Too much rattle, too much flutter...too aggressive?

[BIGfishBILL]

I broke out my 1/8 oz slender spoons this weekend since my go-to summer baits weren't working.  I didn't realize how much they actually jumped around until I experimented next to the dock.  That got me thinking.....

I often have to force myself to slow down when jigging lipless crankbaits through the ice, I probably need to do the same when using jigging spoons too.  Fishing them fast probably scares fish away, but it also doesn't give much time for a fish to bite even if it wanted too.  I'm sure others have been down this path before.  Thoughts?

[IFF]

Depends on how aggressive they are.  They can strike like a rattle snake if they want to.

[esox_xtm]

I like to start very aggressive. The tendency is always to slow down from where you started. Fish can be far more aggressive than we give them credit for.

I've caught nice walleyes during open water in the middle of a cloudless day in 6 - 8 FOW. Why? They were hungry and had a pile of minnows pushed up against a rock lip. Feeding spree, about 25 minutes. Tally, 3 guys, 9 keepers. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Day......

We came through that exact spot a little earlier and I had a follow from a fish (I was casting for muskies) that was a walleye probably 24" +/-. My Dad and son were both dragging nightcrawlers and had nary a nibble. I made a note of the spot and circled back around, downsized my lure a bit and got hammered. I had 3 in the boat before my son could find a floating minnow in his box and my Dad could turn his nose up at anything other than live bait for walleye. He finally tied one on and we actually had a triple going until one was lost at the boatside. Crazy stuff...

Don't overthink. Let the fish tell you what they want. Don't try to force feed (sometimes that's hard not to do).

Thinks about this: Something comes zipping by and you say, "What the hey was that?" and it comes zipping by again so what do you do? Most folks reach out and grab whatever it is to examine it more closely. It's almost an instinctual reaction. If a fish wants to reach out and examine something, even if it has zero intention of making a meal of it, does it have hands to grab with? Or how can it stop something (anything) to examine it more closely?  I'm sure you figured it out... 

Just a coupla pennies worth...

[addicted to ice fishing]

Let the fish tell you what they want.  By watching your flasher, you can tell alot about their mood.  If they hammer your bait then keep using the same jigging cadence.   If they come to look, and then go away,  you may need to try a different cadence,  upsize, or downsize. Maybe they like the baits profile,  but want an added rattle.

 Sometimes what you think is too aggressive is just what the fish want.  Other times,  they might want a bait that seems too big.  The key is having an open mind,  and being willing to experiment using the clues the fish provide on the flasher to find the best approach at the moment.

So to answer your question,  let the fish dictate whether you need to slow down or not.  Jmo.