ONEIDA LAKE DIEHARDS THREAD 2013/2014

[hardwater61]

  Wow 12 pages just read, sounds like southshore got walloped with snow, only maybe inch or 2 new on northshore last night,winds weren't strong enough to blow if off john... wow  what a drive home, framed out the whole way, 6-8 on the roads white knuckled it 20-35mph the whole way back north...  my eyes were done after that ride, 4 out of last 5 days on the ice, just woke up from a 12 hour nap. I'll agree with everyone on feast or famine, we landed on fish on every move we made, but it was like prying a paint lid open to get them too bite after 10am, before 10am not so bad, I grabbed my limit of eyes yesterday pretty easy, but it cost me 2 hours of perchin time too do it, so when I moved for perch just caught the tail end of the bite, spent the rest of the day playing cat and mouse with them, up and down, most of the perch had empty bellies 2 days ago, these new fish we found on 2 large moves yesterday were puking up bucks and shrimp.  One of my lodgers did 3/4 's of pail yesterday I only grabbed a dozen perch and about a dozen eyes, 5-6 in that keeper size range, nothing epic just steady action, more video game playing than anything... fun 4 days out there, now its break time...  been fishin deeper ....mostly 35-39 fow.  no pictures, gave my walleyes away once back at the lodge, 3 pails of perch buried in the snow, bring em in tonight and clean them tomorrow...

Shane, were you driving the car or the truck??

[FISHFORPIKE]

  Also what are you marking, high flyers are eyes, bottom huggers are usually dink perch or medium's, fast thin marks that go in and out are pins, fish that seem too not move 3-5 feet up are your keeper eyes, but in a bad mood, I base my move on whats on the screen, if its good marks 1-3 feet up and not biting, there not biting anywhere so why move, I wait them out.

Solid observations and advise there, Snag.  BTW - you don't necessarily have to have a lot of years invested to be a "verteran". 

[ICE-ADDICT]

  ohh in the same hole, nice, that's what I'm looking for, hate having too move too separate spots, I'd rather get 15 perch, with other action mixed in than a full pail, but mediums...   I'm still looking for that hole, i'll find it.

Awesome spot I was on! NEVER fished there before! Had it all to ourselves for a whole morning, then by that afternoon and the next morning, it was BLOWN UP! That's the way it works out there I guess.......That's why I like a little precip going on, just enough to cut visibility down to about a quarter mile!......Not sure if the fish vacated or not, but I WILL find out this Friday! That was the second multi species spot I found that weekend that had exactly what I was looking for in it...... My perfect day out there is 3 18-20 inch eyes, and 8-12 JUMBOS! 

[Nysportxman]

  Also what are you marking, high flyers are eyes, bottom huggers are usually dink perch or medium's, fast thin marks that go in and out are pins, fish that seem too not move 3-5 feet up are your keeper eyes, but in a bad mood, I base my move on whats on the screen, if its good marks 1-3 feet up and not biting, there not biting anywhere so why move, I wait them out.

This is my first year using a flasher (Marcum vx1P).  They were good marks in the 1-3 feet range when viewing it with the bottom zoom.  They never really came up higher than 3 feet off the bottom to sniff the bait during the pause/lift, but they were strong red marks on the screen.   

[ICE-ADDICT]

I'd say those were BIG FAT FUSSY Perch.

[Nysportxman]

I'd say those were BIG FAT FUSSY Perch.

You're right, they were.  We managed to get 4 jumbos in that same spot between the 3 of us.  They lit up the screen every 5-10 minutes but didn't do much of anything.  That's why it was so hard for me to move.  I knew they were there.  Like SNAGGER said, wait it out.  My brothers don't have a flasher so they were fishing blind.  They wanted to move.

[fishhooksul]

  Wow 12 pages just read, sounds like southshore got walloped with snow, only maybe inch or 2 new on northshore last night,winds weren't strong enough to blow if off john... wow  what a drive home, framed out the whole way, 6-8 on the roads white knuckled it 20-35mph the whole way back north...  my eyes were done after that ride, 4 out of last 5 days on the ice, just woke up from a 12 hour nap. I'll agree with everyone on feast or famine, we landed on fish on every move we made, but it was like prying a paint lid open to get them too bite after 10am, before 10am not so bad, I grabbed my limit of eyes yesterday pretty easy, but it cost me 2 hours of perchin time too do it, so when I moved for perch just caught the tail end of the bite, spent the rest of the day playing cat and mouse with them, up and down, most of the perch had empty bellies 2 days ago, these new fish we found on 2 large moves yesterday were puking up bucks and shrimp.  One of my lodgers did 3/4 's of pail yesterday I only grabbed a dozen perch and about a dozen eyes, 5-6 in that keeper size range, nothing epic just steady action, more video game playing than anything... fun 4 days out there, now its break time...  been fishin deeper ....mostly 35-39 fow.  no pictures, gave my walleyes away once back at the lodge, 3 pails of perch buried in the snow, bring em in tonight and clean them tomorrow...

only got an inch, or two on tye south shore.   Sully...

[Baitrix]

  I might be a veteran on this forum, but I'm no veteran on Oneida, but those fish from 11am to4pm were the toughest I've seen in yrs, litterlly mark 100 to get a biter.

Snagger , thanks for the insight , i thought i might have been doing something wrong , but we witnessed the same results

[ICE-ADDICT]

We're officially in the mid-winter pattern now folks!   Time to bring your  "A" game!  Not that you can't get on super hot bites, but consistency is much harder to pattern now.  Time of day, lure selection, presentation and weather patterns can all make a huge difference now.  Read up, the information is literally at your fingertips these days, as to what happens during mid-winter in the specific type lakes you fish, and how these changes effect fish movements and behavior.  Knowledge is KEY to being consistent out there, no matter what time of year! Depth, available forage, oxygen levels, fishing pressure,.....these are just a few of the details that come into play at one time or another during the winter period..... Learn them, practice them, execute them and most important......live them!

[hardwater61]

  I might be a veteran on this forum, but I'm no veteran on Oneida, but those fish from 11am to4pm were the toughest I've seen in yrs, litterlly mark 100 to get a biter.

Shaner,
You are a veteran on Oneida.  You can't always go by years.  You have put more time on that lake than most with many many more years of fishing there.  You have been very analytical(big word JB1!) in your approach and have gained a lot of knowledge.  Yes, you are still learning...who isn't!?  You have helped countless people with your knowledge and even Release doesn't swear when he talks about you!   Ok, so much for the butter!   Your inbox is full.

[esocidae]

For the people having a tough time pulling there stuff out, find a pair of old downhill skis a couple 2 by 4 and piece of plywood
Just set your shanty on top and go
Can pull my two man clam out with no problem

[Nysportxman]

Anyone see the story about 2 deer stuck out on the ice on Otisco lake this weekend?  There was footage of a guy that tied one of them to himself and skated it out with a pair of ice skates.  He was moving pretty fast too.

[huntny30]

Took a break from the Eyes and switched back to my comfort zone, found a good mess of Crappie Craps...put back 3 times as many shorts...daytime bite too...

[H.T.]

nice

[SNAGGER]

Shaner,
You are a veteran on Oneida.  You can't always go by years.  You have put more time on that lake than most with many many more years of fishing there.  You have been very analytical(big word JB1!) in your approach and have gained a lot of knowledge.  Yes, you are still learning...who isn't!?  You have helped countless people with your knowledge and even Release doesn't swear when he talks about you!   Ok, so much for the butter!   Your inbox is full.

  I do put huge amounts of time in, last yr I did 36 full days out there on the ice, this yr only 13 days so far because of that flu....I just hope I help unlock some of the mystery too the average guy who can only fish 3-4 days a yr due too work or family or money obligations, but at the same time not give up too much information too the guys who just network through cell phones or read the computer to stay on all the good bites all the time that live close enough that they should be able too find there own fish. I still don't own a cell and never network, I find all my own bites threw hard work, yes last week I fished someone elses perch bite, (first time in 11 yrs)...it felt funny, and after the next day I had too leave and find my own fish... I fish the lake enough that I shouldn't have to network or fish someone elses bite.  I've put out a lot more info this yr threw vids and stuff on here, hope it helps the average guy, everyone owns a map app now, that should help out a lot of people, I've had my chip 5 yrs, I don't own a machine, but have some good friends like big jim and freddy that give me a ride out there as a starting point too start my own looking, without these guys I'd still be walking, which is fine, but sometimes just can't search as much.  Hope everyone has a great season.

[hardwater61]

Thanks for all you do Shane!!!

[Tug Hill]

Snagger, I lived in Cleveland for many years and fished from one end of the lake to the other. Your assessments are spot on. Where you fish in the water column is as important as where you are on the lake. I've found you've got to find the fish that are willing to rise to the bait to have a good catch.

[Buckethead]

Fished TAFT this morning for 3 hrs,slow bite but I had the drops today also. Dropped 3 at the hole 2 of which I had my hand on, that was enough to send me home!

[ChiefCatchemall]

Just got in from the South Shore a few hours ago. It was painfully slow. My worst day on Oneida this year. Ended up with 5 dink perch, a 15" eye, and a nice 14" jumbo. That's it...the eye looks small next to the perch. Quite goofy. I agree with you snag. I don't like to get on somebody else's hotspots. I'm new to the game and have only put 3 yrs in out on Oneida ice. I'd like to learn it as much as I can on my own. All I can do is try to get a little better every year. I'll be back out tomorrow morning again first light alone. I'll probably fish the north shore tomorrow...

[Nysportxman]

I just want to preface these next statements by saying that I always respect other's space when out on the ice.  When you guys refer to someone else's hot spot, is it a spot that they've personally shown you or is it a spot that you've seen people fish from time to time?

I'm new to Oneida so I've been using a map app to locate potential spots to try out.  Sometimes they're occupied, sometimes they're not.  If they're occupied, I either give them enough space, or move to a new spot.  The next time I'm out and it's free, I try it out.

You guys don't mean to say that if occupied every once in a while its off limits completely throughout the season are you?

[315stickbow]

I just want to preface these next statements by saying that I always respect other's space when out on the ice.  When you guys refer to someone else's hot spot, is it a spot that they've personally shown you or is it a spot that you've seen people fish from time to time?

I'm new to Oneida so I've been using a map app to locate potential spots to try out.  Sometimes they're occupied, sometimes they're not.  If they're occupied, I either give them enough space, or move to a new spot.  The next time I'm out and it's free, I try it out.

You guys don't mean to say that if occupied every once in a while its off limits completely throughout the season are you?

Its public fishing. If a spot is open feel free to fish it. But if some fellas are setup somewhere don't drill holes 10 feet away (unless they're buddies and you wanna annoy them

[Buckethead]

The spot I go to the most was turning into shanty town before the sun came out so I went farther out. 

[Nysportxman]

Its public fishing. If a spot is open feel free to fish it. But if some fellas are setup somewhere don't drill holes 10 feet away (unless they're buddies and you wanna annoy them

I hear ya.  I know everyone's got their honey holes.  I've yet to find mine, but I know some guys can get pretty territorial if you're on their spot, even if you happen to find it by experimenting.

I always fish with my brothers so fishing right next to each other is not an issue.

[hardwater61]

They are greatly appreciated by this near septuagenarian. ( I just added that last one to make Hardwaters day) 

Thanks JB1. This challenged Quinquagenarian really appreciates it! 

[pooch2543]

Went off the North shore this morning with my son, his friend and Racer. Three shanty's 20 feet apart from each other. Racer cleaned house getting his limit by 8:34am an extra keeper one perch and 2 bourbut .My Son got skunked and I only caught one jumbo perch, his friend got two keepers and three perch.... dumped his third at the hole. Marked a ton of fish, could not get them to commit. The fish that were caught were all caught on different lures. We tried everything. Very aggravating Try again in the am.

[Crappie Crusher]

Had to leave early today as our trip has come to an end.  untill february we will continue to read reports and study these fish and maybe next time we will do a bit better we ended up with 8 decent Perch in the 9-11 range this weekend along with 9 short walleye, my first included, also lost a good size one at the hole.  good luck to everyone

[H.T.]

Went off the North shore this morning with my son, his friend and Racer. Three shanty's 20 feet apart from each other. Racer cleaned house getting his limit by 8:34am an extra keeper one perch and 2 bourbut .My Son got skunked and I only caught one jumbo perch, his friend got two keepers and three perch.... dumped his third at the hole. Marked a ton of fish, could not get them to commit. The fish that were caught were all caught on different lures. We tried everything. Very aggravating Try again in the am.

stay after them pooch. you better bring an extra tank of propane tomorrow. only going to be a high o 7

[Mr. Jitterbugger]

A couple of us fished off of shack point yesterday and today. Fishing was relatively slow yesterday and really slow today. We managed two nice burbot, about 8 keeper perch, 1 short walleye, and a nice 17 in smallie (on the jigging rod - great fighter!). Threw back about ten dink perch too. Today got off the ice early as we only managed to catch what appeared to be that same walleye n bass haha. Fished about 17-25 FOW.

[eyedoctor]

Snagger, I for one appreciate the help and info that you and other IS vets post. I only get to ice fish 3to4 times a season. hearing

 about fish caught and not caught, seeing the pics, makes me feel like I'm part of the goings on.

[bart]

Finally got out on Oneida Lake! I had one of those days... I highly recommend wearing cleats, fell once and wrenched my knee twice. I bought 3 dozen buckeyes(MM) at 6: 05am, all but a couple were floating belly up by 6:30am. I also managed to break the Transducer Support Arm on my LX-5. All I had to show for it was one short Walleye, about 12". I did mark a lot of fish, many were suspended 8-15 off the bottom. I had a lot of followers, only two biters. One came charging right off the bottom and slammed my Rap! Now I can hook my shanty, my snow suit, my fingers, just about any of the equipment I haul out on the ice but I missed that fish! All in all it wasn't that bad, I figure I got all the dumb$ out of the way all in one day!