frustrating year so far

[slabslayer]

Am I the only one struggling to catch big fish?  I keep seeing really nice crappie and gills posted and I'm not getting anything more than 10-11" crappie and 8" gills. Last year it seemed the reverse, everyone I met on the ice was complaining of either dinks or nothing at all and I was pulling either crappie 12-14" and gills up 10"+ almost every trip, and I fished over 60 times.  It's been a screwy year for me so far, but I'm looking forward to figuring this puzzle out. Going to take another crack at it after work again tonight, just not sure where yet!

[g]

i agree slab. Have only been out twice but haven't caught a keeper saugeye yet. Fished Indian last week and Buckeye this weekend. Caught throwbacks but no keepers except 1 bluegill at Buckeye over 9 inches on a vibe. Fishing will be delayed more since my transmission went out on my truck coming back from Buckeye. Oh the burdens we bear. Good luck finding bigger fish.

[Luvztaphish]

      If all we ever caught were large fish then we wouldn't appreciate them as much . So if all your catching are dinks then move . Searching for those larger fish makes them all that more special when we do find them . It's not only the prize its also the journey .

[crv423]

I agree, the challenge of finding fish and bigger fish makes the pay off that much more better. If I'm catching dinks, moving to a slightly deeper depth usually pays off.

[fool4fish]

Agreed slayer at buckeye I did see sum nicer panfish caught although I wasn't targetting them no big boy eyes like last year I've never seen so many nice eyes harvested at one time and the puzzling thing is I threw back tons of 14 in eyes back which reason says there should be tons of eyes over the slot to keep this year my personal theory is its still early ice to a lot of these fish which in turn leaves a lot bait left and the big boys still got a lot of fat stored which hasn't really pushed them to the consolidated packs of hungry fish like before but as always persistent pays in the end

[slabslayer]

FINALLY!  Found some bigger fish tonight. Lost at least a 13"+crappie at the hole, got some 11+on the ice and some gills over 9".  Released them all. Finally starting to get my groove back!   Decided to fish a new spot I haven't hit in a while. Been avoiding it because last year was a bust. But everything last year that worked isn't this year. Getting it figured out though finally. This is a new year and the fish are in different areas and need different tactics. Just wish it didn't take until the third trip of the year to figure it out.

[fool4fish]

good to hear congrats your guts are never wrong  im still asking myself what if i woulda tried a last year spot sad part is work schedule may prevent me to get another chance out hopefully these temps plummit before too long

[wapak ice dawg]

when we fished Indian Friday for the eyes, we caught all kinds of dinks  on the bottom , saw all kinds of marks suspended at 5' (we were in 10' of water) raised the vibe up to their level and wham, started catching the 2-3 lb eyes, lost several good quality eyes at the hole.

[g]

I don't expect to catch big fish every time I go out and catching dinks doesn't bother me. It's just nice to have some keeper size fish thrown in the mix. I do move around and try different depths but sometimes dinks are all that' there or biting. Doesn't bother me, I just enjoy fishing so catching anything is an added bonus.