the big wiggle or anyone help new to ice fishing any tips please

[klrjay27]

So I've been to Magog,Waterbury res,Woodbury lake  .I've had no luck as a beginner 4-8pm on each lake.ive used jigs,spikes,few lures still no luck . I'd really like to get smelt  perch or trout  .is am better after dark?I've been 10-30ft deep.I'm planning on trying willloby and joes . any tips would be great .thanks for the you tube videos big wiggle .your king fisherman !!

[fishingidjit]

K, For starters-buy a #4 silver Swedish pimple.and a jar of power eggs(yellow.white,orange).Go to magog where the other perch fishermen are located and jig just off the bottom(3-4 inches ). You will catch perch,this is a basic tip for a beginner !Good Luck !

[LimpFin]

For the smelt I'm assuming you have a light of some type. Hydro Glows are the Cadillac but as the Fishing Weatherman showed us a cell phone and mountain dew bottle works.  If your fishing without a flasher then dead stick it to see if it is getting "bumped". If it is make sure your hook isn't to big. I have made that mistake before. Berkley power maggots!!

[NHHARDWATER]

K- A sw. pimple is the first lure anyone should drop into their tackle box as a beginner. They catch everything from perch to lakers.

If your targeting perch, My go-to lure is a buckshot (rattling) tipped with a minnow head. Deadly for bigger yellows.

[gogetthegaff]

So I've been to Magog,Waterbury res,Woodbury lake  .I've had no luck as a beginner 4-8pm on each lake.ive used jigs,spikes,few lures still no luck . I'd really like to get smelt  perch or trout  .is am better after dark?I've been 10-30ft deep.I'm planning on trying willloby and joes . any tips would be great .thanks for the you tube videos big wiggle .your king fisherman !!

Perch tend to shut down when the sun sets. 4-8 PM is a tough window to fish for them. For a beginner, I'd recommend not starting with trout. They can be tough, and fishless days are not unusual. This time of year I'd start searching out perch as they begin moving shallow. Find the weeds in maybe 8-10 FOW and set up near the edge. A good way to locate a school is to spread out a half-dozen tip ups with fatheads a foot or so off bottom, and start jigging with spikes or a minnow head. When a flag pops (and one will), catch the fish and then start jigging that hole. Usually you'll get into a few more before the school moves on. Sometimes you'll be there for awhile and catch a dozen or more. I've had real good luck this time of year with a small jigging Rap in gold or perch with a perch eye on the belly hook. Demons are good, Buckshots, and small Swedish pimples are always good. Perch generally are not fussy when they're feeding. Anything with flash and some sort of bait will do the job.

[NHHARDWATER]

If I can make a suggestion, I would try some smaller water bodies first to try and figure them out. Willoughby is A LLLLOT of water for finding perch while learning. Joes is too.

[gogetthegaff]

PM sent...

We need to get klrjay27 into some fish !

[thebigwiggle]

So I've been to Magog,Waterbury res,Woodbury lake  .I've had no luck as a beginner 4-8pm on each lake.ive used jigs,spikes,few lures still no luck . I'd really like to get smelt  perch or trout  .is am better after dark?I've been 10-30ft deep.I'm planning on trying willloby and joes . any tips would be great .thanks for the you tube videos big wiggle .your king fisherman !!

 Thanks for awesome compliments and your support for the videos. This is why I enjoy doing my videos. It's for people like you.
Anyways as far fishing tips all you have to do read these tips from excellent anglers on here. These guys have written a bunch of great tips for you.

[troutcrazy]

Waterbury Reservoir isn't an easy one, either, in my experience.

Here are some tips for perch.  Use spikes (maggots) on whatever lure you choose.  Small Swedish pimple works ok, and like others said the'yre good for trout too.  I like little jigs like a size 8 demon jig for perch and panfish.

The advise I first got for perch was: 
1. send the lure to the bottom.
2. bounce it on the bottom a bit to stir up sediment and call in curious fish.
3.  pull it up a few inches or a foot, jiggle it a little, leave it still a little, jiggle some more.  If nothing bites, try reeling in another foot or two to see if they're higher.
4.  If nothing bites, or only little ones, drill another hole... maybe just 10 feet away.

I had good luck talking to people on the ice when I first started, and asking for advice.  I still do that.  Ice fishermen are pretty nice.

Where are you located?  Maybe there's a better spot for you to catch perch to get started.

[NHHARDWATER]

pm sent to you KlRJAY27. Good luck

[klrjay27]

Thanks guys for the awesome tips,I live in morrisvile for who asked.what a great forum!!!!!

[thebigwiggle]

Thanks guys for the awesome tips,I live in morrisvile for who asked.what a great forum!!!!!

Bye the welcome to the ice shanty forum.  The guys and girls on here are nothing but well classed and very knowledgeable ice anglers.

[thebigwiggle]

Perch tend to shut down when the sun sets. 4-8 PM is a tough window to fish for them. For a beginner, I'd recommend not starting with trout. They can be tough, and fishless days are not unusual. This time of year I'd start searching out perch as they begin moving shallow. Find the weeds in maybe 8-10 FOW and set up near the edge. A good way to locate a school is to spread out a half-dozen tip ups with fatheads a foot or so off bottom, and start jigging with spikes or a minnow head. When a flag pops (and one will), catch the fish and then start jigging that hole. Usually you'll get into a few more before the school moves on. Sometimes you'll be there for awhile and catch a dozen or more. I've had real good luck this time of year with a small jigging Rap in gold or perch with a perch eye on the belly hook. Demons are good, Buckshots, and small Swedish pimples are always good. Perch generally are not fussy when they're feeding. Anything with flash and some sort of bait will do the job.

Great Tip and i have done this and it works, another thing you could do is drill another hole by tip hole about 5 feet away and when the flag goes off on your tip up and you have a pretty good idea its a perch , then try to resist the urge to pull that tip up  , instead start jigging that hole right next to the tip and sometimes that will catch you perch . What it look like to another perch is a feeding frenzy and having a second bait down there can catch you more fish.

[mudchuck]

klrjay27 smelt aren't hard to figure out either. waterbury is full of them, but if you really want to get into them, take the trip to Bomo, the drive is twice as far, but the smelt bite twice as hard and are twice as big! they're getting ready to spawn, so the bite is going to drop off, but look forward to next season and get on them anytime after you find safe ice. 30FOW has been the sweet spot for me, except on champlain where 50-80' works.
like everyone has mentioned, small hooks are needed. hali's with short chain are ideal. silver, gold and glow colors work well.
you can also use the small snelled hooks for salmon eggs/trout fishing and drop shot them with an egg sinker and start on the bottom and work your way up the water column.
when you can afford it, buy a flasher, it will pay for itself 1st season i promise you that!
good luck!

[bootstrap]

back in the day we used small pequea hooks. do people still use them or are they a thing of the past?

[Blackink]

Great Tip and i have done this and it works, another thing you could do is drill another hole by tip hole about 5 feet away and when the flag goes off on your tip up and you have a pretty good idea its a perch , then try to resist the urge to pull that tip up  , instead start jigging that hole right next to the tip and sometimes that will catch you perch . What it look like to another perch is a feeding frenzy and having a second bait down there can catch you more fish.

Now that is a great tip. I probably would have never thought of something like that bigwiggle but now that you've mentioned it, I can see why it might be productive and make the other fish think something is going on and they come around investigating.

Great tip & a great forum....

[thebigwiggle]

Now that is a great tip. I probably would have never thought of something like that bigwiggle but now that you've mentioned it, I can see why it might be productive and make the other fish think something is going on and they come around investigating.

Great tip & a great forum....

thanks Buddy . Hopefully this will work for ya next time you try it

[klrjay27]

Thanks again everyone for the tips ,I plan to fish in a few days again wish me luck!

[buckfordave]

for perch lake champlain georgia shore to st albans bay u gotta catch something ..my favorite is small vertical rapala in blue /silver or black silver put a power bait on the treble on the belly. just off bottom jig let it sit ,one reel up jig let it sit, one reel up jig let it sit see the pattern here ? also after the 1st fish if your keeping your perch start baiting all the hooks with eye and as long as the fish are there they will bite. also yout favorite lure/bait will be the 1st lure ur using when you finally start getting them..good luck