We were fishing the deepest part of the lake, though it is fairly shallow.

[Townie]

UW cams aid in locating hidden fish. Swiss cheese the pond & hunt 'em down!

[Van_Cleaver]

Recently I fished a lake which is typically dead mid morning on. Put out my usual gear around 10 and had my needs covered (8 nice gills) by 11:30. However; and this is a biggie: I was fishing in front of a major winter storm system which rolled in by 5 that eve. If you have a chance try that pond just before a storm; might be a different ball game.
Here are some of my companions: