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I currently have ice fishing on the brain and a conversation in another thread reminded me of these thoughts I put together for a friend last year.
(Note, assumes you have a flasher)
1) If you are seeing fish on your flasher
a. If they follow your lure/rig, but won't bite, then change bait
b. If they won't follow your lure/rig, then change lures/rigs
c. Also consider changing or trying different tactics, like deadsticking, jigging (frequency, magnitude, cadence, etc.), spinning your lure, bottom bouncing, or combinations of the above
2) If you are not seeing fish, move
a. Sometimes a big move is in order, such as up lake, down lake, across lake, a different lake
b. Sometimes a small move is better, like shallower, or deeper
c. Also consider "ice trolling" - drill a series of holes (I like a single line or a loop), then fish each hole in succession. I usually spend less than 5 minutes per hole, jigging to see if fish come to the hole/jig/rig. Then adjust from there. Not surprisingly, it is often the furthest hole from where I set up my gear, leave my sled, etc. that is the most productive. Quiet fishing is good. If your group is loud, move away from them.
I am interested in your thoughts or what has worked for you when the fish aren't biting...
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Hmmm, that's interesting, quite literally it's everything I do. Thinking back now on one of my favorite perch lakes I tried a new area one day, I'll start off ice trolling with 4 - 6 holes, see what happens, this day I spent a bit time with no action, so I moved a bit and did the same thing after a bit of seeing nothing I wandered over to a few other guys to see how the fishing was, after a bit I went back and discovered that I had no bait on my lures, I rebooted and sent it back down, after jigging and nothing I set the rod down, after a few minutes I saw a fish head for the jig, after a barely perceptible bite I caught a nice perch, so I started jigging a bit then let the jig sit and here comes one off of bottom, ended up with a few decent perch that day. On another lake we headed out to where we had success before, caught a few, but was slow, so started moving around and would get one here and there, but eventually found some decent fish, took a few hours, but came home with some nice perch and kokes that day, so change is good. I'll try different jigs/lures all the time, even on days when the bite is hot I'll change lures/jigs to see what does and doesn't work especially if I have something new.
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(01-24-2023, 01:38 AM)joatmon Wrote: I currently have ice fishing on the brain and a conversation in another thread reminded me of these thoughts I put together for a friend last year.
(Note, assumes you have a flasher)
1) If you are seeing fish on your flasher
a. If they follow your lure/rig, but won't bite, then change bait
b. If they won't follow your lure/rig, then change lures/rigs
c. Also consider changing or trying different tactics, like deadsticking, jigging (frequency, magnitude, cadence, etc.), spinning your lure, bottom bouncing, or combinations of the above
2) If you are not seeing fish, move
a. Sometimes a big move is in order, such as up lake, down lake, across lake, a different lake
b. Sometimes a small move is better, like shallower, or deeper
c. Also consider "ice trolling" - drill a series of holes (I like a single line or a loop), then fish each hole in succession. I usually spend less than 5 minutes per hole, jigging to see if fish come to the hole/jig/rig. Then adjust from there. Not surprisingly, it is often the furthest hole from where I set up my gear, leave my sled, etc. that is the most productive. Quiet fishing is good. If your group is loud, move away from them.
I am interested in your thoughts or what has worked for you when the fish aren't biting... Great list, with a lot for good thoughts that I can see working. I think a lot of our methods we don't even think about them when we are doing them.
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I like to take a bottle of water. I can, sometimes, pore water on the ice and shoot the transducer threw the ice looking for fish. Before I drill. The ice must be fairly clear.
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Quite often I'll reel my jig to the top and let it go back down in small increments. It amazes me how often it will attract a fish when I haven't seen any on the finder for a minute.
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I second Saltslam. When I'm chasing trout, I crank to the surface, check bait, reglow if dark, and let it drop all the way to the bottom. So often that will bring in a chaser. Then I let it hit the bottom. I'll then jiggle it on the bottom (joatman called it bottombouncing). Often the fish has it as I lift it up. Be ready. Sometimes it brings them and they'll hit a dead stick. In the area. When the bite slows I generally change to a smaller offering.
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When bite is slow to none I have better luck dead sticking.
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When there's fish and no bite, I have had some success to get a few to bite by using smelly jelly or a BANG crawfish scent spray. Does not work all the time but will get a few to bite when I'm getting skunked with fish on the sonar.
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I know you are trying to have a serious post and some good info has been shared. I appreciate the ideas.. At the risk of being laughed at I kick Cookie out of her spot. They just seem to congregate where she is.
Remember: keep the lid on the worms, share your jerky, and stop by to say hi to Cookie and the Cowboy-Pirate crew
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(01-24-2023, 07:58 PM)Cowboypirate Wrote: I know you are trying to have a serious post and some good info has been shared. I appreciate the ideas.. At the risk of being laughed at I kick Cookie out of her spot. They just seem to congregate where she is.
Yeah, not too serious. And be careful with switching, as the fish will follow her. I had a scout once that was consistently catching fish and the other boys were getting skunked. He gave into their whining and switched holes, and still consistently caught fish. So after more whining, he traded poles. Yep, still consistently caught fish and their skunk continued. "It's not you, it's me..."
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Alot of times, if I'm not catching fish, a move is in order. Moving kinda sucks...especially if you have a tent up, but that movement is often the key. Can't catch them where they are not, and a lot of people just don't want to deal with moving and stick to pounding the same area where the tent was initially set up. I've been one of those people plenty often! Effort is usually rewarded...not always, but usually.
One of my best days last year required ALOT of moving, but they were relatively short moves. There were people everywhere catching fish early, then action died down. I started "ice trolling" and was able to figure out the general direction of the school. I'd catch 6-8 fish out of a hole, then it would die. I'd drill another hole 10-15 feet away, and I'd catch another 6-8. This process repeated 5 or 6 times until I had to leave. Ended up with 40+ perch that day. I probably would have had one quarter of that if I'd stayed put and just hoped the fish would show up in numbers.
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If I'm not getting any action, while fishing for trout, I like to drop to the bottom and after a while of no action I will give it a couple of cranks and jig it a couple of times. I keep repeating this practice until I have reeled to the surface. I also like to drop my jigs a few feet, from the surface, and grab my line to stop the drop, hold it there for a few seconds and repeat until reaching the bottom. I often draw in suspended fish doing either or both of these techniques.
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For perch fishing (on ice) I'm using 2 rods, 2 different baits..in tent, and rod handles close together..Of course these don't always work, but I am often changing tactics with both poles...ei, up/down action on 1 while dead sticking the other, then reversing for each pole...sometimes a rod in each hand, slowly lifting each, hold, lift again....that's what I call "up and down the ladder"....sometimes while holding both rods, I'll gently use a "1 up, 1 down" motion.. but with 2 rods in hand, you REALLY have to be sensitive to that tiny bite, and be able to react fast, and quickly drop your other rod...Still fish on the bottom with not much reaction?..let 1 set up about 2' higher, dead stick, and watch 1 or 2 come up for a look, and once in awhile actually smack it...Still nothing?..sometimes just pull your lure/bait up 4 or 5', out of their range for a minute, then send it back down, and be ready for that immediate, tiny tap...'cuz remember, sometimes "absence makes the heart grow fonder"....And if none of this works, reel everything back up, check your bait, take time for a snack and drink, or move....Guluk...
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I learned (or re-learned) a couple of things yesterday that may be somewhat counter to my earlier postulates.
1) persistence pays off. If you know you are in the right place and know the species you are targeting, keep trying. I was recently after walleye. The morning bite was nonexistent for walleye. The sunset bite was supposed to be better. I had been focused on walleye all day (in spite of catching a toad rainbow first thing - see point 2). After watching others continue to catch rainbows, I switched over to one rig for rainbows. About 2 pm, I had a couple of lookers at my walleye rig, no bites. I decided to lower my rainbow rig (gizilla) to see if it worked better. On the drop from shallow to deep, a fish appeared lower in the water column and hit my gizilla. Fish on! Small 11.5” walleye. At 5:10, I had a strong hit on my walleye rig and pulled in a 13.5” walleye. Persistence pays off.
2) sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. In my very first hole, very first offering for walleye (minnow head on a buckshot spoon), I saw a fish at 12 feet on my flasher. I pulled my rig up and bam!, fish on! It was a very chunky 21” rainbow. My personal best for length and girth (and probably weight, although not weighed). I hadn’t planned on pursuing any trout. But glad (and lucky) to land a nice rainbow.
3) it’s okay to spend time with friends, even if fishing is slow. Enjoy the outdoors. Don’t measure the entire success of your trip on the amount, size, or species you catch.
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Brett now your second list more closely matches what I do, but sometimes I think I stick way too long so been trying to do better with the first list of pointers... Good post.. Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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I like to fish the hole that EyLayo has just vacated after watching him hauling them in! Seriously, I've watched as people have had good success near me and moved over there after they departed. I'm also not shy about asking people how they are doing and what they are having success with. Brett, joatmon, nearly always outfishes me. He must change rigs about 10 times more often than I do. You'd think I'd learn. Oh, and on Brett's point about persistence: a lot of people leave after the morning bite drops off. I try to stay as long as I reasonably can. Had some great afternoon and evening bites. And hiking off the ice in the peace and beauty of a winter sunset is solace to the soul.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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If the fish aren’t biting start drinking. All jokes aside, if they are on the finder but not biting, I change presentations until i find something they are interested in. I send a jacker down for the dead stick and try different jigging approaches with the hand pole. If you don’t have a finder, get one. If they are not on the finder, it’s time to move location and repeat the process. I typically only move a few times before I know there are no fish in that lake. I then pick one of the spots and set two dead sticks and enjoy my drink.
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Brett, you forgot the thing about blood. Remember when you cut your finger that one time you were chopping up some chub? After you bled all over your bait the fish just couldn't stay off your hook. I won't do it on purpose but maybe somebody on here is crazy enough to try it!
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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(02-03-2023, 07:13 AM)catchinon Wrote: Brett, you forgot the thing about blood. Remember when you cut your finger that one time you were chopping up some chub? After you bled all over your bait the fish just couldn't stay off your hook. I won't do it on purpose but maybe somebody on here is crazy enough to try it!
Craig, I know when I'm after cats in the summer, if my cutbait is fresh (blood still oozing out) I always seem to do better... Don't think I want to sacrifice my blood, but if you're cutting up fresh fish for bait, it seems to work better... Just hard to catch a carp in the winter... maybe fresh perch would work though...Assuming you find perch lately, it's been a while since I caught one... Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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