What am I doing wrong???

[Rotney72]

The best advice i can give is fish a little higher in the water column...i do this for the gills and it works more times than not..say im in 15 feet of water ,i will start off by jigging 6 feet off the bottom...now a lot of times your gonna get the suicide dinks at first but hang in there...you will notice if you turn up the gain to where you have a little line showing through your own mark (your jig), then you will start seeing fish coming in from the sides..such as green marks at 4 ft quickly turning to red and coming up... (if you use a vex )   you can do it...  dont get discouraged  try it you may be suprised..good luck. 

                               

[IceBob]

I think most of the answers are listed above...

Spring bobber is a huge advantage...When the bigger fish take the bait it is usually just inhaled and the spring bobber may only move 1/8".  Smaller fish tend to peck at it and you usually end up trying to hookset and end up allowing the small fish to strip the bait off the jig.  If all you see are tiny blips on the vex and you are sure they are dinks try moving jig up and away from them.  If all you catch are dinks it's time to move.  Don't be afraid to fish in 2-4 fow in the weeds....the fish will be there!

Next time out look around for the "old-timers" sitting on buckets congregated in a small area.  They don't bother with tip-ups...they are usually hunkered down over a weedbed killing bluegills.  Late in the day the old-timers will quit for the day.  Move over into their old holes and you will surprised at the fish you will catch.

Next time out get there early... 

[DoubleBurg]

When you get out to the lake are you doing the dance?

You gotta do the good luck dance !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ1bb18nQQg


All the fancy equipment don't mean anything if you don't do the dance.


Wiener

I'm taking my roomate fishing tomorrow for his first time out.  I just showed him this video and told him to study the dance moves.  "You aren't going fishing with me unless you know the lucky dance!"

[DoubleBurg]

My advice would be to find a small pond that would be stocked with gills.  In my area we have farm ponds and old pits every where that are filled with gills and bass.  These always seem to show huge numbers and allow you to get that valuable practice in.  You can sometimes catch a big one in these, but you got to be able to catch the small ones in order to catch the big ones.  I just started last year myself and started on these farm ponds.  It kind of just shows you what to look for with bites and different presentations.  Also, I have noticed that you don't want to pull to hard on a hook set.  Don't know if this is just me or not, but if I just give it a little tug it seems like I get a lot more hook sets than if I give it my "rod tearing a hole in the roof of my portable" set.  Don't get discouraged.  You won't catch any fish with a dry line.

[BigJay]

There's no shortcut for putting in time and research unless you happen to have a bud that knows your lakes like the back of his hand. 

If you're catching dinks, your presentation may not be the problem at all.. you're likely just not on top of big ones.  Be mobile.  Try different spots and if that doesn't work, try different lakes.  Where I live, there's several lakes in close proximity to my city that contain perch.  But pretty much all of them contained stunted populations so it doesn't matter how skilled of an angler I am, I'm going to catch 3-6 inch perch.

When you're getting skunked, what is your flasher telling you?  Nothing down below?  Move.  If there's plenty of fish around, keep changing your presentation until something works.. go bigger.. go smaller.. jig hard.. twitch jig.. bottom bounce.. do whatever you have to do.  Sometimes it still won't work as fish -can- simply be inactive.

[ICEMAN73]

Do you smoke or chew?  I read somewhere that the smell from your nic fingers on the bait/jig affects the fish.  They say bring a cool whip container with pete moss and dirt for your fingers to help the smell factor.

My .02

[Da_Roc]

Hi Gang!
 If you really want to learn how to ice fish there are two ways.  Make friends with your local old timers.  That would be me in Indiana lol.  Or you could go to the pro am clinic for anyone who shows up  at any of the  NAIFC tournament weekend.  I guarantee there will be someone there that can help you catch more fish quickly..  During pre fishing Th fri and sat I always will be willing to help anyone who askes for tips tricks and tactics finding fish so willl the entire field of ice fishing guys.. It is a fun weekend fo the novie kids and pros alike.  Everyone  is welcome to come to all the pro am and kids clinic. Ice fishing is simple when these thoughts are taken into consideration. 
   #1  Fish like green weeds
    #2 Fish like wood structure then rocks then weed lines.  Look at your lake maps carefully.  The areas where the water goes from deep to shallow the quickest are the starting points.
     # 3  Fish have to eat so look for those green clouds  of haze under the ice  thats proto and zoo plankton crappie and gill love those areas.
    #4  Give the fish a few minutes pre hole about 15 actually if they are not there then move.  If you dont sonar them then move on.  80% of the lake doesn't have fish in the winter.
   #5Start with very small jigs 1/32 with about a #12 to 16 hook. Add be moths  or spikes to start with.
  set a second pole dead sticking with a stationary rod in another hole.  If state laws allow.
  You can get plastics but keep it simple.  White for gill pink for crappie Glow for dark water or water over 8' deep.  If it is clear water use a dark purple or a black plastic.  still use pink for crappie they like it better.  Dunno why?
   Well thats a start.
 Let me know how you did kid!
  Da-Roc
  Rocky Martin
   

[Wiener]

Do you smoke or chew?  I read somewhere that the smell from your nic fingers on the bait/jig affects the fish.  They say bring a cool whip container with pete moss and dirt for your fingers to help the smell factor.

My .02

I use a small tube of toothpaste.  I don't smoke or chew tobacco, but the toothpaste helps to get rid of smells from my hands.  Trout really have a great sense of smell.  There are also attractants like smelly jelly that you can put on your hands  to cover scent.


Hope this helps,

Wiener