To move or not to move

[Mountain Maggot]

With the more advanced and easier to use and carry augers these days, a lot of folks are drilling a 100 holes looking for fish. On occasions, I have seen these guys running back to their rod and falling as they go only to lose their fish.

Many if not most of the fish we seek are predators and as such seek baitfish.  Sometimes baitfish stay on a structure but many if not most times the baitfish move around.  I have found that if you find a spot that is producing and the goes dead, it will pick up again later in the day or night.  So in such instance I stay put in the comfort of my hut and 9 times out of 10, the fish come back.

So I am curious if drilling 100 holes get one into a catchable bonanza or just a lot of excercise.  In my younger years I did this but then patience and old age set in.  Generally no action on the first setup prompts a move or two.

What has been your experience with the number of holes drilled versus fish caught?

[Jesse yourich]

When I fish new and unfamiliar areas I drill a lot looking for fish and it seems to work. Familiar areas I usually only drill a few and set the tent up

[fishermantim]

You usually drill until you find fish.
On new or unfamiliar waters more drilling increases your chances of finding fish.

On regular spots, you normally know where the fish are from prior outings, so you will drill less and fish more.

I would believe that it would hold true for most ice anglers...that you drill fewer holes on places you've fished before.

[panfishman13]

there's 3 ways i normally fish:

1. if i'm setting up for trout, i know trout don't usually school up in one area, rather, they cruise around in anywhere from 5 to 20 feet of water, usually suspended a few feet off the bottom. so i won't mess around drilling bunches of holes trying to get on fish; rather i'll find a likely spot off the end of a point or in a corner that is gonna concentrate those cruising fish and force them to swim past me, and i'll drill a single line of holes perpendicular to shore, set dead rods or tipups, and wait for the fish to come to me. i'll give it 30 minutes to an hour, and move if i don't have any action.

2. if i'm familiar with a body of water and i'm fishing panfish, i'll find a weedbed i've marked on gps, then drill holes until i find the edge of that weedbed that has access to deeper water. big bluegills, crappies, and perch will all utilize that edge to hunt for food. drill a line of holes along that weed edge, and then put the auger away until the bite dries up.

3. if i'm unfamiliar with a lake, or i'm fishing a large area that doesn't have much variety (mud or gravel flats) then i'll drill and drill and drill until i find fish. when the school moves on, i pick up and move again. drill, drill, drill. some days i spend more time with an auger in my hands than a rod.

[Mountain Maggot]

For many species, I drill and sound to find structure and setup regardless...works for me in new areas most of the time as well.

[hnd]

it all depends on the body of water, it all depends on what you are fishing for.   

personally i'm not going to just sit and wait for fish to come back.  they went somewhere and i'm going to find them.  often times this results in us finding a better spot. 

i mostly fish for panfish.  and in the 10 years i've been ice fishing, i've never seen a guy just sit in one spot and outfish people running and gunning.   I'm not talking about a guy sitting on one lone piece of structure all to himself.   i'm talking about out on a point, on a basin, etc etc.  i'm not saying they don't catch fish, and maybe to them its the perfect amount of fish without having to move and thats great. 

When we fish, i say we spend probably most of our time in 1 spot.  but it takes a lot of predrilling/prefishing running and gunning time to find those spots. 

[Fat Boy]

there's 3 ways i normally fish:

1. if i'm setting up for trout, i know trout don't usually school up in one area, rather, they cruise around in anywhere from 5 to 20 feet of water, usually suspended a few feet off the bottom. so i won't mess around drilling bunches of holes trying to get on fish; rather i'll find a likely spot off the end of a point or in a corner that is gonna concentrate those cruising fish and force them to swim past me, and i'll drill a single line of holes perpendicular to shore, set dead rods or tipups, and wait for the fish to come to me. i'll give it 30 minutes to an hour, and move if i don't have any action.

2. if i'm familiar with a body of water and i'm fishing panfish, i'll find a weedbed i've marked on gps, then drill holes until i find the edge of that weedbed that has access to deeper water. big bluegills, crappies, and perch will all utilize that edge to hunt for food. drill a line of holes along that weed edge, and then put the auger away until the bite dries up.

3. if i'm unfamiliar with a lake, or i'm fishing a large area that doesn't have much variety (mud or gravel flats) then i'll drill and drill and drill until i find fish. when the school moves on, i pick up and move again. drill, drill, drill. some days i spend more time with an auger in my hands than a rod.

+2   

If I am on a hot hole and it goes cold, then I move.  But, I may go back to that hot hole later, so I always try to remember where those are.  Sometimes, if you find two like that, when one is hot and the other is not, then vice versa, just hole hop between the two and you double your chances.  Often schools of suspended panfish will cruise around.  Your hot holes might be right through their frequent travel routes in search of food.  I use a fish trap, but I don't move my entire set up.  I use my shanty as a base, then hole hop with my sonar, rod, and ice skimmer, then go back and check the base.  If they all go cold for a long period of time (30-40 minutes without seeing fish is a long time for me), then I have do a major move and start over.

Also, if you plan on night fishing, often the hottest hole in the day is the place to be at night.  Remember that hole!

[Fat Boy]

it all depends on the body of water, it all depends on what you are fishing for.   

personally i'm not going to just sit and wait for fish to come back.  they went somewhere and i'm going to find them.  often times this results in us finding a better spot. 

i mostly fish for panfish.  and in the 10 years i've been ice fishing, i've never seen a guy just sit in one spot and outfish people running and gunning.   I'm not talking about a guy sitting on one lone piece of structure all to himself.   i'm talking about out on a point, on a basin, etc etc.  i'm not saying they don't catch fish, and maybe to them its the perfect amount of fish without having to move and thats great. 

When we fish, i say we spend probably most of our time in 1 spot.  but it takes a lot of predrilling/prefishing running and gunning time to find those spots.

I quoted the wrong post, not sure how, but this is the one that I meant to type plus 2.

That said, the one that I wound up quoting has merit too.

Basically, I cut a lot of holes until I find fish.  But, I don't cut them all at once.  I'll cut 4 or 5 and check them, then if they don't suit me, I move and cut more, all the time trying to understand what I'm seeing on my sonar and the topo of the lake, focusing on areas where I've done well previously on familiar lakes, or on lake structure that I'd suspect holds fish.  If I find weeds, I take those into account too.  My post above assumes that I've found a hot hole and it went cold, like the situation the OP suggested, I guess.

[steinea286]

If you don't see fish on your flasher immediately, do you move again? I am going to a lake this afternoon that I have never fished. I know there are some good gills and some crappies, but if you don't see fish, do you just move right off the bat? Will you fish a couple holes for 10 minutes before drilling new holes? I am new with the flasher and new to an area so I am doing a lot of "scouting".

[hnd]

i fish a lot of empty holes.  if there are fish there and they go, i always give it a minute or 5 before i move....depending upon whether it was just a few fish or a bunch. 

[Spider1]

I'm not one for drilling a ton of holes just because. I tend to be picky about where I drill. Looking for structure like points or flats or looking for structure that I scouted out during the softwater season like submerged trees or rock piles. I'll drill a few holes for my tip ups and one for my jigging rod and I'll go to work. If nothing happens I'll change strategies. Like, if I'm fishing deep water flats I might move to shallow weeds. But I ain't drilling a ton of holes unless someone asks me to.

[Icefisher40]

I drilled over 100 holes last weekend.  Didn't fish a hole unless I marked a fish in it (fishing for suspended/roaming fish).

I caught probably 80-90 fish throughout the day and could have had my limit several times over of 8+" gills and 10+" crappie.

Older gentleman sat in his one man about 15 yards away the entire day. 

Walked past me as I was loading gear into my truck and he asked me how I did. I told him my results and he showed me his bucket of 9 fish and said he was mistaken, as he thought it was a tough day.

[Fat Boy]

If you don't see fish on your flasher immediately, do you move again? I am going to a lake this afternoon that I have never fished. I know there are some good gills and some crappies, but if you don't see fish, do you just move right off the bat? Will you fish a couple holes for 10 minutes before drilling new holes? I am new with the flasher and new to an area so I am doing a lot of "scouting".

I move.  10% of the lake holds 90% of the fish.  You want a hole where the 90% are.  That said, if the bottom flickers a little bit even, that could be fish and worth dropping a jig down there to see.  If you get a reaction, stay a bit.  But, if it's a flat solid line at the bottom and no movement, move.  That is my approach.  Will I miss one holding very tight to the bottom?  Probably, but most likely it won't be active anyway.  When I see them suspended, even a little bit, I pretty confident that I can catch them.

[Mountain Maggot]

I drilled over 100 holes last weekend.  Didn't fish a hole unless I marked a fish in it (fishing for suspended/roaming fish).

I caught probably 80-90 fish throughout the day and could have had my limit several times over of 8+" gills and 10+" crappie.

Older gentleman sat in his one man about 15 yards away the entire day. 

Walked past me as I was loading gear into my truck and he asked me how I did. I told him my results and he showed me his bucket of 9 fish and said he was mistaken, as he thought it was a tough day.

Are you saying you drilled 100 within 15 yards of the old boy.  If this is true, I am surprised he did not salute you with his ice auger.

[Icefisher40]

Are you saying you drilled 100 within 15 yards of the old boy.  If this is true, I am surprised he did not salute you with his ice auger.

Wrong. Old boy decided to walk out and set up on one of my "old" holes I had drilled 10 minutes earlier, presumably after watching me catch a few fish.

Which I had nothing wrong with, but I certainly wasn't going to alter/cater my fishing style after he sat down in my lap

[Freytown]

Another point is the size of the body of water. Bigger lakes I will drill more looking for active fish. Personally, I see no point sitting at a non-productive hole when it's so easy to move.

[Hooked up]

Move, sometimes I will move back to holes I've fished earlier, but if I am not marking fish it won't be long before I go looking for them.

[RyanW]

I started using a drill setup this year after using a hand auger the last 6 seasons. I’ve also had a flasher for the last 2 seasons. Hand drilling holes is no stranger to me and neither is fishing “old school”. I’ve ice fished all my life but only have been doing it seriously as an adult for the last 6 seasons. I’m 30. I use to only drill maybe 5 holes max. 3-4 for jigging and maybe 1-2 for tipups. I’d drill a few holes relatively close to each other in spots that my brother use to take me when we were younger. Then I’d set up my tipups in spots that looked good (points, shallow weed edges). 95% of the lakes/ponds I fish are small. The largest not even being 200 acres and the smallest is around 20. I don’t get to ice fish more than maybe half a dozen times a season and going to these spots have always produced decent fish, but the numbers were terrible. Especially for being on diverse, however smaller, waters. The numbers are definitly there and that’s further proven when I catch them in the warmer months. Since I’ve gotten my drill setup, I’ve been going auger crazy compared to what I would drill by hand. I drilled about 35 holes today alone (dropped only one bar on my 5ah Milwaukee battery, just an fyi). That’s a lot for me. Usually what I’d drill in an entire season by hand.

Since I’m basically set for finding fish, this season, I’ve been exploring these same lakes with my flasher and my drill setup. What I’ve been doing is I’ll find a spot where I’ve been productive before. But, instead of drilling one hole, I’ll drill 5 holes within a 20’ diameter. One in the center and 4 around the circumference of my area. I usually always mark something and if I don’t, I’ll still spend some time fishing those holes. Sometimes we can not see what is actually there with our flashers (fish stacked on the bottom so the sonar reads a “false” bottom that is actually fish). Just because we don’t see suspended fish, doesn’t mean there aren’t any there. When those holes dry up (If they do, it’s usually within 30-40 minutes, sometimes there’s nothing) I’ll try and swing my transducer and take notice of the direction it’s swinging if and when I mark more fish. I’ll drill a line of 2-4 holes in that direction every 10’ or so. When one of those holes marks fish, I’ll drill another 4-5 holes around that one within another 20’ diameter. Once I have a series of productive holes, I’ll bounce around between them. Rinse and repeat.

That tactic has worked very well for me this season. It’s really the first season I’ve “runned and gunned” (...ran and gunned?...) and it’s proven to be more productive than just camping on 3 holes next to each other because I’m too out of shape to drill more 8” holes lol. By doing all of that, I was able to catch about 30 8”-9” roaming crappie this morning in a 27 acre, 30’ max depth lake. I didn’t keep any but I could have had lunch for few weeks if I did.

With sonar units and light weight efficient augers, if your goal is catching fish, it’s just foolish to sit on an unproductive hole. I was watching a Jason Mitchell video a few weeks ago and he said something along the lines of “Think of every hole you drill in the winter as a cast of your rod in the summer”. With that in mind, I have to drill more holes to “cast” to different areas. It’s working well so far.

[Mountain Maggot]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  My exploration hole-drilling is a line of holes normal to a structure that I can anticipate from bathymetric maps or from the the elevation or morphology (re: points and islands) of the banks.

If I know zippo about either, try to find old aerial photos on Google Earth before a man-made pond was constructed to see were the damned stream is located, perhaps trees or other natural or unnatural structures. 

For natural lakes I look to where the creeks or streams enter the lakes.  While ice can be iffy, these inflows provide more dissolved oxygen that is depleted in a water body later in the winter with the cap of ice.

So my drilling basically targets structure.  For the man-made lakes the are just a bowl, I usually target the riprap at the damn or run a line of holes from the shallows to the center.  I also target coves in such lakes where the water is warmer.

Long and short I target my holes. Albeit I might be missing fish by chasing schools with random and even systematic drilling but I feel the baitfish hangouts are more likely hangouts for catchable fish.

However to each approach there are exceptions.  I look for underwater currents and the direction that a fight fish pulls for more holes.  One other thing, certain fish like lake trout will hung the bottom waiting for a sucker or other bottom feeder.  These can be difficult to discern from the bottom unless you wait on a hole for awhile or drop a bait in front of them.  If I were to drill, target and run I would miss finding them.

[mrjohnny]

 always fish for gills and have a pretty good idea where they will be..
like this morning I drilled 3 holes and the second was the honey hole.
you need to learn the body of water..gotta get me a smart phone so
I can post pictures..i got 18 large gills in about an hour..love my Marcum..

[rivereddy]

My buddy, who is younger and has a battery pac and drill, has become kind of a drill-o-holic.  Interestingly, the last 4 trips we have gone out, the first hole he drilled has been the jackpot....Anybody else had a similar experience.  He claims that the sound of the first hole being drilled is an attractant.  Course by now, the local lakes are starting to look like the moon.

fish on,

rivereddy

[SirCranksalot]

I really think it depends on the type of fish. If they are structure fish such as walleye I think you need to go find them. You can wait for 'hunters' such as trout to come to you, IMO, if you are in an area the are known to frequent. We were fishing for lakers about 3 weeks ago and a school would come along every 1/2 hr or so and stay for about the same amount of time. Mostly lookers and window shoppers, of course with the odd biter mixed in.

[flyhaven]

Good ready. Helps me also as a beginner.

[Spider1]

A lot is gonna depend on how well you know your lakes as well. One lake I ice fish regularly is one that I've fished for years. I know the good areas pretty well. I guess the fact that I kayak several lakes during the softwater months and take notes of the structures from my FF. If you fish a few particular lakes you tend to get your favorite spots.