first time ice fishing.

[mainbutter]

So I'm going to be up on a cabin on a lake a little ways west of duluth(i think it's called comstock lake?), over new years. I'm thinking of trying to pick up a few fish to fry for a nice dinner, and was wondering if you guys had some suggestions for someone who has never ice fished before. FYI I'm a Texas native so all this hard water stuff is totally foreign to me.

The lake isn't very big, I think there is one "deep" spot that goes down to 35 feet or so. I'll be targeting "whatever I can catch". Last summer I was there for a weekend and fished a few hours and picked up a few perch and one tiny northern. Not the best fishing in the world, but makes one tasty stew. Supposedly there are also bluegill and walleye there too, but didn't get into them wherever they might have been.

So I'm looking for some advice on where to fish(shallow/deep), what to fish with(bait? lure?), and anything else people want to throw my way.

[mrfish1991]

Personally i would look for 18-22 feet of water for walleye and perch. Try using small jigs tipped with wax worms or euro larva for the perch and sunfish and either a hook with a live minnow or a 1/32-1/16oz. jiggin spoon tipped with a minnow head for the walleye.

Happy holidays and good fishing

[Sandmannd]

I would do exactly what mrfish described. Get some real small jigs. I like to use ants a lot. That and little glo jigs are great.

[Pleasant]

Great advice so far... just remember some good warm clothes and boots so you can enjoy your time fishing

[robert1965]

I can remember those. days and it was fun, just not very productive. this site has so much you can learn from, what tools do you have? a flasher would be nice, but you can still catch fish without one. I would dead stick one pole with live minnow right of the bottom, then jig with the other. you might find that live bait to start might be your best bet, you are wise to ask questions. ask the local bait shop what has been working, each time you go out you will gain knowledge good luck.

[HaveBaitWillFish]

BTW, 30" walleyes are pretty common, so when you hook one don't come on here bragging about it. LOL. I've been ice fishing for a long time and I still learn something new everytime I go out. There are a lot of real smart fisherman on here and a ton of good info.