Author Topic: Mystery Fish (Read 4884 times)

hammerhead · « **on:** Nov 25, 2008, 08:00 PM »

For the last two years I have been scouting in the boat in the fall looking for places to ice fish. There is a place where I go over trees that I always find fish suspended at about where the tops of the trees are. The trees are in about 60 feet, and the fish are suspended from 45 to 30 feet deep. I have fished for them from the boat and last year I put my ice house over them and never caught a thing. Have used minnows mostly because I kind of suspect they are crappies. I have put my camera down, but this is the limit of usable light, and I haven't seen anything. Any ideas? They are driving me crazy. I use an Eagle Magna III, could it be showing the smaller branches of the trees as fish?

jayswimmer09 · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 25, 2008, 08:06 PM »

yes it could, but it also could be showing baitfish suspended down there, thats my bet.

hammerhead · « **Reply #2 on:** Dec 01, 2008, 09:11 AM »

The screen shows a mixture of different size fishes which makes me suspicious, I would think that schooling fish should show up as pretty similar in size.

What makes me wonder though is that when I am on ice and the transducer is perfectly still, the fish come and go, there may be a flock on the screen for awhile and then they disappear.

macker13 · « **Reply #3 on:** Dec 01, 2008, 09:55 AM »

I had a similar experience on a very clear water lake in Northern MN. I was marking "fish" on my finder, but on a very clear calm day was able to see that when "fish" were indicated, there was nothing above the trees.

You are probably fishing for old branches that have trapped gas while slowly decomposing.

However, those trees are a good structure and could hold fish that you are not marking.

boblee · « **Reply #4 on:** Dec 01, 2008, 07:11 PM »

it should hold fish. what time a day are you fishing it

hammerhead · « **Reply #5 on:** Dec 02, 2008, 11:47 AM »

I'm not so sure that they really are habitat, they are pretty deep for my lake, most fish hold a little higher, I think I like the theory that there are air bubbles on the branches.

1TIGGER · « **Reply #6 on:** Dec 02, 2008, 11:51 AM »

If it's the fall it could be moss that's turning over and suspending .

ice dawg · « **Reply #7 on:** Dec 02, 2008, 04:44 PM »

Do you have your fish ID turned on??

hammerhead · « **Reply #8 on:** Dec 02, 2008, 10:22 PM »

mike304 · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 01, 2009, 01:11 PM »

try to find someone with a aqua Vu!!!!!!

Kevin23 · « **Reply #10 on:** Jan 01, 2009, 02:00 PM »

Well fish follow patterns in the summer that can differ from winter patterns. In the summer the fish are chasing baitfish and in the summer they are stationary around brush or on flats waiting for the baitfish to come to them. It could be possible that you were marking a summer location that the baitfish use that is not used in the winter.

fiesty · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 31, 2009, 07:32 PM »

could be algae, could be large bait, if the "trees" are still releasing stored oxygen, then your theory of air bubbles is probably correct....my wife says they're probably golden shiners (we've seen that up here in the same conditions)....

taxi1 · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 31, 2009, 07:39 PM »

This has nothing to do with your situation but a friend of mine marked some deep water fish schooled in a natural lake in our area. He couldn't get them to bite but he fouled hooked one of them. It was a small gar! I would have never guessed that! I believe he said they were down about 60 feet.

We also suspect in the same lake that has large fish we mark but can't get to bite are adult gizzard shad.

Townie · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 31, 2009, 09:42 PM »

I've seen similar sonar hits in a 25' scour hole in a local river. Only until I used the Aqua-Vu there did I discover they were white suckers carpeting the river bottom

taxi1 · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 31, 2009, 11:21 PM »

Speaking of suckers I helped with a gill net survey in a local lake and surprised to net large suckers well off the bottom. I had always thought suckers stay close to the bottom, but believe it or not the biologists said they can filter zooplankton out of the water column. I would have thought their mouths would preclude them from doing this.

fiesty · « **Reply #15 on:** Feb 01, 2009, 05:23 AM »

we've caught suckers suspended, quite often, and they were certainly not filter feeding....you'd be surprised what their lips can do...

taxi1 · « **Reply #16 on:** Feb 01, 2009, 11:26 AM »

Quote from: fiesty on Feb 01, 2009, 05:23 AM

we've caught suckers suspended, quite often, and they were certainly not filter feeding....you'd be surprised what their lips can do...

How do you know they weren't filter feeding and then inhaled your bait?

fiesty · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 09, 2009, 06:59 PM »

I never saw the filter....

Kevin23 · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 09, 2009, 08:46 PM »

ICEROGUE · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 11, 2009, 02:59 PM »

I had this same issue in 90ft of h2o, only to find out later that it was a few schooling smelt

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Author Topic: Mystery Fish (Read 4884 times)