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[font "Impact"][#ff4040][size 3]Hey Crimson,[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[font "Impact"][#ff4040][size 3]I am trying to do the same thing as you. I have yet to get a walleye through the ice, and it is one of my major goals during this years ice season. If anybody out there have any good ideas let us know.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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While I've never fished Deer Creek I have tried getting them through the ice at Starvation with little success. The only way I've caught them is on a curly tailed grub tipped with a small piece of minnow. I've only caught 3 or 4 and they were all small. If Willard frezzes this year I'm going to try again using a modified wedding ring rig. I'm going to attach a whole (dead) minnow to a shortened harness with 1 willow leaf blade on it. I don't know if it will work but it's a similar rig we used with live minnows on Lake Erie with great success. The trick at Stravation was to keep the jig in constant but very slow motion. Just tapping off the bottom and raising it 3 or 4 inches very slowly was the only way I caught them. Again, I'm not the guy to talk to when it comes to Walleye through the ice, but I am willing to learn.
IFG
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Oh yes live minnows is the way to go . Opps did I say that here . At least back home I could . I heard some where in the grapevine you may have a airboat . You going to tow me and my jet sled with that thing . LOL
I've seen walleye caught right next to me using the same thing I had on but I have yet to catch one . I think it is just being at the right place at the right time with the right presentation . I do plan on trying to catch one this year .
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Randy,
I'll tow you but you'll need a really long rope. It gets a tad bit windy behind the fan. I'm looking into buying a new sled too. BLM guilted me into it. He's sick of old smoky breaking down everytime we go.
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I've been known to catch a few eye through the hard top from time to time. Yep, even here in Utah. My biggest through the ice in Utah came two year back, 9#. I didnt make it eye fishing last year through the ice,, Maccin' got in the way.
The biggest secret I can share is,, drill your holes a couple hours sooner than you plan to fish and be very quiet while fishing for eye no matter which body of water your chasing them at or how deep your fishing. If you plan to fish for them after dark and use a light/lantern make sure the light is runnng before sundown so that the eye become accustom to it being there. Whats more avoid moving the lantern. Also be aware while using a light (whether your carrying it or not) that the eye's can see your shadow move across the ice from below. This is also true durning day light hours.
Also understand that eye travel to and and from their feeding area. I've caught them (through the ice) in water as shallow as 2' and know of them caught in water depts of 12" under the ice.
For the most part I use the common soft plastic's for eye's as well as dead mini's.
Best of luck.
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[cool][#0000ff]Coldfooter made some good points. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been catching walleyes through the ice since the mid 70's. First at Willard, since it was about the only walleye water open to ice fishing. Then, when Deer Creek opened to ice fishing, we caught some there. Yuba was good for walleye through the ice. I have never tried Starvation for iced 'eyes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One thing I discovered is that whenever I tried expecially for walleyes, I did not catch any. I did catch other species though. Almost all of my hard deck eyes came while fishing for perch or crappies, using lures and baits meant for them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the "olden days", on both Deer Creek and Yuba, it was a food chain thing. If you could find schools of baby perch, you could find both big perch and walleyes. When the perch populations crashed the walleyes became harder to find and catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Deer Creek is the best example. When there were a lot of perch in the lake, we would set up in about 30 to 40 feet of water, in several different areas around the lake. Once we started catching perch, we would also be catching rainbows and even some hefty browns. Only rarely did we hook a walleye, but we did get some. Usually on "perch urchin" spoons tipped with perch meat. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Stealth mode was a factor too. As Don mentions, walleyes do not hang around when there is a lot of noise on the ice. We never caught walleyes on the first drop after drilling a hole, and we never caught walleyes while there was a lot of walking around on the ice. Almost all 'eyes I can ever remember catching came while sitting quietly, usually by myself, with nobody else making noise around me. I am sure they bit as they cruised through, undisturbed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The walleyes in Deer Creek today do not have the large schools of perch to follow. They have developed different habits. Aqua View cameras are necessary to find them since they lay right on the bottom in some of the deepest holes through the winter. Once you find them, you can sometimes get them to sample a baited jighead wiggled right in front of their noses. But, unless you know they are there, you can fish a lot of eye-less water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On Willard Bay, there are a lot fo walleyes under the ice at the marinas, when the water level is up...as it is this year. But, most of the ones caught come at first light, to the first ones on the ice. Once people start running across the ice and drilling a few holes, the walleyes get lockjaw.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Walleyes are never easy, but they can be exasperating under the ice. Even in states where they allow the use of live minnows, walleyes are not always easy to catch.[/#0000ff]
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I've never caught any thru the ice, evary yeear I try and evary year I fail the people I've seen catch em were fishing fot trou or perch at starvation thay told me a whole night crawler on a jij worked by the dam, but it didn't for me, I think more people need to fish that lake in winter to find out what and where, it's a though nut to crack. I want to try utah lake with a DEAD minnow, mabie thay would be easyer to find there, I hope I don't start thinking about ice fishing allready it's too long to wait.
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I USE A FIREBALL JIG ORANGE IN WINTER WITH A HALF A CRAWLER. MOSTLY DEAD STICKING. IVE ALSO CAUGHT THEM ON JIGGING RAPALAS TIPPED WITH WORM
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I don't know if this has been posted before but I found it interesting.
[url "http://www.redrockadventure.com/fishing/walleye_fishing/walleye_ice_fishing.htm"]http://www.redrockadventure.com/fishing/walleye_fishing/walleye_ice_fishing.htm[/url]
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Great article! That oughta sum it up.
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I'll be ice fishing for Walleye, Northern Pike, and Crappie in Montana in December. Never done walleye through the ice before, but I'll let you know how it goes.
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]Does anyone know if there is a technique to catching Walleyes through the ice? Deer Creek has a good population of Walleyes, but I have never caught one over several years of fishing it when it freezes. 
