I'd like to talk about "reel weeds"..........................

[Kellc1]

90° of my ice fishing is crappies. I have been reading about the reel weeds, reviews, etc., and decided that for crappies, its something I want to try.

I was able to purchase "reel weeds" at a very good price. They are the reel weeds, but without the packaging, float, line, and weights - just the weeds. I will rig them myself.

I would to hear from folks who have experience using them, on panfish please!

Thanks!

Kelly

[srfishin15]

i have one that goes on my underwater camera cable, in my opinon it scares fish more than just the camera... if you use them aroud weed beds and weed structure its more effective. Not in 32 feet on sand or rocks or anything. Just my opinon.

[toughguy]

i have one that goes on my underwater camera cable, in my opinon it scares fish more than just the camera... if you use them aroud weed beds and weed structure its more effective. Not in 32 feet on sand or rocks or anything. Just my opinon.

I totally agree. I have a set of 5 and I rarely use mine. Seems to be more of a pain to set up and take down than they're worth. I use it when fishing in 15 row or less.

[Nordern]

I have had pretty good success with these on late ice. I drill 4 holes in a line about 3 feet apart and set the weeds down. Next I drill a set of holes about 4 feet around the weeds and fish them. The funny thing is that the fish will seem to bite on only one side of the weeds. I just keep hole hopping until I find out which holes produce fish.

[JSK76]

I have never cough a fish with mine down, but I used them in 18' to 20' so maybe thats why.

[Big A]

I have had tremendous success with real weeds.

But only after I have left them down for a day or so.

Seems the longer they are down the more fish they attract.

I used to put them all the way around my perm. Now I just put em down and GPS where I am.

Then when it comes time to move again. I just drill next to them and grab the line. Only lose the depth of the ice off the rope. And that is easy to replace.

[Rick]

I have tested them all over since they first came out. If there are no fish using the area they won't help.

BUT, if the fish are using the area they hold the fish close to your reel weeds. We've experimented fishing in the same area and those with the real weeds caught the fish. We even moved the weeds out of a fish producing spot to a spot close by that wasn't producing fish and voila the fish moved over and the other angler caught fish.

We repeated this experiment many times to increase the data sample size and the same thing repeated itself on many different lakes with different anglers. They do work and the longer they are down where the fish like to hang the better.

There are a few here who could tell you some amazing reel weed stories fishing URL for crappies.

REEL WEEDS DO WORK!

However, if you are mobile like I am many times, they do take a bit of time setting up and then removing. Might be better of not taking them if you are in search mode.

Highly recommend them if you will be staying in a known fish producing location.

[FISHINGURU]

Reel Weeds can be a Real Pain. If the panfish actually do come over and start using them it won't be long before the Pike follow right behind and tangle you up.

I was pumped when I first bought mine, the videos using them are awesome but if I'm on a spot thats already crushing pannies I could drop them down and hit record and do the same thing.

Well depends where you are I guess, I've actually been catching fish and decided to drop them down and voila no more fish, pull them out and voila start catching them again, I guess its all about the mood of the fish and location.

[Burchoid]

I like using them in backwater situations a lot... the fish seem to roam around a lot more, and when my reelweeds are down they stick around longer once they are in the area.

Instead of catching 1-2 in a moving school, I'll catch 3-4+ at a time.

Again, the trick is to find an area the fish are using first, then use the reelweeds to attract and hold nearby fish. Don't expect reelweeds to magically attract fish that aren't there.

[tsande00]

Reel

I've actually been catching fish and decided to drop them down and voila no more fish, pull them out and voila start catching them again, I guess its all about the mood of the fish and location.

I'm thinking it has more to do with scaring the fish away. If they are down there content as can be, seeing something falling down on top of them is likely to spook them away, at the very least for a short time. It is not natural for weeds to come in and sink down around them from the top.

I'm thinking that if a school comes swimming by and the weeds are already in place that it would probably hold them longer. This coming from a guy who has never used real weeds, lol.

[TyGuy02]

I wanted to get them last year but lost the motivation. I'll ask for them this year for christmas. I usually keep my wheelhouse in the same spot for 2 weeks or so, using it 3-4 times to test that location. I like the idea of being able to leave them down there let the holes freeze up and only loose a little bit of rope. I doubt it would really hurt, but may improve confidence which doesn't hurt one bit though.

[Fever]

Ty guy,

As far as you using reel weeds around your wheel house; that's a good idea depending on where you park your wheel house (ie depth, bottom structure) ... but, it is illegal to leave your reel weeds down the hole with you not there. Plus, it'd be pretty easy for someone to grab them if they are placed around the outside of your wheel house. They do work though. I have 7 of them and when I go out with my portable I drill a bunch of holes, set up my portable with my reel weeds around it, then move around. when I need to warm up or start to loose light I'll get into the portable. By then the reel weeds have done their job, the vex lights up and its game on. Last winter I had some students of mine cut some crappie shaped slabs out of sheet metal. I found some images of crappies (right and left side) and printed them out on nice color printer, laminated them a few times, and super glued the lamenated picture onto the crappie shapped sheet metal. I then drop the decoys in and around my reel weeds to create the perfect set up for schooling fish to check out. It works!

[TruthWalleyes]

I made my own reel weeds two years ago. I think i made 8 strings, and still have materials for another 5+. Maybe cost me $15 bucks all together. I never even took them out on the ice once last year. They are too much work....although, i'm not using a hand auger anymore

I will have to put some use to them this winter with a little advice that i've picked up on the above posts. For those leaving their weeds hanging over night, and letting them freeze in....Just make sure you go get them eventually. And pick up all the boards you leave laying around too. We don't like to hit 2x4's at full speed in the boat early spring!!

[Fever]

I'll repeat. It is illegal to leave reel weeds out overnight / unattended whether they are home made or not. It is considered littering and it is way to easy for a drift to blow over and hide them for good. GPS or not. which means more junk floating around or otherwise left in the lake by careless icefisherman. That gives all of us a bad rep. So don't do it. Also, The home made kind are not safe to be putting into the lakes as there are most likely chemicals on the materials used. (Fake plants). They also fall apart as they are typically much less durable. You may think its no big deal, but if alot of people started to do the same thing, it would be. Reel weeds are safe, very durable if taken care of, and very easy to use, I can put my 7 down, drop my set of 6 crappie decoys, set up my portable, drill a series of 15 - 20 holes in an area and be fishing in less than 15 min easy.

[Biggerfish]

Fever,

You ever had a muskie/pike hit your decoys?

[Sonicrunch]

You are a real sucker if you buy any of this [PoorWordUsage].

BTW, Does anybody wanna by mine? half price!!

[Fever]

Not yet. I finished them up late last ice season, probably around mid Feb. I have a small hole drilled through the sheet metal with a small metal clasp ran through the hole. I used 20 lb flourocarbon on them tied directly to the clasp then about 5 feet up tied to a swivel. Above the swivel I have black tip up line the rest of the way up wraped around a 20 inch 2x4. on a couple of them I have them one crappie directly above the other. Just drilled a hole on the bottom anal fin of two of em then ran the flouro through that to the top of another. I'm sure eventually I'll go to pull one up and it'll be gone. That will suck because they took a lot of work.

[TruthWalleyes]

I'll repeat. It is illegal to leave reel weeds out overnight / unattended whether they are home made or not. It is considered littering and it is way to easy for a drift to blow over and hide them for good. GPS or not. which means more junk floating around or otherwise left in the lake by careless icefisherman. That gives all of us a bad rep. So don't do it. Also, The home made kind are not safe to be putting into the lakes as there are most likely chemicals on the materials used. (Fake plants). They also fall apart as they are typically much less durable. You may think its no big deal, but if alot of people started to do the same thing, it would be. Reel weeds are safe, very durable if taken care of, and very easy to use, I can put my 7 down, drop my set of 6 crappie decoys, set up my portable, drill a series of 15 - 20 holes in an area and be fishing in less than 15 min easy.

Jeeze Bud, Take it easy...No need for BOLD .

I know it is illegal...My Inteded PUN was that people who do illegal stuff will do it even if FEVER yells at them, and i was asking politely that they remove them, and since they're into leaving stuff on the ice, i figured them to also be the type to leave they're 2x4's laying around.......SO I WAS ASKING THESE PEOPLE TO CLEAN IT UP.

As far as your REEL WEEDS versus my home made ones....I'd take the durablity and non chemical leaching fake weeds over your REEL WEEDS anyday. And, since you obvioulsy know that All fake weeds are harmeful to the environment of the lakes...what exactly makes you so sure that REEL WEEDS are any better?!?....I think you're way off base by accusing all other fake weed products of being harmful. Stick it in water for two days and see what happens.

[TruthWalleyes]

I'll repeat. Also, The home made kind are not safe to be putting into the lakes as there are most likely chemicals on the materials used. (Fake plants). They also fall apart as they are typically much less durable. You may think its no big deal, but if alot of people started to do the same thing, it would be.

I bet there's no LEAD in your tackle box too...Take the blinders off.

[olbaidhh]

I am with you TW and Fever... I posted on this thread a while back about "where does the string go when you cut the ones that freeze in" and it got deleted...

[south_metro_fish]

Any one have any luck using them to hid your camera? Some fish get so spooked around the camera. Or has anyone found a good way to hide your camera to spook them less?

[TruthWalleyes]

I rarely use my camera, but remember the last time i did. I was on Medicine lake in 40 fow fishing very inactive crappies. With my buddy fishing next to me, i outfished him 5-1. I had my jig in the view of the camera, and could set the hook as soon as the crappies sucked it in, because they were spitting it out instantly - which made it difficult to set the hook just using spring bobbers and the vex. The problem was that the crappies were hitting my camera, and rotating it while another crappie was going after my jig...That was with the light on and off. The fish were not spooked, but rather- [PoorWordUsage] me off cuz they were playing with it constantly.

-Good problem to have.

I could easily see you attaching some weeds to your camera. May be effective.