Ice Fish Ohio Forum
Ice Fishing => General Discussion => Topic started by: Songdog316 on December 11, 2014, 10:11:27 AM
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I've always chased slabs through the ice and I do pretty good every year at it. Last year I finally caught a 17 1/2 inch 2.1 pound Hawg! This year however id like to go after walleye! Does anyone have any tips or pointers for me? The lake I fish is not very deep mostly 8-15 feet deep. With a small section of the lake holding maybe 18-20 feet. It's a very soft and fertile lake. Road beds and the old creek channel that was impounded are some of the cover in the lake. The lake seems to clear up during winter as I use an aqua view with my flasher. Just wondering what I should try to do to find some eyes? I catch them during late spring and summer on shallow shoals or on the weed lines trolling but not sure what to try through the ice. Day/Night Shallow/Deep I have tip ups but would rather catch them jigging. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Guys/Gals
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That is a big crappie!
For the eyes, I would try the weedlines using 3/16" or 1/4" vibes. They usually bite best at sunrise and sunset. For sunrise, I would try to bet there and set up about 1 hour before first light. You may also want to try to find bends in the creek channel and fish the tops of the points. Set your tip-ups in the deeper water while fishing the top.
Got any secrets to locating those slab crappie you would like to share?
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Good tips. We usually go after saugeyes which seem to be a little more aggressive and you can really work them hard. I received a tip last season to work them with less action and pause them at the bottom and shake and it seems the walleye like this. Give it a try. They are light sensitive so go early and late. I would also try a sweedish pimple with a minnow head.
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Jigging spoons with a minnow head near bottom work great. Jig it a few times and PAUSE for at least a full 10 count ,after a couple of jig / pause cycles ,drop it hard onto the bottom and bounce it around to stir up the silt . They will come to investigate what's going on . Jigging raps work great too. If you caught walleye in the summer / fall these same locations can produce in early ice .Don't be aofraid to move around and find the fish . Wearing down auger blades will get you mote opportunities for more active fish .
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Moving is definitely the key to finding them. Drill 50 or 60 holes or more if necessary. Also work the road beds. The fish will use them like highways (lame pun intended). Look for any irregular feature along these; a bend, drop, bridge over a creek channel, etc. They can be productive all day long too. There's some lakes I fish where the walleyes are on top of the road during low light then move off as the sun comes up. You can follow them and have some great fishing all day, although dawn and dusk are by far the best times.
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Just like crappies, if you can get walleyes to chase your lure, you have a good chance of catching them. Keep your lure moving slowly away from them and shake and jiggle your lure. Use one rod to jig and another rod with a minnow as a dead stick rod. Sometimes the jigging draws them in and they hit the minnow. Fish the same areas you caught them during late summer and fall at first ice. Midwinter they usually go deep and late ice has them moving shallower towards their spawning grounds. Good luck. What lake do you fish? Odds are someone from the site fishes the same lake and may be able to show you the ropes.
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Thank you all for the great tips and pointers! This is plenty for me to get started. I love the challenge. Took me a good 5 years to fish contour lines on my lake crossing off which areas produced Crappie and which contour lines did not produce at all. Trial and error I guess. It was definitely worth it. I just hope we get ice this year!! I'm so ready to start after winter walleye! Well I look forward to seeing pictures & hearing stories this season on here. Good luck & Good fishing guys/gals!
Tight lines to all
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What lake are you fishing. That may even get you some more tips than the ones above :)
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Maurice K. Goddard
Lake Wilhelm - Mercer county, Pa
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I would start on primary points in the main basin. Drill a lot of holes in as many different depths as you can, on and off the point. Use tip ups to find fish, set them in different depths, don't be afraid to go shallow as well as deep, I have caught eyes in 1.5ft of water under ice and as deep as 45ft. Try everything in your box, I will often start with a jigging rap because of the action, if I mark fish but they just won't commit I will go to a less action approach like a pimple or spoon. If there has been a cold front recently go to something small like a jig and wax worm. One thing I always do is put a live bait rig, like minnow and bobber, in the hole next to my jiggn hole, sometimes they will be brought in with the jiggn action but only want a live minnow. Good luck I hope this helps, its just a few things I do.
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Great post crv! One of the reasons I love this site!
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Cry has a good post. Don't be afraid to go with bigger baits and fish faster. Like Chris, I like to dead stick a minnow or jig and larval bait next to my jigging hole. Have seen fish come in and go straight to the dead stick rod and hammer it. There are no straightforward rules walleye fishing so don't be afraid to try something completely off the wall.
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Give Pymatuning a try , with the aggressive stocking program over the past five or more years , it should produce . Good luck .
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Can ;DCRV can catch a fish?
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All great advice for catching eyes. Songdog only thing I would like to add is that can be a tough lake to find the eyes, your not to far from Pymatuning. That lake has a bunch of hungry eyes. You would be more than welcome to meet up with me when it freezes over and maybe I can show you some places to start.
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Eyewall,
That sounds awesome! Definitely will get ahold of you when and if we get ice!
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Sounds great!!! Hopefully it will be soon.
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January is looking pretty cold!!!
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Yep! ! Can't wait! !