Targeting fish 101

[ChrisL]

This is my second-year ice fishing on a 140-acre pond/lake here in Massachusetts.   The deepest point is 23 feet and it has a few sunken islands.

I have tried fishing on top of the islands, on the steep sides of islands and have not had a ton of luck. I have the most luck 50-100 feet from shore in 8-10 feet of water where I have caught 8-10" yellow perch and occasionally a chain pickerel.  I have the whole pond mapped with my fishfinder and catch much larger yellow perch and largemouth in the summer months.

I am using tip ups with live shiners hooked through the back with a 15" leader suspended 15" off the bottom.  I am also using tungsten scuds with mealworms and jigging those.

Where are the larger fish?  Deeper water?  where water flows in/out of the pond?  The excitement of catching anything has worn off and I want to target some of the larger fish that I know are there.

Thanks,
Chris

[sebago2jigtima]

sounds like your doing it right
maybe no big fish in there   
good luck youll find em 

[FreshwaterPhil]

I'd try jigging smaller lipless rattlebaits and jigging raps in depth of 15-20 feet, suspended 2-7 feet of the bottom. Tip them with mealworms or bits of nightcrawler. Should give you a decent shot at icing some largemouth, and possibly some of those bigger / more aggressive perch.

[ChrisL]

I'd try jigging smaller lipless rattlebaits and jigging raps in depth of 15-20 feet, suspended 2-7 feet of the bottom. Tip them with mealworms or bits of nightcrawler. Should give you a decent shot at icing some largemouth, and possibly some of those bigger / more aggressive perch.

I know they are in there, I catch them in the summer.  So you are suggesting deeper and higher off the bottom then?  Should I be looking for areas with large depth changes or the flats?

Nice fish BTW!!!

[FreshwaterPhil]

Tough to tell, every spot I fished for them had different dynamics. Overall, I'd guess your chances may be better closer to a drop off, though doesn't have to be particularly steep.

My preference is to drill, fish hard for 5 minutes, then move another 30-50 feet way and repeat until you find the bass. Once you find them, there is a decent chance they'll be at the same depth most of the day, and possibly through much of the winter on a small pond. When you get one out of a hole, if you don't get any more, try drilling the next few holes in a circular pattern around the one that worked.

If you come across a school of them, they will likely be super aggressive, to the point where you shouldn't even reach bottom with your lure before it gets hit.

[RapShack]

When you say "shiner" what are you using?  Around here "shiners" usually refers to goldens and the like and are usually too big for perch though not always.  If I'm gonna target perch with tipups I go with fatheads or preferably rosies, hung by tail from a Jig-A-Whopper Tiger Lilly spoon or small kahle hook.  Also when you set your traps drill a hole about 2 or 3 feet from each one and use them for jig holes.  The jigging draws attention and if you use a heavier bait and bang it off bottom you can draw them in.

For the jigging upsize your lures.  Stuff like 1/4oz Buckshots or Pimples, and Jigging raps up to size 5.  You can really pound bottom and draw attention, and it helps keep the dinks off.

Just for fun here's the one perch I have caught on a shiner.

[ChrisL]

Sorry for the confusion, I am using shiners like your bottom picture and yes they are way too large to catch perch.  I don't want to catch perch on the tip ups, I am hoping for chain pickerel and bass.  I am trying to catch perch on my jigging rods.  I just bought some buckshots so I will try those.  I do not have raps or any pimples, so I will add those to the inventory.

I caught maybe 8 perch Saturday just like your photo, not hooked, but choking on the shiner.  You gotta pull them quick out of the hole before they slip off.

Chris

[Kourcha]

I have always had best luck with bass fishing next to a drop off or ledge alot like what freshwaterPhil was saying, personally I don't really target bass or perch much thru the ice the occasional one is a bonus in my mind, But I mostly target trout and salmon thru the ice which I would suggest finding out if they are stocked locally to you, If your state stocks the pond/lake that you are currently fishing or another one close by, Brook trout can be targeted in shallow water anywhere from 1 fow to 10 fow is where I place most my traps targeting brook trout or rainbow, Nightcrawlers have always worked very well for me with rainbow trout aswell as brookies and shiners and smelt (if the lake has a wild population) always are a good choice of bait, For structure I would focus on rocky bottom, ledges/drop offs, saddles and the such hope this helps

[Brochet]

For pickerel, try setting tipups on a dropoff just beyond the weedline. 10 to 20 FOW is usually good.  Use medium shiners on treble hooks with steel leaders and set the bait about halfway to the bottom.  Pickerel will also hit a jig with a small minnow especially if you let it sit still after jigging a few minutes.  Good luck

[stripernut]

Largemouth are happy to run shallow under the ice, my largest in MA through the ice 8.3 came out of 4ft of water... Keep fishing the structure, but don't be afraid to fish it shallower. For jigging, I have had great luck with Salmo Chubby Darter, worked right they swim in large circles...

[ChrisL]

Largemouth are happy to run shallow under the ice, my largest in MA through the ice 8.3 came out of 4ft of water... Keep fishing the structure, but don't be afraid to fish it shallower. For jigging, I have had great luck with Salmo Chubby Darter, worked right they swim in large circles...

I saw a fisherman pull a good sized bass in 4 feet of water on this lake.  I am not sure how he was rigged.

I rig my tip-ups with a small sinker and then an 18" leader where I hook the shiner through the back.  I am setting the sinker 18-24" above the bottom.  It sounds like I may need to get the shiner up higher in the water column. 

I also don't understand the fish behavior in the winter. Are they swimming around under the ice or are do they hang in a single spot.

I have an underwater camera and it seems like the yellow perch swim around in small schools.

Chris

[IFF]

Has anyone ever thought of what level in the water column the thermoline might be at ?

[MC_angler]

Has anyone ever thought of what level in the water column the thermoline might be at ?

Nope, because we're ice fishing, not fishing in the summer time

Lakes are pretty homogenous temperature wise during the winter, and don't have a thermocline

In really deep lakes the water on the bottom will be slightly warmer at the bottom, due to a quirk in water - it is densest at about 39 degrees F, and lightest as it freezes

[primepin65]

If it was me, I would print out a paper map(or mark waypoints of the spots you have tried on a GPS) and systematically fish the whole lake. Take a friend or three with you, so you can cover a larger area than you could solo. It looks like Mass allows 5 devices per person, so 4 tip-ups and a jigging rod sounds about right. Start shallow and drill a line of hole straight out from shore. The depth of the water column should obviously increase as you get farther from shore. Start out by having all of the tip-ups set 12-18" off the bottom, regardless of the water depth. Once an hour, reel in 12" of line, in order to cover the whole water column. While waiting for flags, punch a crap ton of holes in between and around the tip-ups and bounce around with your jigging rod searching for fish. If you find that one or two of the tip-ups are having most of the success, replicate the "settings" by moving the other tip-ups to that depth and distance from the bottom.

Unless you have an amazing day, start the next trip in a different area, repeating the process, until you fish the entire lake. If you are marking the areas you fish, you should be able to cover the lake in a season or two, especially if you have friends helping out.

You could also ask people you see out ice fishing what areas of the lake they have fished and how they did. Some people might see this as "spot jumping" but you could just stay away from those areas for a few days/weeks and then try them. Search the Mass sub-forum for the name of the lake and see if other people have talked about it over the years.

[sebago2jigtima]

nice post primepin65   
spot on advise   

[primepin65]

nice post primepin65   
spot on advise   

lol thanks!

The place I fish most often is an 88 acre "lake" about 3 minutes from my house. In all the years I've fished it, I've never needed to get farther than 150 yards from the launch, since the pan fishing is so amazing. For the first time ever, I caught two 50-fish limits this weekend and only drilled 4 holes total. Took me 3 holes Saturday to find them and then drilled one hole Sunday. Hit my limit by 11:30am on Saturday and 10:30am on Sunday.

When I fish new waters, I move around as much as possible to find the fish and then stay in that spot until I stop marking fish. I only set up tip-ups anymore when I'm fishing walleye, and even then only at the beginning and ends of the day.