Reviving this thread because I have a follow up question related to all the great info...
When fishing very shallow (4-6 ft deep) local city ponds, making a flasher mainly only good for marking depth and not fish, how do you all go about fishing the water column to find fish? Do you start close to the bottom and jig your way up? Or do you start jogging just below the ice and work your way deeper? Thanks in advance for the advice!
Well Beardcat, let me offer my experience from the last 10 years of fishing shallow water, 2 to 7 ft. I always bring my FL-22 with me but I don't always use it. When I need it, I really need it, but if I can do without it I will.
Always fish from just under the ice down. Your first drop down a new hole or returning to a hole after a few minute break, is the most important drop. Don't do it casually, give it your utmost attention. Often there are fish so close to the ice that the flasher misses them.
Fishing the column gives you at least 3 shots at 3 different species. Crappies typically ride high in the column, I swear in super shallow water their dorsal fins scrape the ice. I have caught slabs under 2 ft. of ice and less that 2 ft. of water. You could not get a bite that day deeper than 4" to 6" under the ice. I tied a knot of colored line on my main line and set it to show me 4" under the ice.
Some of the largest gills you catch will come super close to the ice, but I think it is because they are the most aggressive, spot the offering from farther down but rush up. Then the bulk of the gill school will be deeper.
Next come the perch, when I get a perch higher up in the column I am surprised, but again I think it is an aggressive fish that has spotted your dropping lure and is out competing other school mates. I get most of my perch tight to the bottom. I often see mud on the lower jaw/lip on perch from grubbing blood worms out of the mud.
I give each hole 3 cycles. I fish from the ice down slowly to the bottom. Thump the bottom 3 to 6 times then fish up slowly to the ice, then repeat. Three cycles, no fish, on to the next hole.
Many times I have seen anglers married to the their flasher patiently working the marks of those ofter smaller fish near the bottom, when all the biggest, most aggressive, desirable fish will come much higher in the column and frequently on a larger lure. The guys rockin' the flasher using small to tiny jigs tipped with live bait are usually bringing quite a few fish top side, but are they really the fish we want? I'll happily take fewer but larger specimens on spoons, Rembrandts, larger sized Purists, and jigs and plastics. It is actually hard to fish a Rembrandt that is too large if your target fish are just Crappies.
