IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => General Tips => Topic started by: RD79 on Jan 18, 2016, 11:10 AM
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Hey guys, im not new to ice fishing by any means using the old standby jig and minnow or smelt on a tipup, but im definetly new to targeting certain species and using technology to my advantage in icing more fish. I live 2 miles from the lake so when the bite has slowed in the past i just didnt go out. Now i've got a flasher and pretty much all the toys as well i've read ALOT of articles on fishing trying different things but this past weekend had me frustrated. I know sometimes with certain weather systems the fish just simply wont bite, but i had so many marks on my flasher and i just couldnt convince any of them to commit no matter what i tried bait wise or lure wise. In this lake there is only Walleye, the odd perch and Northern Pike.
I was on every spectrum from jig and minnow, jigging rap, blade style baits, rattle live target minnows, all sorts of spoons in every color the store has, haha. down to a bare hook on flourocarbon with mealworm or minnow or minnow head and perch eye ive saved from previous success. Tiny hair jigs. EVERYTHING! One rod was constantly changing colors, sizes and bait and my other rod had a frozen shiner on a bare jig on florocarbon.
What is your go-to when trying to suck in that light bite? We did have a very large cold front where the temp dropped on thursday night from -10C to -32C where it stayed that -30 all weekend.
Thanks for your input!
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Days like that, I'll just go home and hop on the snowmobile and go riding. After a couple hours of nothing happening, i get tired of it and leave. Some days are like that.
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First I would drill more holes and hole hop. 5 minutes per hole. then start switching lures and lure colors. Then try going with bigger lures or bait. Instead of jigging with spikes on the jig, try small minnow.
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They just won't bite, they just won't.
In the past, I did by chance found and played with 6 inch fingerlings that will bite. After an hour or two I had enough of that.
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Just got back from a trip like that where a cold front shut them right down. Lots of lookers on the vex and no takers. Just about emptied my tackle box trying different lures all the way down to a plain hook n minnow. Some days you just can't make it happen.
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Move move move.....this past weekend was slow for us.....never caught more than one keeper from any one hole....It was like they were just laying on the bottom and you just had to find one that was a bit active and had to drop the jig right on it......Sometimes even that doesnt work, and you just have to enjoy being out on that floating cake of ice in sub zero weather.... :P :P
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Mobility!
I agreee that you have to move. Keep moving until you find active fish. Even if, and especially if that means moving to another lake. If you develop this habit of moving to find the active fish you will soon be enjoying awesome fish fry's.
It's REALLY worth the extra effort!
:tipup:
Lobes
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Move around, change up lures, drink more beer!
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Start eating, they always seem to know when I am cooking/eating on the ice and turn on, LMAO
J-
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Start eating, they always seem to know when I am cooking/eating on the ice and turn on, LMAO
J-
Also works well on Deer and Waterfowl
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Start eating, they always seem to know when I am cooking/eating on the ice and turn on, LMAO
J-
Exactly ! Or sit there for over two hours, reach for the thermos and BAM! Fish on. :roflmao: :roflmao:
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Okay the other day when the bite was slow, I snoozed. Held the rod and was awakened by a thumping tugging. Whoops fish was biting. I missed it. ;D
Then stared at the blank flasher for the next two hours... Could've gotten two more hours of snooze...
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My favorite trick is to tie a 8 inch dropper with a tiny fly on a 1# line below your jig. This technique worked the past two days for 14 gills and 3 crappie while the rest of my party (6 guys) were shut out. A least two of the group tied on like me and they to caught a few also. Also used this with walleyes under a jigging spoon with heavier flouro line with great results.
Tight lines
Thor
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Break out the Marmish palm rod. The strike indicators are so sensitive that at least you'll be catching bait! When things are shut down all around, I can usually catch some 2-3" perch on the Marmish.
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Go look for active fish. Usually pretty rare that a whole lake has negative fish. Usually somewhere the conditions are different and the fish will bite.
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Drill and drill and hole hop w vex. Repeat.
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whats a vex
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it's short for vexilar, which is a brand of ice fishing sonar. marcum and humminbird both have similar units.
honestly, i just move around till i find fish that will bite. often i'll spend the previous night picking apart the lake on google maps (no depth charts in my area), if i get really into it i'll print off a picture of the lake and label the places i want to try and the order i want to try them. usually i'll find a hole full of fish that are at least kind of willing to take a bait. sonar is absolutely necessary though, and an underwater camera can be incredibly helpful. i don't set multiple lines until i'm in a steady patch of fish.
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When it is slow, I sit down and take a nap, guaranteed to get a bite that way... or walk away from the pole!
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Keep drilling until you find fish. If you can't find active fish, go home or hit up better water.
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Bring a fishing buddy who has ADHA disorder. My buddy can't sit still for a minute if the fish arnt biting so after about five minutes of not catching fish he is punching holes in the ice. If he can't find fish within 100 ft of the shanty off he goes on the snowmobile trying to find fish. I just sit in the shanty and wait for him to come back. I make sure I take my stuff off the snowmobile because he has lost several things over the years of mine and others when he goes searching. On his snowmobile searches he has never found a better spot or has anything to report. He does comeback with some beer and food so it works out for me in the end
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When things are slow,,,, I like to use a heavier jig and bounce it off the bottom. It stirs up the bottom and a perch or two come in. I'll have a lighter jig in next hole close to the bottom light jigging catches them.
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Hole hop
curse people drilling in the area
praise people drilling in the area
get a drink
pee
eat
pee
pound the bottom
change baits (worm, maggot etc)
chum (where legal)
change jigs
pack up and move
go visit people close by
give up go home
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I often marked "non biters" as well. I then purchased my underwater camera. Found out they really WEREN'T non biters after all.......I just wasn't seeing them sucking in my bait and summarily spitting it back out without so much as a hint of a "hit". Now, when they suck it in.....I strike!!!!
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I often marked "non biters" as well. I then purchased my underwater camera. Found out they really WEREN'T non biters after all.......I just wasn't seeing them sucking in my bait and summarily spitting it back out without so much as a hint of a "hit". Now, when they suck it in.....I strike!!!!
I see this with my camera also catch a lot this way
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I never give up.i will find active fish by changing a million jig colors,baits,location.theres active fish to be found I will swiss cheese the ice. whatever it takes.i stay all day regardless and sometimes the midday bite kicks in.if its really sucky fishing/weather wise.I just sit in my shanty and wait for single roamers on my vex and try to entice them to bite.I don't get out enough to go home when the fish are not biting and stay from sun up till sun down.i enjoy just being out there. if I catch something its a bonus and always stay positive.
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Move. drill more holes.
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Open a bag of chips, eat a sandwich or open a drink...every time i do something hits!! ;D
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My favorite technique when the bite gets slow is to drink beers and plink at the cans with the an old daisy lever
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drill baby drill, hole hop, watch Marcum. If I'm seeing fish, set up to try to make them bite. When in doubt, fish smaller. If I'm not finding fish, move hole hop. Or go home.
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Drink beers, lots of them
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Drop all my flags to the very bottom, reduce hook and bait size. Keep everything as natural as can be.
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fish are biting somehwere. drill drill drill .
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Cold fronts can be tough, I am not sure if they have the same effect in winter but in the summer they can make for very tough fishing. With a bad cold front we usually move a little deeper and our presentation remains still for at least 5-10 minutes without moving it at all, if you move it as they come toward the bait they turn and swim away.
I always use a float when ice fishing and have used underwater cameras in the past to watch walleye behavior. When the bite is slow a walleye may have to inhale the bait sometimes 3-4 times to actually get it in enough to set the hook, this is where a float comes in handy. We will usually leave a jig and minnow right on the bottom in a slow bite with the float rigged in a stand up mode when the lure is taken. I have used a phelps floater on a short line lindy rig to when it is slow as they can inhale these easier than anything.
In the winter I usually only fish lakes I have fished in the summer and with GPS points I have a pretty good idea of the structure in the lake and where I am going first. With the exception of late winter/early spring fishing I will always head to mid lake humps first. I have found it does concentrate the fish and the best ones will have deep water, weeds, rocks, sand and sometimes even a nice inside turn.
It can be tough sometime finding biters in the winter, but like it has been mentioned before they are biting somewhere, if you know the lake well, hit your hotspots and you will get a few.
One of my sons with a nice walleye off a mid lake hump.
(https://i.imgur.com/h1wR6Qr.jpg?1)
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A "factory re-bait" on my deadstick crawlers. Fresh, moving bait gets more strikes.
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I usually take a walk to visit some other fishermen. Being far enough away that I can just see a flag usually does the trick, especially if it's a slippery or slushy walk back. If that doesn't work, I walk in circles mumbling, "Come on, just one fish, that's all I want, just one fish".
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I usually take a walk to visit some other fishermen. Being far enough away that I can just see a flag usually does the trick, especially if it's a slippery or slushy walk back. If that doesn't work, I walk in circles mumbling, "Come on, just one fish, that's all I want, just one fish".
Oh! Thanks for the reminder. Our family also uses the Ernie fish call.
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I put my gloves back on. Works pretty well.
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that video kills me every time :)
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Ha Ha, I'm guilty of that one too. ;D
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Agree w DAPOS: get a camera. You will be surprised what really goes on down there.
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My favorite technique when the bite gets slow is to drink beers and plink at the cans with the an old daisy lever
X2. Drink more beer.
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I find that moving for lakers is not very effective. Trout are hunters that patrol the lake looking for food. Quite often schools seem to swim by like clouds passing in the sky. So if you are on structure where you know fish frequent it's sometimes just as well to wait for them to come along. I guess moving works better for walleye or pike.
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Man, this bear gets poked a lot... Gotta love them zombie threads!
To the point: If I'm on a great spot I know has and will produce I'll refine presentation. If not, I'll move but maybe not too far. They gotta be close right? Sometimes I'll experiment with a very active approach and at times that's been the trigger. Low and slow ain't always it. Sometimes it's smash n grab.
Camera can tell a tale and is sometimes very surprising. Sat for an afternoon once with a bunch of guys tippy fishing for pike. Sooooo slooooow! Went and dropped a camera down all my holes and it was literally wall to wall LMB as far as I could see in every direction. Started hole hopping jigging a slab spoon pretty actively and couldn't keep the dang things offa my line. Every hole, drop, jiggle, jiggle, rip, drop smacko! A ton o fun! But it was the camera that revealed what was possible and experience that brought a winning presentation to bear. Saved the day. And no, never caught a pike on a tippy, never had a flag in fact but those bass.
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Just keep changing and pounding...or hit another lake.
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For me, it’s about finding the active fish. In one lake I fish, if the trout aren’t biting, then I switch to looking for panfish.
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Ill have multiple rods tied up with different baits to switch over to so I don't spend a whole lot of time re-tying on those slow days. Just keep drilling and moving.
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Eat lunch, go pee, or switch lakes. The moment it is the most inconvenient the fish will show up.
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There are just so many mystery variables that may come into play that I gave trying to outguess the fish long ago. Slow days are offset by red hot days. When I get to an area on the ice that feels fishy I'll shoot a few readings through the ice with the Marcum LX-i to check the depths and when I narrow it down to a certain bottom topography, the Force takes over and tells me where to drill. Such is my confidence that it's rare that I'll move off those holes all day. Seems to me that hole hopping may just be a sign of desperation. I deadstick with homemade snappers and those rigs do their job as designed. When it slows down I'll get out the little Primus stove and boil some water to make a nice ramen lunch, hearty and warming. Spicy chicken is good. Usually just turning my focus away from fishing will result in a snap and a fish.
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Chumming helps
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I salute the fish gods with a shot of Jameson and whola a flag :tipup:
This really works if not do another shot!
smitty :tipup:
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Switch lures if I'm jigging, go check and re bait traps if I'm using those.
Downsize, presentation changes, move spots....
If that doesnt work. I just sit in my hub and maintain a "good cruising altitude" ;) ;D
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Chase the wife around the bob house :o
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Move and change holes...
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Have a buddy smoke a fish whistle. Works everytime.
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I usually take a walk to visit some other fishermen. Being far enough away that I can just see a flag usually does the trick, especially if it's a slippery or slushy walk back. If that doesn't work, I walk in circles mumbling, "Come on, just one fish, that's all I want, just one fish".
X2
Another alternative: Break out my fire bowl and start cooking lunch. I generally get a flag when I finally start eating.
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Have a buddy smoke a fish whistle. Works everytime.
Rarely does a good fish whistle ever me down! ;D
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Stare harder at the FF screen, jig bait up and down and delude myself into thinking that was a fish chasing it instead of my sinker!
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Break out the fish whistle and do less.