Finding your own fish

[2FishinBuddies]

I never ice fished before my son turned eight. I had always open water fished with him and did very well. Spent my winters in the woods hunting. I dont usually share my Honey Hole info with just anyone regarding open water, hunting spots, ect, ect. My son asked if we could try ice fishing and I had no idea where to start. If it wasn't for those of you that were willing to share tips and general information I probably would have never been able to keep his or his friends away from the xbox. To this day he is now 15 he and his friends all look forward to days on the ice. I guess you never know who the guy will be that brings his 15 buddies to the spot you just turned him on to but at the end of the day, I like to think it was still better than working, and staying home doing the Honey do list. So to all you guys that have shared any kind of helpful info THANK YOU!!! From both me and my son, he will always have the memories of a great day on the ice

[bcons]

Well I guess my opinion is different than most.  While I give out lots more info in person, and the nicer you are, or the better I know you, the more you'll get, I give out some info to anyone. I don't care.  My goal is to be in the 10% of guys that catch 90%  of the fish.  If you're good, you'll always find fish, and a way to fill a bucket. If you're not, you won't.
"Your spot"?  That's kind of funny.  While we all have info, & "spots",  What does every website, & every Bait & Tackle shop on the planet tell every newbie to that body of water? 
"You can access here, here, & here. Guys are having luck in X fow, using X lure or bait." 
How do you travel on the ice?  Nearly everyone does the same thing, follow the trail out, and break off whenever.  What do lots of people do for a "spot"?  They simply start looking where others have fished.  So unless you have private access miles from any public launch and only fish as a snowstorm is approaching it's not hard for others to find your spot. 
I don't get to fish Oneida lake through the ice as much as I'd like, but I have a camp on the North shore right where a few of the hardcore kings of Oneida from here fish.  I've spent countless hours drifting or trolling at less than 4mph doing nothing but watching the electronics making notes, while keeping my kids on fish.  So I know where LOTS of these features are, when I fish them now does that mean I stole "their spot"? 
I know conditions are rough, traveling is difficult at best, so it can be frustrating to have to go to a different spot, just remember at least you're on the ice.

[slekeith]

I've had days when someone has set tipups within feet of mine and not caught a fish and I'll catch several it's all in how you fish and a little luck. A buddy that fishes with me very seldom catches fish using the same thing I do he says I could catch a fish in the desert. If someone is in the area I want to fish I'll move to another area give them and me room. I've even had people use holes i drilled the day before.

[Irrgang131]

This is why I never see anything hunting or catch anything fishing...just kidding I just never give specifics to anyone but some general ideas like "I fished in the middle of the pack" or "wow I caught a lot of fish on the point today".  "Which point" to which I reply a fake name...

[oldman50]

People have found plenty of fish before websites came along, but the one thing that has always existed is a big mouth. You have to be careful of the people you tell. Since the dawn of time man has been keeping his honey holes secret. Sometimes it's a matter of taking a good dose of shut up.

[Rat-Man]

Very interesting.

[oldman50]

i had a honey hole right next to a busy road and in front of a restaraunt. even one of the members on here was eating lunch and saw me and a friend of mine getting some nice crappie. well fishing slowed down in the ol' honey hole and i fished it less and less. i recently went back and there was a path leading right to my old  holes from the restaraunt and the three holes i had kept open and fished out of the most had been redrilled, and all the snow was packed down like a parking lot... i'm guessing someone had one heck of a day there. but what can i do it is right in front of a business and people can sit there and watch the show as i  . i can find honey holes elsewhere just like everyone else. research and development is what i call it. on another lake i found a nice hump in 18-20 fow that went up to 14' and was about the size of a carolla. i found it in my boat putting around checking for structure. i saw it and stopped and set down the bow mount. threw the ol' senko on it and wham... 4# largemouth, second cast 4# smallmouth, 3rd cast 4# smallmouth. so i wanted to check this hump out last week to see what i could yank off of it and guess what, there is a shanty parked perfectly on top of it. that must be someones honey hole from years ago. i know where there is another hump that looks like nobody has fished yet, i may check it out tomorrow maybe that will be my latest hot spot that i can fish out of with some pals, until it slows down, then someone else can have a turn. i do like to give people tips on where to go on the ice, as long as i can tell what kind of sportsman they are. if they are scumbags my lips are sealed, if they are a honest, genuine people i will set them up with a hot spot anyway possible.

OK so where is the hump?

[Champlaingler]

I was recently accused of posting a coworkers "secret spot" . I fished it on that subzero monday 3 weeks ago and had someone seagull up to me while i was there. The following weekend my coworker fished it and said there were guys running to his spot with power augurs 20 of them, told him "some guy on the internet told them" and after hearing me talk about iceshanty says "i wonder who that guy could be?" f#(k him, i found a spot 2 miles away on my droid based navionics and have been pounding them since