Ice tips

[CptHook]

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I want to reiterate my intent for this posting. It should be used for anyone with specific questions that they can't find answers for, or to [#bf0000]expand on any previously mention topic/question from all the ice fishing forums. It seems Utah has the most participation on ice fishing, so search their board, or other state's (mainly the north most) to see if they have what you need. I hope to build interest in the ice fishing board, so by next season it will become frequented more. 2/9/11 [/#bf0000][/#bf0000]

Here's a few questions I'd appreciate any input on.

How do you go about setting the hook with jigs and minnows? For example a teardrop shaped jig, hooked through the back on a ? Whens the best time to set the hook and how hard?
What's your method for minnows, wax, mealworm, tube and powerbait?
Whats a good way to present bait when the sunlight is filtered through snow or unclear ice?
What color/pattern/size/shape of jigs have you had your best luck with? For rainbows mainly.


Feel free to digress.
Thanks!
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[davetclown]

as for minnows, jig or hook is all the same,

you have 4 options,


[ol][li]hook them though the upper lip passing the barb though one of the sinus cavities,[/li][li]in the back in front of the dorcel fin if it is dead or alive if you are fishing a particular type of fish[/li][li]in the back behind the dorcel fin if your minno is alive and you are fishing for a particular type of fish[/li][li]then there is a dead set hook rig that is used on large minnow [/li][/ol]
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[CptHook]

Thank you!
Great information, I think I will try your advice out. I'm never sure exactly where to stick the hook.
In my experience hooking the back seems to give it the natural look, the tail should make it struggle more, hooking the lip is good when you move them around.
I've fished in contrasting conditions recently. One scenario that was slow, every trip had one good strike that I didn't land, basically, very frustrating, especially in very harsh conditions. Cloudy weather with dark ice. (Except the first day with clear ice and sun, I got three rainbows.)
The second was the exact opposite, well stocked pond, warm weather. Everything sensible worked.
Today I fished an open inlet in extreme wind. I had very bad luck with lots of effort. One small crappie and a perch were around, they were both injured and not interested. I did have one chase it up. I think the only thing that could have worked would have been a minnow and .

To revise my question, How do you catch fish in low light, or inactive ice?
Do you wait to set the hook when the first goes under, or do you let it swim with it. (especially with a back hooked minnow for rainbow)
Thanks!
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[davetclown]

sunday I went out, and all I got for my efforts for a whole day of fishing was one jumbo perch, Monday I went out and for the whole day I got 4 small gills.
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/14809/cat/745"][/url]
I dont get fish every day, some times I have to work real hard for them, I have yet to bring in one crappie this ice season.

Today I went out at 8am and fished till dark-30. at 10 am I caught a perch, I emediatly put it on my tipup, and I did not get another bite all day, that was untill about 3pm when I got a nibble, then a little more nibble, then a little more nibble then a little more nibble then nothing for about 15 minutes. and I waited patiently, then finaly I got an all out bite... lol

I ran over and set the hook [:p] then the fun began, in and out and in and out and in and out over and over again for a good half hour, yep I got ahold of me another big one.

of corse as par for the corse, I left my gaft at home. [angelic] this meant sticking my hand in to the fishes mouth to get him in.. Just incase you dont already know, it is a pike, 36 inches and 13 pounds. Half hour later I pulled in a half dozen gills.
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/14810/cat/745"][/url]
Point is, there can be any number of reasons the fish are inactive, From weather conditions to fishing preasure for preditors to just being over fished by anglers.

to over come or indure an inactive ice, one first needs to know why it is inactive, maybe the fish have moved off, maybe the fish are just dormant, maybe you dont have the right color or the right bug, or your presentation can be off.

It also dosnt hurt to remember to wiggle your jig a little bit.

I have had days when I was the only person catching fish, and days when I was the only one not catching them.

It helps if you have company to shoot the bull with. Take a radio, beleive it or not, it helps to bring fish in. I like clasic rock and blue grass, ya know something with a good rythem and beat.

The key or rule is, if the fish are not bitting chang up, either your lure, the color, your presentation, your location.

If you know the location your in is a good productive spot, then you can circle back around to it.

Take an arsonal of live bait, wax worms, mousies, wigglers if you can find them, spikes, minnows.

the best thing to do is know the body of water your fishing, this means you may need to fish it from dawn to dusk and then some.

when the fish are not feeding you need to jig in an antaganistic manor but not frightning. For crappie when the bite is slow, I bow my rod to the lake, most people will lift thier rods and lower it back to the depth it was at, I lower it and hold it down for 5 - 10 seconds and raise it back up,, this helps to entice crappie to hit.

the other thing to know about crappie is to allow it to run, there is a couple good ways, Use a bobber and allow the crappie to pull the bobber all the way under the ice before setting the hook, the other way is to loosen the drag on your reel and allow the rod to bend fully twards the ice and allow the crappie to strip some line off the reel. "provided you have a limp rod and have a stationary mount for it"

there is on the market "crappie candy" I have not used it yet but would not hesitate if I had some and found my self in a situation where I was not getting any hits.

keeping your minnow health and swimming is a plus for catching crappie and perch, This means changing your water once a day with lake water, and oxigenating it with those blue oxigen tablets. "they work great"

to attract more crappie, it is good to have half dozen fishing buddies near by all using minnows. more minnows suspended in the water the more it is going to attract crappie.

There are days when nothing will work, we have dropped under water cameras down just to watch the crappie not bite, It is unreal some times, and hallarious when we bounce our jigs off of them and they just sit there like nothing happened.

I found at dusk in to the night that glow jigs with waxworms work better some times than minnows.

remember when the bite is off, that is the time to practice your presentations to perfection and learning new ones.
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[CptHook]

I'm very grateful for this advice! I went today after 1:00. Shallow water, sun, probably 50% snow covered, bubbly to clear ice , maybe 4 inches.Partly cloudy, about freezing, gusty. I think the spots I drilled were 2 1\2, 3 and 3 1/2 feet. I went with wax and meal, I accidentally dumped my one minnow down the hole. I also used a homemade spinner combo set up, crappie stinger, and a pink pink tube. No luck at first spot. Second spot was slow but I did have two rainbows that got off half way out of the water, near the end of the day.I even tried going for the small tiger muskie I hear about.
I wish I'd read your advice beforehand, maybe I'd have caught a pan fish like I was going for. Still it was my second best day out there.
I use a mp3 player with audio books, also a pot of coffee.: )
I have another question. How would you go for walleye through the ice at a spot you never fished? Is a 4lb test sufficient?
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[davetclown]

walleye like pike have teeth, not quite as sharp.

I use nothing less than 6-8 pound line.

but dont strip your line just yet, I met an angler out on the lake here last weekend and he was using 4 pound test line, and beleive it or not, he was using 2 pound on his other rig...

targeting eyes on a lake you dont know?

[ul][li]I would say go with some one who knows the lake and or pack along a fish finder.[/li][li]you can try fishing structures where an eye may forage. [/li][li]find the drop offs and target both the upper side and lower side of the curve of the shelf where it drops off. or target the inside of the curve on the rise of the bottom side of a drop off in front of a weed bed.[/li][/ul]
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[CptHook]

Sounds like I'll be going for yellow perch, hopefully with the chance of a small walleye.

I don't have a finder, I barely have the minimal equipment. My method is to go where the footprints lead to old holes.

That's sounds like some awesome advice.
Hopefully some of the people out there can tell me where some hot spots are, I don't know anyone experienced with this lake.
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[davetclown]

thats about as good a plan as any..

just remember to work the depts in incraments. and mark your depth by the number of cranks up from the bottom for a quick refferance to reset your line for your next catch.
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[CptHook]

It turned out to be an informative trip. We moved three times and drilled more holes than I ever have. First spot was real shallow, about three feet. The perch were biting initially, but we didn't get one out. At the second spot it was deeper, one bite but we left towards the first spot but deeper out, about 8 1/2 feet deep. Here I got about four tiny perch, about 3 inch.
It was real windy and I didn't see or talk to anyone that caught fish, but I learned where the deepest spot is where I was told walleye are caught.
The second day I went out to another lake with extreme wind gusts. After fishing four different spots at different depths I got one trout, so that turned out good.
Today I went to the closest spot to my house, with little expectation. Its always been described as very challenging year round, with very bad ice reports. I went mainly because I'm on empty but I also had a dream I was fishing there last night : ) After a few hours at it I finally had a bite, it was almost unbelievable. I kept at it and had an even better bite without the fish. It was a good rush, as every bite I've had there has been. No telling what it was, I'm guessing bluegill, but I know there's a good stock of walleye and perch. Its a new goal of mine to get one fish on the ice there : )
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[davetclown]

When you find a good spot, make sure you mark it with gps, or take two photos at 90* to give you a refferance point.

you will be suprised how close you can get on a photo line up, mental line ups are good if you can remember them, I mean I have been as close as a few inches on my hole from year to year just by doing line ups.

I know this because one of my spots has a concrete block streight down under me that I fish on. Its the only structure there.

I and 4 other people know where that block is, and three of them are no longer with us. and the other dosnt fish over it.

on the down side, I have snagged that block several times so I have a collection of jigs stuck to that block... lol

the only down fall of using land marks is if someone cuts it down, remodles it, or the wind has carried it away.
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[davetclown]

If your getting good bites from a walleye, you may be in need of having to set the hook harder, walleye have hard mouths.

Getting a small hook caught in the upper lip can present some challanges.

the down side is you could be getting hits on pike as well, getting a small jig caught between a couple pike teeth is not so difficult, but on 2 or 4 pound test line can prove a challange on landing them, and yes it can be done, I have done it quite often. and yes I have lost a few too.
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[CptHook]

sunday I went out, and all I got for my efforts for a whole day of fishing was one jumbo perch, Monday I went out and for the whole day I got 4 small gills.

All last season I went out and all I had was one jumbo perch

Thanks for the great crappie info, I missed most of that the first time I read it, the picture too, incredible fish! Haven't got one of those yet.

Went for the crappie's on ice once this year without luck, in fact I haven't got a single pan fish on the ice ever. I wanted to go heavily armed next time. I heard crickets worked, maybe that and a crappie rig with minnows, wax worm and a stinger style jig. Anyone with suggestions on what to use, how to use it or what to avoid using? For ice slabs that is.
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[CptHook]

Thanks again!
For some reason I haven't used my gps yet, I have a few spots I should mark while I can still see the holes.
Great idea! You might want to cover your old holes with snow Someone might do some investigating for your secret spot.
I should have been building structures last summer while walking around the lake bed rock hunting, that's hindsight for you.
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[CptHook]

If your getting good bites from a walleye, you may be in need of having to set the hook harder, walleye have hard mouths.

Getting a small hook caught in the upper lip can present some challenges.

the down side is you could be getting hits on pike as well, getting a small jig caught between a couple pike teeth is not so difficult, but on 2 or 4 pound test line can prove a challenge on landing them, and yes it can be done, I have done it quite often. and yes I have lost a few too.

I haven't had a broken line in the ice yet : )
That's why I'm putting it off until I can properly go for them. Although I'm becoming more and more interested in walleye as my primary targets in the future.
Pike must be a huge rush, especially on ice. I have some braided line on a spool with a huge shad I've taken out a couple times. I'm not so sure about bringing one in barehanded with braided line though. It might produce something like a rope burned paper cut, or a half amputated finger : )

I did accomplish my goal yesterday, catching a fish at the close spot to my house. Modifying, sharpening and adjusting my auger played a big part. It used to take me what seemed like ten minutes and two rests to drill a five inch deep, eight inch diameter hole. Plus they were always strange and uneven from all the bouncing. Sharpening is something I've learned not to put off.

Today I had good luck, for me, I brought home two rainbows and released a few. Had a few get off with plenty of bites, drilled about nine holes in four locations.
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[davetclown]

I got out today for a little pan fishing, and that is about what I got, half dozen little pan fish.. [:p] They were taisty just the same.

deffenantly wear gloves when doing the tipups, If your a smarter man than me, you will take more than one pair of gloves...

those thin brown cotton gloves will work just fine. machein washable and easy to dry by hanging over top of the handle of the lantern should it become nessesary.

the smaller pike arent that big of a deal on the braded line, still fun to catch. the big ones can pull enough to pull the hook right out of thier stomachs, so it is important to let them run.

also if your smarter than I, you will have your gaff ready with you at your hole so that you can use it to lift your pike out of the hole, you might say I am the pike bite master. LOL

I have yet to sit down and count the number of battle scars on my hands from my reflexes getting the better of me, "pike bites from sticking my hands down the mouths of Pike to pull it out of the hole. Got some real doozies too.

seeing them and fealing their weight on a hand line is something you have to experience for your self before you get bitten with pike feaver.

I best way I can explain the adrenellin rush you will experience when you first start targeting pike is like watching an 8 point buck walk by you putting it off for a 10 point buck.

the greatest temtation is grabbing your tipup to soon, when you do that, it is almost a garenteed loss of a pike. staying away from the tipup and waiting for that second run is near nerv racking. not knowing if your fish has let go and/or is watching over it before it actualy takes the bait fully in its mouth.

Pike are cat like creatures, it first kills its prey, punching it and runnnig with it, then letting go as it watches untill it has quit moving and/or is ready to feast.

In michigan here, we are allowed to have three lines in the water, this allows me to fish for three different types of fish though the ice at the same time... "YA GATTA LOVE ICE FISHING" What other sport can you do that gives you so many options at the same time. I can target perch pike walleye gills crappie trout all at the same time... [cool]

as far as some one else coming behind me and fishing out of my hole, I am not woried about it to much, A lot of them have never produced a single fish, some holes are for one type or another. That is why it is so important to learn the structure of the lake your are fishing, the more you know about it and the better you know the habbits of the species you are tartgeting the greater your harvest will be.

Sounds like you could give tips on trout fishing though the ice, I have been wanting to give that a try for some time. I know of a stocked trout pond near me I have been druling over for years, "for ice fishing perpouses" Just to say I have done it and can do it proficentfuly.
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[CptHook]

Great advice as always!
I need to go up and experience some northern exposure fishing.

Had some interesting trips last week. Tuesday through Thursday were the most productive. Finally got my limit of choice fish on Wednesday , combined with two from the day before and two from the day after, I got enough to make it worth smoking them. Friday was above sixty, so I went because of that. I planned a trip with a couple friends on Saturday and was really looking forward to it. I called beforehand to make sure they were letting people on the ice and they said a couple people decided not to go on it, but it sounded like we'd be able to, so we drove the hour to get there only to be told they weren't letting people on the ice! Very frustrating, unprofessional to say the least, some idiot that probably never ice fished in his life called the shot, out of ignorance or fear of liability I suppose. We went to the lake I frequent the most and found perfectly safe ice, maybe a little thin at the shore as always, but perfectly safe, probably five inches with an inch of slush. It was slow, I don't think anybody was having great luck, but my experience paid off and I got a couple decent trout, one released. I gave one to each of my friends as they both only got one of the small ones.
I took the following Sunday and Monday off. Today I went out, partly to use up my remaining worms and one large shiner and partly because I've fished all the extreme days this winter. With only two days in between its hard to believe it got so cold after being so warm. I was having lots of bites on the wax worms, unfortunately I only had three. I had one good bite on my minnow but it was too big to expect anything under twenty inches to get hooked. The first hour wasn't bad, as long as you stood against the wind, I don't want to know what the windchill was. The cold finally breached my layers and it got too uncomfortable, mainly my feet. Another hour and I'm sure I'd of got frost bite.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the ice fishing forum. It seems like its one of the least used.
I urge readers to expand on the topics discussed, add questions and tell your stories and experiences.
One thing I can't quite understand is the ice itself. How after two days of warm weather it seems the same as two days of extremely cold weather, It almost seemed like the ice was thinner today..
I know water is densest at 39.2 degrees, which is why it doesn't freeze to the bottom, and why it stratifies as it does.
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[davetclown]

the reason you will find ice thinner after a freeze is if it was acompanied with snow just prior to.

snow is a great insulator. I have seen spots open up because of the snow and the presure is places on the ice. because of the insulation, if there is any moving water at all under the snow, the wormer water will eat away at the ice because the friged temps can no longer reach the bottom of the ice.

I was out today, befor the snow we had about a foot across the lake, today I drilled one spot with six inches, one spot with a foot and another spot with two feet. All with in a fifty foot radius.

heavy snows on a lake are dangerous, not only is there the spring action from below, the weight from above places stress on the ice, Where ever there is a crack from presure freezing, after a heavy snow water can seep though those cracks, if if there are multi cracks, it is posible that you can step on a spot that a square or triangle can flip on you casting you under the ice with out notice..

Ice fishing seems to be a dying sport, I stopped by a dozen lakes earlier this week when the bite should have been good, there were only a cople cars parked on a cople of the lakes.

Ice fishing also takes the back seat to the holidays, Few families if any go out on the ice fishing any more. Then there are the sporting events, not to mention the cost.

a cople of our states have thier own ice fishing boards. they are a little more active.

I did make it out on the ice today, I managed a cople perch and 4 gills. enuff for dinner, nothing to hoot and hallar about. but still we had loads of sunshine, not a cloud in the sky the whole day. I did get one flag up, but I had to pull up stakes and come in so I wasnt able to hook in to that one..
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[CptHook]

I think the snow had a lot to do with it, here we only had maybe an inch on the ice though. I don't think the spots I went to had much circulation, the parts that do were open. The ice was surely much denser and harder, maybe the freeze forces the air out of it, making it much purer rather than white and bubbly. Before the last snow it had a consistent layer of slush, probably not good insulation, the current snow is very hard. Its nice for folks like me, with no cleats, but tomorrow I suppose it'll be slushy again.
Its about a six inches of ice, consistent across the lakes I imagine.
I went the day before yesterday targeting perch, I finally got a decent one among the babies, but I had a late start and couldn't get enough to make a meal, I was going to go for more the next day but didn't get out, so it became premium cat food.today : )
Today, the plan was to go to the hot spot with my buddy, but we decided it wasn't worth the drive because of bad weather and bad nights, so we went to a closer spot. Overcast with a piercing wind, light snow. Very good action, slowing close to noon, got three rainbows, my buddy got a good one right off the bat but it broke off with the jig above the water. I went back out, near the end of the day and got one more to reach limit. Still haven't got my special target fish, I'm going to have to go cold turkey on the fishing for at least a week. I'm trying to burn off the remaining adrenaline from 30+ hours of no sleep right now. Though I didn't reach my goal at least I have four more smoked fish to look forward to : )

Just curious, how do you prepare your perch and pans?
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[davetclown]

[center][#ff0000]<*@}))))))X< Ice Fishing Tip number #88[/#ff0000]


[left]Quick easy sure fire batter recipie.
[left]
[left]1 cup self rising flower
[left]1/4 cup corn meal or corn meal mix
[left]1/4 teaspoon salt
[left]1 teaspoon sugar
[left]1 egg
[left]enough water to make a breading thick or thin as desired.
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[left]All vegitable shortning or peanut oil heat to 375 degrees.
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[left]Use either a cast iron or stainless steel skillet. Deap fryers work great if you can find one big enough.
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[left]prepair your fish by removing from the water and drying each peice with a lint free white towel or white paper towel.
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[left]Dip fish in to batter and place each peice in to your cooking medium half way untill the end begins to float then let go of the other end.
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[left]cook to golden brown and turn over and cook till golden brown, take out and place on a platter laced with paper towel.
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[left]*** Hint cook one peice all the way though the process and taist test to see if you want to make any changes to batter thickness.
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[left]*** If cooking in a shallow skillet, omit the floating step. and use all vegitable shortning.
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[left]*** for best flavor,



[ul][li]
[left]use gold medal or martha white self rising flower,


[/li][li]
[left]in shallow skillets use crisco all vegitable shrotning.

[/li][/ul]
[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/14930/cat/745"][/url]

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[CptHook]

Thanks, definitely will try that.
When we fry we usually use a brand called golden dipt, its not cheap though. Attempting to mimic it we discovered its principal ingredient is corn flour. This combined with bread crumbs, flour and spices seems to make a similar consistency, but we've yet to get the flavor.
This fry method calls for mixing eggs with a little milk, dipping the fish in the eggs, then rolling it in the corn flour mix and frying.
Try finding real corn flour too.
I've tried to find out if the corn flour is the same thing as corn starch, this is from answer.com

[font "Arial"][#ff0000][size 3]Is cornflour and cornstarch the same thing?[/size][/#ff0000][/font][#ff0000]
Yes and no. In the UK, the term "cornflour" does indeed often refer to what others know as cornstarch.

However, cornflour can also refer to flour made from corn, or corn meal (as opposed to cornstarch, which is only part of the corn flour). While they will both thicken a broth or juice, the corn flour will leave a strong taste. The cornstarch will not leave an aftertaste, which is why it is used as a thickener.

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