Hoping for some ice fishing advice

[new2bass]

[:/]This year has been my first real attempt at ice fishing and so far it hasn't gone that well. Its great to be out on the ice, but catching fish would be better. I have gone 6 times and caught 1 trout. I have gone to utah lake and dc, tried the nelle, nothin.[pirate] What am I doing wrong, other than not catchin? We have mostly been using 2" tubes with mealies or waxies.
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[fsh4fun05]

I'm not much of an ice fisherman but the two things that greatly improved my success was using a fish finder and two poles. One pole I would rig "the usual stuff" the other pole I'd rig something that I don't think will work, it will usually work.
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[lavaman]

You might want to trim down the offerings some. 2" tube is probably too big this time of year for a lot of the panfish as they tend to get picky as the winter drags on.

If you want some good advice, Tubedude will give you some good pointers. Good luck, and keep at it!
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[k2muskie]

We just started ice fish'n last year and by no means are we experts...however, if you're using anything 2" well again no expert that is 'way' to big.

We use small ice flies rat finkies nuclear ants, neon glow moons nothing over 1/32 or 1/64 oz tipped with waxie. For trout we use glow 1 1/2" ice cutters on a little larger jig sometimes tipped with waxie sometimes not.

Plus we do have a sonar and the all important 'spring' bobber as the bite is very-very soft and suttle especially for 'pan fish'.

Next, sometimes 'dead sticking' won't produce you have to jig...drop the lure all the way to the bottom reel up 3-6 turns and jig. Pan fish like Perch and Crappie are close to the bottom are maybe suspended upwards of 2'...for Trout work at 10-20'.

Attached are photos of how we will rig up to include one provides you with a sample of lures we've used.

Again I'm no expert but the above has worked for us plus investing in sonar 'Vexilar' IMHO is a must for ice fish'n.

Good luck...[] []
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[new2bass]

[cool]awesome! Thanks everyone for the help! I just got a fish finder, so that should help alot, and I guess I need to pair down the size of my offering a bit, so that gives me something to spend more $$ on! As far as the spring on the tip of the pole, how does that work? does it react more aggressively with light bites, or what? I have never seen one used before.
Thanks again evaryone, and I will pm tubedude to see if he is willing to share more info with me. He's always been really good about that, though
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[bigearl]

I usually use 4lb test or even 2lb this late in the winter.You have to go light weight on everything this late in the season.
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[FishinFool53]

I usually go with 4lb test with very small ice jigs. Maybe 1/2' long.I make my own jigs so I have figured out what they want. I tip it with a wax worm for trout and a perch eye for perch. I like glow in the dark because it seems to attract them better. If you want to target trout I fish between 8 to 10 feet under the ice. Perch I fish right on the bottom usually about one crank up. Perch seem to like very light teasing when they aren't biting.
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[Laroo]

Dont take it too hard from my own experience this year, and from following the reports here on BFT it has been a tuff year for everyone for whatever reason but we are all like a bunch of junkies we just need one more fix of fishing keep it up and good luck
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[sinergy]

Spring bobbers are pretty simple there small light weight spring that fits in the top eyelet of your pole. You feed your line through the spring so if you get a bite the spring moves. There allot more sensitive than your rod tip so when you get really light bites you'll see the spring bend. They come in a few different flavors but there a must

Also pick up a few packs of Ratso's & Ratfinkees and a hand full of ball jigs ( I like the one that glow ) All in smaller sizes tip them with a waxies or meal worms

I tie a Ratso or Ratfinkee about 12 to 14 inches up then at the bottom tie on a jig tip them with waxies drop it down till it hits the bottom and reel up once or twice.

Also I tent to move around allot you got to try to find the schools of fish [cool]


pics of spring bobbers
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[fsh4fun05]

I thought a 'wire bobber' was standard equipment while ice fishing. Basically it's a light gauge wire with an indicator (orange tip, yellow bead, etc.) on the end where the line runs through and the other end is connected to the pole. That's what I started with and they work great.
I found these last year and they are awesome for jigs under a 1/4 oz
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[sinergy]

Umm that Ice fishing link is .. well umm if those are the new spring bobbers I dont one [laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh]
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[fsh4fun05]

That is some funny [shocked] right there! I sent an e-mail earlier to a friend about my concerns for the future of our state and why some feel the need to be obnoxious about their choices.
I must have copied the wrong link, I was lmao when I realized what I did! Are you sure you don't want one of those spring bobbers? LMAO[laugh]!!!

[url "http://www.easybite.net/"] Spring bobbers link[/url] (edited version)
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[k2muskie]

Here's a video I did last year on the use of a spring bobber.

[url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQqssLMNZI0&feature=channel_page"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQqssLMNZI0&feature=channel_page[/url]

These nifty little gizmos are the ticket for ice fish'n as the fish will have a very very soft bite.
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[jigs]

something that i was having a problem with earlier this year was the colour of my line, while i was catching fish early in the year as the fish got picky my poles turned off while my partners picked up. so i thought it threw and that was the only thing diffrent was line colour so i switched it and bang.
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