IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Walleye => Topic started by: Greg Dennison on May 03, 2002, 01:27 PM
-
What is the best type of bait for walleye. And where would the most oxygen be in the water.
-
The best bait for walleye on a tip-up is minnows. Try
using a small and large minnows at the same time to see which they perfer on that day. Late in the season (low oxygen) try using a split shot above the bait as the walleye won't want to put forth much energy to grab a frisky minnow. Cloudy water you can use a shinny blade
to help walleye find the bait and hold minnow close.
Oxygen plays a big part in fish being active feeders.
If you can find an area where even a small amount of fresh water can enter your watershed, be it by a small stream or something of the sort try that area.Even a spring will continue to run under surface ice.
I believe fish will find oxygen first then feed on prey which come in for the same reason. Remember! snow melt water is a poor source of oxygen. Gosh??? Your question of(where is the most oxygen) has so many posibilities to it,*age of ice*snow cover on ice*. I'll say this - after the sun can no longer push through snow
cover giving rays to a growing weed bed the weeds die and do not make oxygen any more. Deep water will hold its oxygen longer. I have a old PH/Oxygen meter which I've had for years that you just lower the censor down in the water to take a readings at different depths. Low oxygen levels are tuff to beat. If you find and catch fish in a area of any specie that tells you an area is holding fish and the oxygen level must be somewhat good.
-
8) ;) I know for northern ontario shinners ARE the best in the north
-
Walleye's under the ice... You cannot beat a #7 jigging Rapala (black & silver)with a minnow head hooked to the treble. This lure has a seductive action that drives walleye's mental! This works best when Walleye's are neutral to active. In Minnesota we can use two lines through the ice. I set one line within five feet with a bobber and minnow set-up. Then I jig with the second line. Alot of times your jigging will bring them in but, if they are not active they may slip by and snag the slower moving minnow. This combination has worked for me all over Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario. It is my confidence bait. Rememeber, confidence is 75% of presentation.
-
I have had my best luck fishing 6 to 8 inches from the bottom hooking my shiners right behind the head, my sinker about 18 inches above the hook, and a well balanced tipup. I set up in 10 to 12 feet of water close to where a creek or river enter the lake, 30 to 45 minuetes before daylight.
-
On Lake Of the Woods we use shinners and fish 2 to 3 inches off the bottom. :'(
-
I like wild red chubs and fish anywhere from 6ft-22ft of water
about 1.5-2ft off the deck for evenings.
-
Hey Greg, as far as the best walleye bait is concerned I would say that the jury is still out on that one, or we'd all be using the same thing. But I, and the majority of fishermen I've had the privilage to fish will, use minnows from 1"(very small) all the way up to 4"(rather large) depening on a number of things. To make it simple lets use a widely accepted method of rating fish activity:
1)positive: Actively feeding or searching out food
2)neutral: Not actively feeding, but not passing up any easy opportunities
3)negative: Not feeding at all, usually sitting belly to the bottom waiting for unfavorable conditions to pass
Ok. that said let's eliminate the obvious. If you find negative fish your only hope is that something changes and they become neutral or positive, but I've never seen a day where all the fish were negetive, so don't give up.
Now lets talk about the fun one. Positive fish are agressive, and catching them usually isn't a problem, larger bait is the way to go. And bait speices usually isn't a problem either.
But positive situations are reletivly rare, and when you hit one you'll have no problem figuring it out.
Neutral is what we fish most of the time. You have to let the fish tell you what they want. When I go out, I generally take several kinds of bait with me varying in size and speices. If the day is really cold I'll go with the smaller fair(2-2 1/2"), and keep my sinker closer to the bait, but i'll still try some larger minnows, usually 1 out of 3 lines I'll hang a hog just in case. (I'm in WI and we're allowed 3 lines)
As far as spieces, that depends on what's around in abundance. My go-to is the red-tailed chub because it's widely spread in my area.
Oxygen is a tricky subject in the winter. During the winter lakes don't stratify(layer) because of a tumbling effect. The water is cooled by the ice and sinks to the bottom where it is warmed by the lake floor causing it to rise and start the cycle again. Therefore, there is very little change in the oxygenation of the water colomn, however that is not to say that some parts of a lake won't have more O2 than others. look for springs and inlets, and you'll find the oxygen, and prehaps, the fish.
HAVE FUN, BE SAFE
Frostbite
-
My favorite is a 4" spreader with snelled hooks, using shinners fished just off the bottom to maybe 6 inches up.
Can't help you on the oxygen question.
I bought an assortment of Rapallas to try this year, some people have good luck with these.
-
I like to use a 2-3" chub or sometimes more. Try different sizes and see what is working
Don't commit to one kind EVER. Feeding habits and feeding choices change
all through the season.
:)
-
i have had my best luck using the biggest emerald shiners that i can find, and fishing them within 6 inches of the bottom, on tip-ups. As for oxygen, the most oxygen is right under the ice, but usually oxygen levels arent a concern, unless the body of water is very shallow and weedy, and doesnt have any water flowing in or out.
-
i will go with a shiner on #1 and jig on #2.
-
It really depends on water clarity, and actually what lake you are fishing on. The lake I fish mostly a bare hook with a fathead works best.
About 10 miles north on another lake Golden Shiners work best.
I have been on others where only the head of a fathead and a black/silver jigging rap work.
-
we use glow jigs and medium sized minnows. usually the jigs are 1/8 to 1/4 oz and have an eye. today i used a hopkins smoothie with a 4 inch minnow hooked near the back to send out vibrations and attract fish, worked ok, im gonna stick with jigs and minnows for now unless the walleyes get aggressive.
-
med sized swidish pimple when they are agressive tipped with 1-2" minniow
-
#5 or #7 black over silver or perch jigging rap will catch every fish that swims!!!!!!! ZOOM
-
#5 or #7 black over silver or perch jigging rap will catch every fish that swims!!!!!!! ZOOM
-
I've had real good luck with the #9 firetiger jigging raps.
-
the best bait, hummm, could talk for hour for this.
the oxygen however, if you have a portable fishfinder, drop a heavy lure very slowly, when you start seeing another set of echo at the top of your screen, whatever dept your lure is at, this is the dept the of a thermocline. below or above depending of where your at, the fish will be below or above
-
thisd works on a flasher ? how excatly im confused
-
For Artificials - Hands down the jigging rapala in size 3, 5, or 7, depending on the size of the baitfish present. Tip with a small minnow head not much bigger than a pencil eraser.
For Bait - Live minnows of most any kind. Match the size and species/color according to what the walleyes are eating mostly. Use tip ups to present.
It's really that simple
Tyler