New to eyes.

[Sunburn]

I've icefished pretty much my whole life, but mostly for perch and gills.  I'm now going to try for eyes, any tips for getting started (gear, bait, jigs) would be greatly appreciated.

[ICE LUNATIC]

Have alot of patience and always drill two holes when setting tip uip's that way if you do get flags you can jig when you hit the one.They usually run in groups so always nice to be ready for them!

[Sunburn]

Thanks for the tip!  How many tip up would you normally set up? Should I just put on minnows on them right off bottom, spooled with about 6# test?

[Pasquatch]

Thanks for the tip!  How many tip up would you normally set up? Should I just put on minnows on them right off bottom, spooled with about 6# test?

How many lines are allowed in your state/province? Here's a good thread on walleye fishing.

Walleyes on Tipups



Remember, fairly light line, medium shiners, near weeds, rocks, and dropoffs, best at early morning or dusk.

[kwiky364]

anybody no any good lakes for eyes.  never cought one b4

[Master Angler]

Get a good supply of orange and chartruese jigs in different sizes.  They are the most consistent producing colors for eyes.  Pink is also good, as well as green glow in the dark for late evening and night fishing.  Regular round head jigs are good, as well as whistler jigs (the ones with little propellers on them) and jigging rapalas.  Also jigging spoons such as little cleos (personal fav. green and silver), buckshot rattle spoons (perch color and silver), cicadas, and crippled herring.

Pasquatch pretty much covered location and times.  So good luck, and I hope we hear some good results. 

[Mallard]

both links go to the same thread?

[Mike.]

I catch alot of eyes on T-tots mostly (white or green), glow in the dark spinnow, good old 5 of diamonds.  When fishing is slow I usally go alittle deeper and bounce the lures on the bottom to stir it up and the eyes become curious and usally hit it or you will do a little jig and theres something there when you lift, there difficult to catch when this happens.

[AugustWest]

I like to fish my bait at a minimum of 3 feet off the bottom. Aggressive walleyes will be more off the bottom, which deters non targeted fish, and the non targeted fish you catch that way are usually nice fish.

[iceintheveins]

Use a combo approach of Jigging with tip ups. On the tip ups use 6 pound fluorocarbon and live minnows in the 3 - 5" range. Set them near the bottom, within a foot or two, near rocky areas, points, drop offs, or creek channels.
Fish the same areas with your jigging rod. A #5 jigging rap fished on 10 pound mono with a fluorocarbon leader is best. Tip the rap with a tiny minnow head.
For tough bites, use smaller spoons like kastmasters, buckshot rattle spoons, and the like, usually in the 1/4 ounce size. For really finicky eyes, a large teardrop jig baited with a live minnow and fished non aggressively is your best bet.

Most important of course is to concentrate again on the twigh light periods. Don't judge a spot until you've spent a few evenings on it. Try 10 - 25 feet of water.

[marcus]

I am also going to icefish for eyes for the first time this year. I have found a promising spot . There is a decent dropoff that transitions from a mucky bottomed area to a hard bottomed area pretty quickly . What area of the dropoff should i be trying. The drop goes from (the weedy flat area) 5-8 ft deep down to a fairly flat area 27 feet deep. Most of my fishing is during the day I am sure that changes things a bit .