md22

I have caught walleyes on Little bay de noc 20ft off the bottom fishing in 32ft of water. This is fairly common when fishing a great lakes system. I have seen them on the vex come in near the bottom and have had to work them up, they come up to the lure sniff around but just sit there, then I raise it up a foot or so and they follow it up.This can go on and on until they are only 10ft or so below the ice...then they hit!!! Or sometimes don't hit!! Exciting to say the least!!!Same thing on lake Winnebago here in Wis. Alot of times guys are fishing 16-18ft of water and catching walleyes 5ft below the ice!! The reason those fish are there is because thats where the bait fish are, therefore thats where the hungry walleyes are! I used to fish mainly the bottom 2 feet of water for walleyes and I caught my share, but when I started to fish a little higher and experiment more I caught more fish. Not all fish are right on the bottom, especially the aggressive ones, they are up cruising around looking for something to eat...Those are the ones you should be after, afterall they are easier to catch.

Has anyone had any experience with this line yet? How does it spool up? Does it stay soft and have little or no memory like they claim? How about stretch? I'm thinking about buying a spool for jigging for walleyes in clear water, so I thought I'd try and get a little input first.

Just got a Thorne Bros. deadstick for x-mas that I'm planning on using for walleye. I fish alot on Little bay de noc in Michigan's U.P. where they grow em big and it's not uncommon to tangle with 5-10lber's, so I'm wondering what you guys think would be the proper line for this rod. I usually fish any where from 10ft to 40ft of water so I'm concerned about line stretch when fishing deeper. Any thoughts?

Looking for feedback on this shack. I know Otter is top quality, but have not yet seen this shack in person.What are the main differences between this shack and a regular Otter? The only thing I have to go on is their web site, so anyone currently using one your input would be greatly appreciated.

Excellent responses guys. Thanks for all the help!

I just got a Mr Heater cooker as a gift, and I'm looking to convert this thing to be able to sit on a 11lb or 20lb propane cylinder, or better yet find a hose assembly that can connect it to a bigger cylinder and keep it's cooking feature in tact. I know someone out there has encountered this before so any help would be appreciated.

Hey Wables I have the same theory as you, first ice when it's quiet and not alot of people around the fishing is awesome, but then it slowly deteriorates as more people show up with snowmobiles, atv's etc.. more noise less active fish. I find this is always true in water less than 20ft. Not sure if it affects them in 20,30,40ft but I'm guessing it does to some degree. Any thoughts?

I've been having a line twist problem while jigging with jigging raps and jigging shads. I generally have 2 set ups that I use for jigging, one is a mono main line with 2 ft section of flourocarbon attached via a ball bearing swivel then a small crosslok snap to the lure. For some reason I'm still getting line twist and lure spinning with this set up. My second set up is 14/6 fireline with 2 ft flourocarbon leader attached also via ball bearing swivel and a crosslok snap to the lure. This set up gets less twist and lure spin by far, yet it still spins slightly. Is there any cure for this? Or is it something I have to live with? It can't look too natural to a walleye thats inspecting your lure and it's spinning in a circle! Any help?

May I ask what type of rod you use for deadsticking guys? I'm looking for one, and the only one I can find is by Thorne Bros. and it's kind of expensive.

Anybody use scents while ice fishing ? I'm thinking about trying a little scent this year on my swimming jigs, and would like to hear if anyone thinks it makes a difference or not. I've heard that in cold water a fishes sense of smell increases, so I'm thinking it could make the difference by either covering up human scent or imitating baitfish scent. Any thoughts?

Thanks for all the replies guys! I know Thorne Bros. makes a good ice rod as I own a 36" professional that I use for walleye, and love it. The only thing is I like to actually hold a rod to get a good feel for it before I buy it, and I'm from Wisconsin and theres no Thorne Bros around these parts. But that being said, I took a chance with the professional rod without actually holding it and have been very happy with it so, I probably can't go wrong. Thanks again for all your help and it's great to be onboard??!!!

I'm mostly a walleye fisherman but last year I ran into a bunch of bluegills and had a blast, so now I'm looking for a quality bluegill/perch rod. I would like to be able to cover my bases with one rod, but as a walleye fisherman I know that you need different rod styles for different tactics like, heavier lures, deeper water, etc.. etc.. I'm sure this holds true for panfishing through the ice also. Any help would be greatly appreciated.