Fishing Forum

I would like to try ice fishing for walleye but have never fished for them. Any suggestions and recommendations as to where they are at, what to use, water depths, places to go, jigs/bait, etc.? I sure would be appreciated. Thanks for your help!
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If you find out let me know. I would also like to fish for eyes through the ice.[cool]
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Eyes? While ice fishing in Ut??? Now I've heard everything.. []
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there are eyes to be had in utah thru the ice. but they are hard to locate and even harder to get to bite. your best bet would be starvation, if it freezes up. fish with a jig and half a crawler in about 50 feet of water. the best thing to do is get a map and look for a hump in about 50 feet and that has deep water close by. the best time is about 4:00 pm until dark. also, the feeding area is a small area, if you are 10 feet away from it, well, you will be 10 feet away from it and no bites. beleve me, it happened to me, I had to move closer. I was just 10 feet away and I watched my friends catch 7 eyes before I said Hey I'm coming over. the bite lasted for about 2 hours. hope this helps, later chuck
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[cool][#0000ff]Walleyes through the ice? EASY. Simply rig up a bunch of tipups and bait them with live minnows. Oh, wait a minute, this is Utah. No can do.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have fished for Walleyes through the ice on Utah Lake, Willard, Deer Creek and Yuba. I plan to include Starvation ASAP. Didn't used to be no steenking walleyes in Starvation in my "better days", but they done gone and planted some while I was living out of state.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I gotta admit that I have done more fishing than catching when it comes to walleyes under the ice. They are never EASY to catch and it becomes tougher when you have to drill a hole and hope they find you. Most walleye fishing is about "seek and ye shall find" (maybe). And, finding them is never a guarantee of being able to catch them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are currently no lakes with good populations of eyes that are fishable through the ice. Well, Utah Lake has potential but it is really tough because it is so shallow and the walleyes boogie when there is too much noise. Same, for Willard. I used to catch a lot of small walleyes in the marinas under the ice. But, I had to be on the ice before daybreak and drill my holes quietly. Then, I would sit down, be quiet and stay put. If I got lucky, I would sometimes bang two or three before the first "company" arrived. Invariably the first new arrivals on the ice would come tromping over to join me and the fishing was done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught walleyes from all of the above named lakes through the ice, but Yuba was by far the best. The walleyes were deeper and less spooky, and there were usually not as many noisy "helpers". I would go with only one or two buddies and we all knew enough to hold down the excess tromping and stomping. There were times we caught singles or doubles...and once in awhile a school of eyes would move in and we limited. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have to admit though, that we always caught more walleyes when fishing for perch than when we fished just for walleyes. The larger predators often hung out near the perch schools and would swim through to check out the commotion when we were catching perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am really looking forward to trying the old Yuba tactics on Starvation, if it finishes tightening up during the next cold snap. I'm thinking that the deeper water around the dam or in the channel outside Rabbit Gulch will be a prime area to start. Look for the perch schools and work the same areas for walleyes. The typically smaller walleyes are easier to fool, but there are some bigguns in there too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Deer Creek has always been tough for winter wallies. Again, the only ones I have caught through the ice have come on spoons being jigged for perch or trout. And, I have never caught or seen any caught when a group was fishing in an area and making a lot of noise. Solitary or quiet buddy fishing works best.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Winter walleyes are not aggressively feeding, but they will bite. Small spoons or tubes work best. And, you will invariably do better by "sweetening" with a chunk of perch meat, minnow or crawler. They also respond better to a lure that is being jigged a bit. I have always done better by jigging and then holding it dead still for several seconds. The bites usually come in the motionless mode.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Plain old Kastmasters, in gold or silver, are good walleye jigging spoons. Use 1/4 or 3/8 oz. for best results. They will hit larger ones, but the perch and trout will keep you busier between walleye bites if you go smaller. For additional attraction, add some stripes of green prism tape. That was how I started making my "perch urchins".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Plastic tubes and twisters are good too...1 1/2" to 3". White, pearl, chartreuse and glow are all good at times. The new Maniac CutRs have some good colors that should be walleye friendly.[/#0000ff]
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Good advice from both.
I'd like to add that if a person is serious about Eye fishing on the cap they should punch their holes at least an hour sooner than they intend to fish those areas and leave those holes/area alone until Eye time... I usually give it two hours when possible..

Agree'd my friend, and even tho' a person might be fishing deeper waters, "Stealth" is still the key. All should remember, if a whale can be heard calling from 600 miles (and more) away while under water, imagine what a foot step might sound like when just overhead. I usually fish for Eye on the cap until 8-9pm. But I've had fair success as late as midnight.
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[cool]Hey Footer, have you caught any at U.L. through the ice yet this year? Just curious if you've had any success for them yet...
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