Sight fishing.....

[moonbeam]

Took the fish trap out this afternoon to keep from napping and did some sight fishing for the first time. I've seen the videos, read other's comments on this, but never took it seriously I quess. After watching what was really going on , I gotta say I was honestly surprised at the number of hits I was actually getting and not seeing or feeling. The Vex does'nt lie , they are there and not just sniffing. Gotta work harder on my tightlining I guess. Just some afternoon ramblings...........

[wax_worm]

Took the fish trap out this afternoon to keep from napping and did some sight fishing for the first time. I've seen the videos, read other's comments on this, but never took it seriously I quess. After watching what was really going on , I gotta say I was honestly surprised at the number of hits I was actually getting and not seeing or feeling. The Vex does'nt lie , they are there and not just sniffing. Gotta work harder on my tightlining I guess. Just some afternoon ramblings...........

LMAO!!  Another person introduced to the sight fishing world.   It really is amazing how an 8" inch gill or 12" crappie can repeated suck in and blow out your jig or fly without moving your line, spring bobber or rod tip.  Makes you wonder all those days when you came home and said 'they were not biting' if they really were biting and you did not know it.  We sight fish up to 12-14 ft in some lakes up here and the deeper down you are, the harder they have to hit the jig to move your line, spring bobber or rod tip due to the water resistance.  Wait until you are looking down the hole and 3ft + gator (pike) swim thru a few feet under the ice!!!  That will make you pinch a loaf!!

[joejamiejop]

By sight fishing do you mean using a camera or just staring down the hole in clear water? Never heard this term for ice fishing.

[A- bomb]

WILL POST SOME VIDS FROM "DOWN THE HOLE" AFTER THIS WEEKEND!
sight fishing is looking down the hole!  works best in a dark shantie but can be done with out! also i do better with the vex out of the hole...not sure why but i do

[blueultra2]

By sight fishing do you mean using a camera or just staring down the hole in clear water? Never heard this term for ice fishing.

Just by staring down the hole.  In a shanty where it's dark you can see quite a ways down but without you can only 5-6' down, and that's in clear water.  That's when you get the shorty poles and sit right over it and look down!

[A- bomb]

looks like this...
thats my fly

and they eat it like this...this is a dink..when a tank shows up you might not see all of him!

[blueultra2]

Are you taking pictures over my shoulder again?

[A- bomb]

 

[slabgill]

It is the best ice fishing that ive ever done, except when those big 10ers get off right at the hole.Sometimes it can be frustrating when the bruisers come in and look at then back up turn and swim away..That is when you better change bait color or style of jigging.Still awesome to watch them suck it in!!!!!

[frozengator]

its a back killer though!!! but hell its worth it.    I had a huge red ear come in once and all he would do is come up to the bait and back up. Finnally I put on a wax worm and jigged the crap out of it and you could see it suck it in then blow it right back out. When I finally hooked it it flipped sideways and I realized how big it was. Thats when he realized he was hooked too. SNAP talk about saying a few choice words

[A- bomb]

red ears are the best!! the big ones commonly move right in and then just eye the bait. they slide right up to it, touch it with their nose and back away repeatedly! my boy got one last year that parked on it for a couple minutes and drove him nuts!!

the worst is when you work in a pig and watch them eat it and you set the hook and nothing!  I would love to know how that happens!!

[leavnsorlips]

did some sight fishin wed! i  loved it! wut is funny to me is the fact that almost all of the affore mentioned happened to me in one day! saw a monster pike jus cruise right up to my jig when a lil bitty hammer handle was buggin! had a nice crappie come from 3' under the ice, got that sucker to hit, yank nothin! i'm amazed at how big a 8 1/2" gill looks! had fish frustratin me around every turn but that made the ones i did stick mean that much more! one more thing i was surprised about was the fact that even though the water was so clear the fish wanted bright unnatural lookin colors  

[abishop]

Sight fishing is the bomb.

[first sergeant]

yea like I said in hog daddies being smoked by his neighbor kid , when the kids can watch it happening that makes it all the better , and you bet it is probably more awesome thatn sight fishing bass on the beds.  Of course if it is a tournament, and money well ......

[bubbagill]

I got hooked on looking straight down last season, its amazing.  So cool when the gills flare up fins a waving and strike.  Also a great learning curve.

[Ice Hoosier]

Before I got a shanty, I always wore an Air Force jacket with a big furry hood that did an amazing job of shadowing the hole.  Great pictures A-bomb, I got that feeling of the blood flowing in my veins when I saw them.  Nothing more exciting that sitting with some friends staring down in the holes and sharing the information of the fish action and movement.
It blows me away how fast a fish can suck in and spit out the bait, again and again.  I give my kids the Vex to use when they go with, but I've taught them how to ice fish by sight fishing so they have an understanding of the fish.

[JP-TKO]

what lakes are good for this

[GDominy12]

I've seen a rather large gar while watching my jig bounce on the bottom before. He was about a foot under the ice, startled me!

[wax_worm]

what lakes are good for this

Wawasee, Dewart, Klinger, Baldwin, Long, and any clear water lake where you can fish in 12 fow or less.  Depending on water clarity, sunlight, snow on the ice, in or out of a shanty etc., the depth you can see the fish varies.  We fish a lake that if the conditions are right you can see your fly in 12 to 13 fow and still see the fish come in and bite it.

[icemantwo]

WILL POST SOME VIDS FROM "DOWN THE HOLE" AFTER THIS WEEKEND!
sight fishing is looking down the hole!  works best in a dark shantie but can be done with out! also i do better with the vex out of the hole...not sure why but i do

The reason you do better without the flasher is because the transducer makes noise and it's actually pretty loud underwater.  When fishing in the summer stick your head in the water and it's loud.  Stick your head down the hole and you will hear it .  It won't be too cold

[Go-Time]

With the fish they caught today his head probably wont fit