Don't laugh, newbie question

[Looper]

Hi,

I'm hoping to take my young kids and their cousins ice fishing this weekend.  We've got a camp on the south shore of Oneida Lake and the ice in front of our place has been safe for a while.  The water in front of our place doesn't get deep quickly.  Since I'm going to have little kids with us (who get bored easily) I know they are going to have a low tolerance for the cold and I don't want to drive other fishermen crazy.

Rather than going to one of the popular bays, I was thinking of walking out to 10 feet of water right in front of my camp.  We catch a ton of fish at this depth in the spring/summer. 

Do we have any chance of catching anything at this depth under the ice?  Would I just be wasting our time?

I do see videos on youtube where people ice fish at this depth.  I just don't know if it would work on Oneida.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

L

[scout57]

depends on which 10' you are talking about I guess......shallow water in big bay is great...shallow in other parts of the lake are not so much.....where is your camp?

[Postletown]

I am not familiar with Oneida at all, but 10fow can produce great ice fishing opportunities in any lake I have ever fished!  The only way to find out is to drop a line and see what happens! Good Luck and be happy you can get out at all, I have not been on any ice yet this year lol. 

[nitzer]

yeah, you should be fine....i have noticed that where you find the fish in the summer, they are usually there, if not too far off in the winter.

[Looper]

depends on which 10' you are talking about I guess......shallow water in big bay is great...shallow in other parts of the lake are not so much.....where is your camp?

It is on the south shore, near Lakeport.

L

[o2rmk800]

i'd give it a shot. might just be surprised on what you'll get.

[jeffro9023]

If you know where the weedlines are find the deeper side of the weed edge and you'll have a ball catchin fish

[Irish Jigger]

A camera or flasher have worked well for me to keep kids busy when the fishing is slow. Setting out a bunch of tipups and teaching them how to check the lines then letting them do it themselves works too. Kids always like to do things on thier own and playing in the bait bucket is a given. I don't know much about oneida so I can't help you there.

[Hardwaternubie53]

And take a frisbee or a football. That will keep 'em busy for a while.

[yankeeangler]

I have never fished oneida eitherBut this past weelend I caught 2 pike in less than 4 feet of water.I caught a 36" 10.5 pounder in 3 1/2" feet of water.It depends more on structure and weedlines than depth of water.

[RIVERRAT2]

use small hooks[12's or less]keep bait a live, use some tip ups and set real light so flag will go off,then lie about the fish that
got a way as to the size and number,it is the fun OF THE TIME out there this worked for my son[now 52 and still a fishing nut]
hope this works for you good luck
 
RAT
 

[EddieRod]

  Took my son out last week and hes said to me " Should of brought my ice skates" I wish he did. That can keep kids busy.

[yankeeangler]

  Took my son out last week and hes said to me " Should of brought my ice skates" I wish he did. That can keep kids busy.

I fished a couple of weeks ago and one of the guys kids brought his skates.I'll tell you right now you will never beat that boy to a flag LOL

[perchpounder97]

If there is some structure which can be found on a GPS or a map....... try to find that and put as many lines in the water as possible. If you catch a fish go put more lines in that area but if say you get a flag and no fish and you think it might not be big enough to eat your minnow then try jigging you might find some aggressive perch.

[kowboyup]

If it doesnt work which i think it will at catching them some fish, bring them to canadarago for aday and they will catch fish non stop here, wish i had some small children to take out as ive said it would b ablast for them to catch perch although small non stop for hrs

[jimmyclaude]

Should be plenty of pan fish at that depth. We fish 2-13 fow all the time.

[bcl0125]

I take my boy out every weekend he loves chasing the flags. Trust me i thought the same thing but after the first fish is pulled up they will love it.

[FreezinGator]

Loop,

I agree with the tip ups - my kids love chasing flags.  If you have one bring out a small propane burner  / cooker and do hot dogs for lunch.  My family loves to go ice fishing because we always have things for them to do to make it fun 

[BROOKIEGILLY]

you may be better of going to big bay the kids will have a better shot at catching fish.

[Looper]

thanks for all of the replies!

L

[rjhulbert]

A game to keep them busy and not get bored is to go to any sports store pick up 6 hockey pucks and put a marking on 3 and leave the other three plain. Take your hand/power auger and drill three hole 3 inches apart (obviously not all the way through only about 3-6 inches is plenty down)  then from the front hole take about 8 normal steps and start another three holes. When your done drilling you will have your own polish shoe pit. Our group does this every time we go and its a blast between flags. The pucks weigh noting and last forever will be a lot of fun.