Fishing Naked for Panfish!

[Martian]

 I would stay home and go another day instead of not fishing with vexi.. I play music too, and sometimes one of the old guys will say :" I remember a time, when we didn't need tuners", my reply is always, " yep , and we all played out of tune". some things are better to be in the old days

[Greenhornet73]

I ice fished for 15 years before I broke down and bought a flasher.  I have to say I feel blind without it now.  Other than that I keep it basic with a bucket for a seat and a jet sled for my gear.  Oh yeah, and always head out with a cigar and flask of sambuca in my coat pocket. 

[kwiksatik]

Not exactly panfish, but going out for the first time about a week ago (perch), I had better luck finding the bottom with my jig and bouncing it back up from there. I was pulling fish off the hook as fast as I could, but my friend who took me was having half the luck I was with his flasher. Have to say, I was pretty darn smug. Fishing naked is plenty fun.

[iceman260]

Ihave buddies that fish naked always asking me are they suspended,are they on bottom, where are they . I' ll go home if I don't have my flasher.

[bassbull]

Where I fish the fish are on the move all the time and you just have to find them. The river stage never stays at one level very long and that changing moves fish. So my MarCum never stays home. Have a good year on the ice. STEVE

[dawnordusk1]

I'm a older guy in my 60's, so i have fished when flashers for ice didn't exist. I have found on my home lake ST Claire in Michigan the water is so clear and shallow that I can see to the bottom when I'm in my clam. My flasher make no difference in my catch rate at all. Other lakes that I fish where visual isn't that good they are a 90% improvement for me. So I am guessing this is normal when you can't see the fish use the flasher, when you can don't. Me got old by not drinking and walking on the R&R tracks 

[augerbit]

I froze my tush for forty some years, that changed about two years ago.
I don't go without my sonar and flip shelter.

[Art 53]

A flasher is like sex or air conditioning Once you have it you can't live without it

[Stinkybaits]

I'd give up my flasher before my aqua micro view. Use my flasher more in the soft water. I'm sure never going back to completely naked though lol.

[Townie]

My graph & Aqua Vu have boosted my catch ratio exponentially!  U know me Cecil; all about the ice tech. I'd still be fishing the wrong spots at lake M lol

[CPace]

I don't use my electronics on waters I already know.  I do use them on lakes I don't frequent, new to me.  I also use them on the trips to LOTW.  I still like "naked" fishing the best, don't have to take a bunch of stuff with you!! lot more simple, and i still catch fish!!  I still like sitt'n on an old 5 gallon bucket, no portable shack, just back to the wind, with my feet on a chunk of 1 X 6 inch board to insulate from the cold ice!  Caught a lot of fish that way!!

[taxi1]

My graph & Aqua Vu have boosted my catch ratio exponentially!  U know me Cecil; all about the ice tech. I'd still be fishing the wrong spots at lake M lol

Townie,

Do the brook trout still swim just below the ice on Lake M?

[Townie]

Townie,

Do the brook trout still swim just below the ice on Lake M?

Always ice a few brookies each winter. Some holdover

[fishm_n]

Depends on the lake. Certain of my favorite lakes I won't take the flasher. But if I'm scouting or going to one of the big deep lakes it is a must.

[wyogator]

I don't own a camera, never will.  I just don't see the necessity.  It seems like a novelty to me.  Plus, I like the wonder of whether the fish at the end of the line is a northern or walleye.  I can usually tell by the fight, but have been proven wrong a time or two.  That said, I will never ice fish without my sonar unless I am laker fishing.  I do use snap weights and set the bait 6"-12" off of the bottom...with tipups, then I sit in my flip-over with a jigging rod and stare at that screen

[BlueDuck]

I am a  geezer and I was fishing long before electronics and gadgets.  If I want to relax Ill do it in my recliner.  If I am fishing Ill take my Marcum.  No contest.

[taxi1]

Always ice a few brookies each winter. Some holdover

What's the biggest brookie you've caught in Lake M.? Back in the early 70's when I fished Lake M. a 13 incher was a monster!

[Townie]

13"+, cookie cutter stockies. Haven't  seen a bright male. Pretty dull lookin' brookies...

[taxi1]

13"+, cookie cutter stockies. Haven't  seen a bright male. Pretty dull lookin' brookies...

That I did catch back in the day. Not huge but really, really, intensely colored in the fall due to the large zooplankton in the lake they fed on and derived carotene from. I've never seen zooplankton that large anywhere else. And many times a lot of the zooplankton was still alive when you opened their stomachs.

I think I told you where there is some upwelling where they congregate in the fall up through December to spawn right? If not I'll PM you. As a kid it was really exciting to see schools of up to a hundred or so brook trout cruising the perimeter of the lake in the fall until they all settled down in the area of that spring upwelling to do their thing. Even saw some successfully hatch the following spring, although I'm sure the bass in the lake pretty much wiped them out.

Back then 99 percent of the trout stocked were brook trout with a few broodstock rainbows mixed in. Last time I was there it was rainbows and browns with a few brooks.

[caseySD]

35 years old here and have been fishing since before I can remember.  Yes,  I have nice electronics on my boat but have always fished without on hard water.  I know I'm young enough to not be in the dark ages and I really don't know why I don't have a flasher other then I'm too tight I guess.  I did finally splurge on a nice wheeled house this year so I guess I might have to try a flasher now too 

[josephfish]

I have fished naked all my life so far..(37 years old) last year was my first chance at using a flasher on a guided trip in lake Erie for walleye..That trip opened my eyes to my nudity and I am currently looking for the right "clothes" to be put on. I was wondering does anyone know if you can use a Garmin say 550 series for ice fishing and how? I have been researching and I am hoping to purchase a unit that I will be able to use on my recently purchased bought as well.

[Wnthunting]

Lol .. Great post .. I fished naked for 5 years now .. I just got a vexilar flx28 for a wedding present .. Can't wait to use it .. Hopefully next weekend 

[augerbit]

Well my Friend takes two rods, a showdown & his flip and dose three to my one

[10th MTN Dave]

Never fished any other way.

Maybe someday I will give it a try, but as long as I don't know the difference I will continue to go out and fish with my own past knowledge and my trusty Tip-ups and jigging rods like my grandpa did before me.
Still don't own an Ice shelter either, but you can find me and my five gallon pails on the ice almost every weekend. My luxury item is a hand auger, but the spud bar still gets brought out even after "first ice" and before "last ice". Safety gear is a buddy, 50 foot of rope, ice picks, and a boat cushion (throwable and a butt pad...Nice twofer). Can't imagine spudding through a foot and half of ice at my age, but my grandpa did it into his 60's.

Something said about keeping it slow and simple...Modern and fast paced isn't always the best way!