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Hi Everyone!
So I normally dont Ice fish that much, but I wanted to try to this year. Up here near Coeur D' Alene we have a lake called Fernan, and its got about a foot of ice on it now. I went up there one day, and one guy 20 feet away from me was catching rainbow trout like crazy, I try the exact same thing, I dont get a single bite. I have 2 polar tip ups with a weight and hook and half a night crawler, and an ice fishing pole with a flasher and hook and night crawler. I dont know what I am doing wrong. Maybe I am moving the bait too much. Any advice on how I could do better? any lure or bait recommendations?
Thanks!
Jared
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Ahhhh, this reminds me of a troubling time from my youth in TORTUGA. I was struggling to catch a puffer fish from the dock until a wee little lad told me to "jig the frick out of my bait". Well I jigged it to death and lo and behold, I limited out on puffer fish in ten minutes. I recommend ye try that! I also try this little chant whenever things get tough "tortuga, tortuga, tortuga, beluga, tie me knots and give me some FOOD-A!!"
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That's a toughy. Could have been a number of things. Would have to be right there at the moment of happening. Figuring it out even then might have been tough or impossible.
Sometimes it is a matter of moving just a few feet in one direction or another. I've seen times when 2 rods, right next to each other, using identical baits, and one rod gets all the fish. Why? Difficult to explain.......... I always have my theories, but proving them is harder......
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Hey Jared,
Might be just me, but I've never done very well with night crawlers this time of year... Try some wax worms on a small jig... I'll jig it a couple times and let it sit for a couple minutes then jig again... I usually get hit while it's in dead stick mode... Down size baits in the winter, been using 1/32 oz jigs myself and they have been working rather well.. Make sure your line isn't all twisty and coiled up as it goes down, straight line will translate all the light bites to your pole tip and find a good spring bobber, I like the coiled spring type from Walmart for a couple bucks for three.. Good luck... J
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[#0000FF]There can be a lot of reasons/excuses why someone close by will be catching fish and you won't. The issue of bait has been mentioned. You gotta feed them what they want. If the other person is using the same bait, then it might be a matter of having a bad scent on your hands...like gasoline, sunscreen or whatever.
Were you using sonar? Often the fish will be cruising and biting only a short distance under the ice. If you drop to the bottom all the fish will be too far above your bait and they typically "feed up"...not down. A good sonar will let you see at what depth the fish are coming through...and will let you see and make sure your lure/bait is at the right level.
Sometimes the fish do want movement on the bait. At other times you will do better "dead sticking". A lot of ice anglers like to leave one rod resting in a holder will moving the other one...slowly up and down, jigging, twitching, etc. Let the fish tell you what they want.
And sometimes being just a few feet away from bottom contour, structure or a feeding spot can make all the difference in the action. You can't catch them where they ain't. Guys that know the lake and the fish better often have their own little spots GPSed and can drill and drop into their honey holes every trip...while others who set up around them are out of the fish.
Even more important than size and shape of the lure...or what you tip your lures with...is finding the fish. A good sonar is invaluable. Not only will it find fish for you but it will let you know when you are not getting any action from fish that are there. No bites means you have to fish shallower or deeper, use bigger or smaller lures...or use different bait or different sizes...or work your offerings differently.
In some spots...on some days...the fish are just not active. You have to keep moving until you find active fish. Then enjoy it and try to remember what you did right.
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Hello!
Thanks so much for the advice, I was actually on Amazon and just found a small Sonar System for Ice fishing and fishing in general. I am going to order it. Thanks everyone SO much for the advice.
Ice fishing isnt my forte, regular fishing for panfish, bass catfish and trout is. Thanks for the help!
Jared
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With trout many times people fish them too deep so no matter what depth of water you're fishing in maybe try different depths ranging from just below the ice to 5 to 7 ft below the ice as trout tend to attack from below. Also, in the winter we seem to do better targeting trout with meal worms, wax worms, and maggots as mentioned in another post. We are fishing a large reservoir heavily here in SE Id and whether we're in 7 ft to 28 FOW, a majority of what we connect with are in the just below the ice to 7ft sometimes 9ft.
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A lot good advice here one other thing I will mention is the bite. Some times it is so lite that it will just barley wiggle the tip of the rod other times it can be full on drag your gear in type of bite. If I am getting a lot of life nibbles I start trying to set the hook and if you miss them don't reel in just set it right back down alot of times they will start hitting the bait again immediately so be ready. Good luck and if you haven't already done so you might watch a few safety videos on YouTube for ice fishing.
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Hi Everyone!
Thanks for all the advice. I actually went Ice Fishing Wednesday, and I was using Meal worms at one time and store bought packaged minnows another time right off the bottom Both times I got a MASSIVE bite and almost lost my pole twice. both times the bait was taken and I missed it when I attempted to hook it both times. Whatever it was, it was BIG. I think it was a small pike that took the minnow because it didnt seem to tug that much, it was a long steady pull. The second time, I think it was a large perch. I am going to try again today now that I got my Ice Fish Finder in the Mail. Wish me luck!
Jared
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