When ice fishing almost anywhere ,I never see people fishing in the middle of the lake. Why is that? Is the fishing not good at the depth out there or is it just too far to walk? I have noticed that Rockport fish seem to quit biting around 11:00 or so. I have wondered it they move out there or just quit feeding. Also at Strawberry I get less bites the farther I venture toward the middle. I think deeper water has less oxygen. If that is true, does anyone have a rule of thumb about how deep is too deep? DKS
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When I first got my boat I made the mistake of thinking that the fish surely were out in the middle of the lake. For the most part, there are more actively feeding fish closer to shore, because that is where their food source is. I spend most of my time now fishing from my boat closer to shore. This varies of course by fish species. For some odd reason, there have been some trips to Strawberry (from my boat) where I have found most of the active fish out in the middle of the lake.
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Here is a quote from the "Fish & Map Co. on Strawberry "Strawberry Reservoir is know to be a dead lake below 20-25 ft deep due to lack of dissolved Oxy.you should concentrate in the top 20 ft.... not true on the Solldier creek side how ever"
RJ
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Although I have caught cutthroats and rainbows out in the middle they are rarely down more than 25 feet, and the majority are around 15 feet down. Kokanee are often deeper than 25 feet, and I can't imagine why it would be any different whether one is on the Strawberry or Soldier Creek side of the reservoir.
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I would say theres many reasons.
In the early season, the fish under the ice tend to cruise near the surface enjoying the trapped oxegen, but year round, things to consider when considering fish location would be structure, cover, food availability, ect.
Take for example mantua. Theres a lake where you have cover virtually everywhere, and its not deep enough that a fish cant readily find structure and the food is everywhere. You can catch tons of fish in the middle of the lake an mantua. Bass, trout, or bluegills.
Now, compare that to bear lake. In the middle of the lake, you have depths reaching near 200 ft. Light penetration, the thermocline water temps, food availability, and the oxegen in the middle of that lake, near the bottom are going to restrict fish from being there. You may find some cutts cruising open water out there kind of shallow, but your chances are going to be increased greatly if you focus on other locations.
And theres always lazy anglers. Its a pain to drag all that crap out there on slickice or in deep snow. But more than that, I would bet guys are looking to maximize thier catch. They are trying to reach a certain depth where they think the fish will be, or locate themselves over a spring, or a piece of structure. Sometimes on certain lakes the middle of the lake is the best place to be, other times its the worst.
Food will drive the fish. Just ask tomegun about food driving the toad cutts at strawberry into the shallows and how he catches them. Most guys are trolling with downrigger set at 30 ft while hes located feeding fish in a couple feet of water.
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