why can't i catch walleye thru the ice ?

[John_Boy]

hi folks
i live in ohio,at a private lake that is well stocked with walleye. i catch a few during the summer months. they lower the lake approximately six to seven feet. i have fished this lake in the same area that i catch them during warm weather but to no avail . any ideas would be greatly appreciated  

[Mr.Seaguar]

Fish deeper. Try also fishing later into the evening even after dark and maybe getting there before sunup. These are not the only times to catch wally but you up the odds. Are you using baits that target wally more specifically? Jigging spoons, minnows. Good Luck.

[John_Boy]

i have fished in water as deep as 65 feet and as shallow
as 6 feet.with all the tipups that the law allows. i have used every jig imaginable except the rat finkee which i never knew existed until i found this website . i will have some of these though. i use minnows ,shiners, leeches etc. i'm not the only one who hasn't had any luck though . i have been ice fishing here for three years and have only seen 2 walleye caught thru the ice. and those were by accident.
both people were first timers, one was a 6 year old boy
who got the thrill of a lifetime.also i will be getting a fishfinder as soon as i figure out which one to buy.
             thanks

[cold_feet]

John-Boy
Can you get a map of this lake? If not what under water structure does it have? Such as under water humps points deep water fast dropoff Start your search in these areas and do what Mr Seaguar said fish at night or real early
Good luck
Cold Feet

[mngonefishing]

John-boy, find the structure, or the bait fish and you should find the fish. you can try your local bait stores or ask the DNR in your state about maps. good luck

[olds-Pa]

John_Boy, like Mr. Seaguar said, try the low light times, especially at night. Use no more weight than necessary. I use only a #2 size swivel for weight and a # 6 snelled hook for terminal tackle. It works just fine and lets the shiner move about freely. As for depth, at night i've found the pattern is shallow near shore. I fish no deeper water than 6 feet. Some sets are only 3 feet of water. I use lights on the tip-ups and stand off the ice to cut down the noise. When the lights on, it's time to haul your walleye in. I use magnetic tip-ups and use no drag. Hope this helps ya.
                                                                                 olds-Pa  

[John_Boy]

i have a good map of the lake that was put out by the fishing club . like i said i catch them during the warm weather months but have no luck when i'm on the ice.
i probably fish this lake harder then anyone else around .
but i don't have sonar and this will be a helpful tool .
 i have been out all night and all day at times. i catch perch crappie and gills but no eyes.
 thank you guys for your tips

[walliceman]

A Sonar would help alot in your situation, but if all else fails i would go with a glow swedish pimple, or rocker minnow. Tipped with shiner head.

-Evan

[FishDeepCreek]

heres what i found that works for me for walleyes on my home lake. I tend to use spoons more for walleyes, tipped with a piece of minnow, sometimes a whole small minnow. Swedish pimples, Kastmaster, in gold range worked well for me.Jigs tipped with minnows to work (my brother did good with a Whistler jig last season) I tend to target main lake points, for eyes'. Its seems like an hour before sunset is the maintime they turn on. Walleyes are very lowlight fish so to speak, they have very light sensitive eyes. Usally as the darkness starts to set they, tend to head from deeper water to shallow water. Its best to drill a bunch of holes before primtime to avoid spooking fish when they move in. Ill take my poratble depth finder, and cut holes at different depth in line. Ill then hop holes until I find a productive depth. As for jigging with spoons, most ever walleye ive hook during ice season has been flat on the bottom, this is where a good sonar like the Vex fl18 could be an advantage. I let my spoon/minnow combo go all the way to the bottom than reel it up an a few inches. When my rod is in low psotion it should allow my lure combo to be off the bottom a few inches. Now jig it by lifting the combo sharply with the rod and then rest at low postion. Its important that you let it pause ,as this is where most of your strikes will occur! Keep doing this, if no strikes or now fish on sonar, move to your next cut hole until you do find the depth.

[John_Boy]

Thanks folks for all your help.  Hopefully mother nature will get nasty on us, and i can try some of these
suggestions. Went and looked at more sonar this afternoon and am going to order one next weekend.Again i would like to thank you .This is the best ice fishing website that i've found

[mngonefishing]

John_Boy
next summer map out the lake with your boat. does it have any springs in it? any creeks running in to it? different types of bottems (sand weeds gravel). mark this all out on your map that was put out by the fishing club. my granddad only fished one lake as his mainstay. had marked up 6 different maps for this lake. tried to get him to buy a vex. no go. went out with him , brought my vex along out fished him 3 to 1. frist and last time. he asked if i would leave it up there during the week while i had to work  i wasnt able to get back up there for two weeks. by that time he was hooked . best thing that came out of it was that when he passed on i recived a copy of his logs.  

[missfishylicious]

need more info on the lake is it adeep water resavoir does it have any inflo outflo Ide guess your problem is oxygen levels does the lake turn over or not .I wouldn't expect to find the fish in the same water as I found them dureing summer if I were you Ide locate fish in the fall and fish closer to those areas one more ? what is the major food source in your lake follow the food life cycle and you'll find the walleyes good luck

[John_Boy]

to my knowledge i've never seen the lake turnover. the deepest spot that i've found is 76' deep by the dam. it is fed by several streams and has alot of springs .i think my problem has been that i'm fishing where i catch them in the summer months. the lake has tons of weeds and alot of buried treasures that were put there when the lake was built. i think the main food source is shad and perch.

[missfishylicious]

You could try taking the lakes temp and see if it's warmer on the bottom early in the winter the fish should be on the bottom as the snow cover gets thicker and there's less sunlight the weeds may die and the oxygen gets depleated then the fish would suspend or be just under the ice I'm not a great walleye fisherwoman or anything I also have trouble catching them in winter these are just a few things I've learned from this site and reading can't wait to try iot myself

[BlackIce]

John_Boy-the thread on using leaders has some decent pointers on it as well.  I usually do decent in the shallows well after dark, anywhere from 8:00 until 2:00 a.m.  I have never really targeted walleye other than with a tipup so I can't offer much for jigging advice.  I did catch several legals late in the year last year while jigging for crappie with fatheads.

[John_Boy]

thank you folks for all the tips and suggestions i will try them all ....if we ever get ice that is ..thanks again

[walleyeslayer]

try deadsticking.  use medium shiners, a barrel swivel 18 inches above hook.  place 2 poles side by side, hook 1 shiner through the belly, and the other behind the dorsal fin on his back.  before you tie on your hook,  place 2 glass beads on your line, the red clacker beads sold as carolina clacker beads for a carolina rig.  when the minnows struggle, the beads will make noise.  get bleeder hooks, or glow in the dark hooks.   make sure youre 1-2 ft off the bottom.  go jsut after sundown, and find a dropoff or shelf, and keep moving.  drill holes along the dropoff into deeper water, and just keep moving.  dont fish 1 hole for more than 15 minutes.  if no luck, try a swedish pimple, i like the medium sized one in glow in the dark green.  tip treble with a minnow head, and follow technique suggested on package called pimpling.  experiment with deadsticking and or jigging or both and you should have success.