are you a runner and gunner?

[mrpike1973]

hi im just wondering how many of you run and gun when ice fishing. i notice all the pros on tv and online etc. i notice when i'm out not many guys do this most just set up and dont move or move 1 or 2 times. i was thinking of getting a one man pull over house but i wonder would i really use it that much. i have a hub one but a one man may not fit in the car. i notice that hub shelters have really gotten big lots sold i mean. have anglers become more one spot fisherman or family oriented. just wondering what your takes are on this thanks.

[reinhard1]

i dont move around all that much. i fish a limited amount of lakes. i know them well and where i have had luck over the years and the time of day and all the rest. if there are a number of good spots for the type of fish i'm after i will move to my AM and PM area and during the day i may move to deeper structure. i'm not one of those 50 holes a day guy's. not because i dont think it's a good idea, just because i'm getting more lazy than i used to be. i think if you know the water your on, you will know where the fish will be depending the time of day. but then all you can do is hope they are on the bite.

there are times when punching a bunch of hole make very much sense. fishing perch or blugills for example. different depth and structures for lakers is another as examples. good luck.

[scott b]

I use the suitcase style Shapelle 4000. This is my second one and have fished this style for 15 years. It has skis and is six foot three so I can stand if I want to. The carpeted floor off the ice makes it the most affordable /comfortable shack that I know... Always get compliments from flip shack guys. No need to run and gun if you fish a lake you know. Mille Lacs/LOW/Leech and Winnie are different animals.

[pushbutton]

Running and gunning usually means you have to be in good physical shape, and have a wheeler, snowmobile, or both.........none off which i possess......so usually just try to put the perm in a proven spot and work the área around it with the portable. Example being up and down a break, or across a flat. The more you move, you will certainly increase your success rate, but i personally am not that hardcore, from want or will. A good way to kind of run and gun with out all the equipment is to buy a road pass on a big lake like mille lacs .......this way even a car can gain you safe access to multiple locations.

[mrpike1973]

pushbutton i'm with you i dont have a wheeler or vehicle to get on the ice. interesting comments thanks

[PerchJerker]

If my main goal is to to catch fish, I "run and gun". That doesn't mean I'm flying all over the lake, a lot of times it means I'm drilling lots of holes until I find fish, or I'm fishing lots of holes in the same area to try to stay on the biters. Even if I have my portable set up, a lot of times I'll have 2 or 3 other sets of holes set up that I drag the portable between, or will have some individual holes scattered around the area that I'll check out. Call it "run and gun" or "being mobile" or whatever you want to call it ---- but I will usually move around instead of sitting over the same holes. About the only times I sit over the same holes is if I'm out there with my kids, or am out there just to relax, or if the run and gunning has been a bust and I'm too tired to keep doing it

[BoxMN]

If my main goal is to to catch fish, I "run and gun". That doesn't mean I'm flying all over the lake, a lot of times it means I'm drilling lots of holes until I find fish, or I'm fishing lots of holes in the same area to try to stay on the biters. Even if I have my portable set up, a lot of times I'll have 2 or 3 other sets of holes set up that I drag the portable between, or will have some individual holes scattered around the area that I'll check out. Call it "run and gun" or "being mobile" or whatever you want to call it ---- but I will usually move around instead of sitting over the same holes. About the only times I sit over the same holes is if I'm out there with my kids, or am out there just to relax, or if the run and gunning has been a bust and I'm too tired to keep doing it

Ditto. I usually drill a bunch of holes in a known spot, but usually try to drill them in configuration for 4 holes in pattern for my portable. But I usually have a person with, and only drill more if we see something on the locator. I usually am crappie fishing, with some tipups out too. Then I "hop" around all the holes around my main area until I find them. I do use snowmobiles, and hopefully a younger guy is with to help drill holes I prolly drill about 15 or so before I even drop a line down, and hopefully don't even need to use them all, ha! (BTW, I fish on small lakes more often than big lakes like ML or such.)

[that_guy]

another +1 to PerchJerker!

I will drill a ton of holes, then fish them all or at least scan them. Proceed like this until I get too tired or I find fish. I've been known to sit outside even though I have my shelter because I'll catch fish out of one hole then they'll move to the next. I just chase them around...

[muc33]

Depends on what I am fishing for, and who I am fishing with. For the most part, I drill and go with partners until we find fish. If the bite slows, we are up and drilling again. Especially with panfish, schools roam, if you want to stay on them, you either have to wait till them make it back your way or follow and try to pattern them. We usually have a good number of holes drilled and then move from hole to hole. Sure, every once in a while you can sit in one spot and hammer fish, but for the most part and few moves, once you get their movement down will keep you on a bite.

When walleye fishing, I do less hole hopping and more presentation changes to find fish. When those fail, it run and gun until I find active fish and then sit till slow and do it over again.

It's really up to you, buy a strikelite sled, and bring your hub house with you, if you find a good bite, set it up and fish, if not, brave the outdoors with good gear, it's never that big of an issue. Heck even I stay home if it's that bad out!! Have fun! That's the biggest trick!

[unotrouble2]

I'm probably the only guy that does this - i drill a bunch of holes in my chosen area with the good intention of fishing them all. (i guess i love my auger) i then end up fishing only a handful, becuase i'm lazy. But i still have fun!

[lutzy]

I'm probably the only guy that does this - i drill a bunch of holes in my chosen area with the good intention of fishing them all. (i guess i love my auger) i then end up fishing only a handful, becuase i'm lazy. But i still have fun!

+1

Good intensions but usually get to lazy and only fish 1 or 2 holes

[Bigtom]

I love drilling holes as much as fishing. It really makes me laugh when someone fishing by you makes a comment about all of the holes. Then they complain why they can't catch any fish and you are slaying them.

[OnAFly]

I look for a promising area, drill a bunch of holes in that area and poke around the holes looking for fish. If I find fish, they usually tend to be towards one area of holes. I will then fish those holes and drill a few more if I am at the edge of my original array of holes. It seems to work out well at locating fish on a spot. If those holes dry up, move on and rest them, and try again later if I don't find more fish.

[Knoc]

My permanent only gets moved two or three times a year. On the lake I fish/have my permanent, fish bite in certain parts of the lake certain times of the year. So Ill move it in them general are's.

Sometimes if the permanent isnt producing, Ill take the portable out and find where they are at, but mostly just stay in my few spots.

[Rippinlip]

Depends on the day.

I try to run-n-gun when by myself or people that like to move alot and catch fish.

I do have a wheeler and two shacks, 1-man & 2-man flipovers.

Normal day I will look over some structure on the GPS, maybe make some contour lines with the wheeler and then start drilling up and down the breaks, turn to the Vex and see where or if there are fish around then start hole hopping with the 1-man shack.

Then there are the days when I don't care if they are biting I just need some relaxation, then the 2-man flipover comes out, the heater is cranked and the cold beverage is in hand and "Life is Good!" day proceeds.

Everyday life is good when fishing, just some seem mmore like work.

[tsande00]

When I'm out by myself I usually drill 20 or so holes in the area I want to fish, usually perpendicular to the depth change. I'll then hop along with the flasher to each hole until I start marking fish. As to running and gunning, well that depends largely on the weather, if it's cold and windy I'm probably going to sit on whatever hole(s) I first marked fish at and hunker down in the porty. If it's nice out I'll hop around all my holes and enjoy the day.

This year I finally got a 1 man porty (A Dave Gentz original circa 1980) and I'll probably use that early and late ice. I'm hoping that increases my motivation to hole hop.

[TylerS]

Depends on the situation and the weather. If it's a bit on the warmer side, I'm more apt to punch a "grid" of holes and hole-hop outside, particularly for crappies and panfish that seem to cruise throughout the day.

If it's cooler outside, or I'm fishing a spot that I know produces and just waiting (or if the beers are going down a bit too easy and bumbling about a frozen lake becomes a bad idea), I'll stick and stay. Besides, you never know what you're going to get by sitting in one spot, especially if you're at the golden hours before sunrise or sunset.

[mainbutter]

1) I'm not in peak physical shape

2) I don't own any 'power' equipment. It's a hand auger and snowshoes.

3) I sweat if I work too hard, regardless of the temperature I'm in and how much ventilation my clothing has.

End result, I drill few holes, only catch a few fish, have a perfectly fine time in the outdoors.

[leech~~]

I love to use the sled and porty. Drill two holes, fish 20-30 min's then move. If I hit a good spot I will stay until the bite slows or stops then take off again. Use the GPS with lake map and stay on drops into deep water and keep moving. I like to hit big lakes and get away from the crowds! Fun Stuff. Here's my rig for R & Gunnen in the middle of Milacs.

[TylerS]

Dang Leech...you got it figured out!

[muc33]

We think alike, here is my Lake of the Woods hole hopping setup! I only set up the den when I find a good bite, otherwise it's fishing off the seat of the sled or hole hoppin on the knees. Gotta love mobility and all your toys with you!

[hookncook]

1) I'm not in peak physical shape

2) I don't own any 'power' equipment. It's a hand auger and snowshoes.

3) I sweat if I work too hard, regardless of the temperature I'm in and how much ventilation my clothing has.

End result, I drill few holes, only catch a few fish, have a perfectly fine time in the outdoors.

It all depends on who I'm fishing with. day out with the kids, then I'm all about the above. Get out on the ice and punch a few holes, more often that not, i'm not really fishing.

If I'm working on a TV show or with a meida guest, I'll fish close to the runner and gunners in hopes they chase the fish to me while they are gunning. I often find that the runner and gunners are too impatient and will herd the fish toward me while I'm sitting still.

If I'm in a tourny, then I count on my younger partner to punch holes and find the fish while I keep watch over the open holes.... Thanks partner, the world needs ditch diggers too

[Jim Uran]

On new water you definitely have to do some searching, heck that's half of the fun for me, finding new productive spots instills a sense of pride

I also enjoy just setting up the Team Wild and parking on a big school of fish, but how can a person do that if they dont' know where they are

Through the course of a season, or in my case, many seasons I have done a lot of running and gunning, over that time period I have saved a lot of hot spots in my memory bank! Eventually you can use your knowledge of where you found the fish, what time of year it was, what they were biting on, etc... to fish similar lakes and find your patterns you found work there too!

I guess the morel of the story is that I love being lazy, just pulling the porty out of the truck and catching fish, but truth is I couldn't do that with out the work that went into finding those spots over the years.

[leech~~]

I often find that the runner and gunners are too impatient and will herd the fish toward me while I'm sitting still.

hookncook, look at the pic I posted above. If you look very closely at the very top of the windshild of my sled, you will see a very small speck on the horizon. Maybe that's you waiting on me to come by!

[broman]

i have a hub one but a one man may not fit in the car.

I have a Saturn SL1 that I sometimes drive out to the local lakes. I have put older model single man Frabills and single man Clams in the trunk (not at the same time). These are older model versions. But I have been able to make them fit.

As for whether or not to get a shelter. I usually don't use one unless it's really windy, cold or snowing or blowing hard. Most of the time I sit outside and just move around. If you really want to move around from hole to hole then get good clothing and boots. With the right outerwear you don't need a house that much.