fishin hard conditions

[c.r.rick]

its no secret this is the hardest time of year to produce consistantly so if you all have any tips to pass on to help be more succesfull please share your knowledge cuz we can all use some new tricks to try on our home waters.  personally my key is to keep moving and drill lots of holes before my line hits the water and use a big jigging spoon to attrack fish to the area and when i mark them on the vex i drop a smaller jig down and try to get a bite.

[ozzy1038]

That is the technique I use.  A lot of times too I will leave the spoon down there as it will attract fish by just sitting there.  I like rattling ones like the buckshot.  If the fish disappear I just jig the spoon very aggressively for ahwile and they usually come back.

My tips would be drill a long line of holes looking for drops and of course brush.  Whenever I mark a good hole I drag my foot through the slush making a line so that if I am hole jumping later, at a quick glance I know that that I marked something in that hole earlier. Always carry a GPS to mark brush or other good spots. I like to raise my rod tip all the way to the top of my shack sometimes and jig it on the way down.  Sometimes the drop will bring in fish that were at a shallower depth and a lot of times it will cause a fish to charge up from the bottom which almost always guarantees a strike.  When fishing for crappie on a light bite I generally look for my spring bobber to rise a little then set the hook.  These are just a few of the things I do to help pit some fish on the ice.  The most important thing though would be to fish whne they are most likely to bite!  

[rpallen]

My trick is to move to active fish, drill lots of holes!  If that fails, just remember they are not wanting to bite so go to smaller baits!  I sometimes use 1/100 oz jigs, and sometimes that's all it takes.  I also always have a rattle trap rigged up to a crappy pole and when it go's quiet I drop it down the hole and make some noise.  Best of luck guys!