I use trebles on my tip ups right now, and know that there's gonna be a lot of gut hooked trout but i eat them so it doesnt really matter, but I'd like to try circle hooks so I can release some of the smaller ones, anyone used circle hooks for tip ups? I use them or catfish but that's about it

made this with things i had in the garage, if memory serves me right, it should only cost about $7 to make!

1. shows type of rod holder needed and how to bend the spike to prevent  ripping through the pouch on the bucket

2. probably not necessary but i did it anyways, push a piece of contractor hose over the spike and cut it about 1/2 inch longer then the bent tip

3. as you can see this piece of PVC fits nicely into the pouch at the bottom, the PVC pipe is about 1/2 inch longer then the spike (measured  from bottom edge of the rod cradle to the end of the hose you pushed on in the last step

4. two holes are drilled in the bucket about 1 inch apart, making sure they are aligned vertically with the pouch at the bottom. a piece of galvanized electric fence wire was used to fix the PVC, and twisted tight on the inside of the bucket, a dab of melted nylon rope ensures you wont cut your hand on the sharp end of the wire while going through your bucket, (perhaps a piece of shrink wrap would work better on the wire, but i didn't have any on hand)

thats the first four pics, ill post the rest in a minute

fished the west side at the water intake for two hours, 9" of black ice under the snow, caught nothing, good weeds though looks like good bluegill habbitat, 3-7 feed of water. Be careful cause straight out from that spot about 100 yards is a huge spring, avoid that area as it's frozen but not gonna take the chance. Hopefully next time I'll have maggots and will be able to catch some gills

Just wanted to say thanks again for te passes Dan my father and I really appreciated it, and fthank you Carl for the cool ice fishing seminar. had a great time, take care.

I apologize ahead of time if this is breaking any rules, as it is not directly associated with Ice Fishing, but as fishermen and outdoorsmen I feel it's all of ours responsibility to take care of and stay informed about our ecosystems particularly waterways and fisheries, as you probably have seen the chemical spill in west Virginia, the toxic water is making its way up to the Ohio River. I don't know the severity of it yet, but it could potentially destroy the ecosystems and fisheries of the the Ohio river and it's tributaries. Please spread the word and continue to stay informed on the topic. Once more I appologize for any broken rules, but we must take efforts at preserving these resources because it can have huge imediate and long term impacts on them. thank you and stay safe on the ice everyone.
-Josh Blackburn

 I've fished 6 lakes this year and I've gotten one bluegill total which was in a tiny private pond that's filled with them , what am I doing wrong? Bluegill and crappie are delicious but I can't seem to catch any through the ice, I've tried deep, shallow, weed beds, submerged wood structure, Multiple teardrops and other jigs, is there certain colors I should be dropping that are known bluegill killers? and what parts of the body of water  should I look for to set up on?

if anyone can give me a report on these lakes that would be awesome, wanna head up to one around 1:30 but I'm afraid the water will be badly stained