What i learned

[HandGunner]

Went out today was going to go to rush bit the weather made me not want to head up that far so i hit up coon lake instead. Caught a total of 6 fish all little dinkies but for the first time out i had so much fun And learned so much. Learned to use my marcum l 2 better and learned a bit about getting the fish to bite and get off the bottom to the bait. I learned that its cold but atm weathers nice so it wouldnt have been as bad as wen it was windy and snowing. In all i had fun and would like to improve and get a dinner out of it next time. Would like some tips on ghettig bigger fish and were to find them what lures work and bait. Tryin to read topo maps but its hard to tell woth the mndnr lake finder. What area do fish move to at what times of the day and all i need to learn to locate fish still.

[Slabasaurus]

Nice to hear you learned a fair amount. I'm new to ice fishin (on season 2 now) so am having some similar experiences.

12-10 and 12-11 i fished coon... biggest fish I caught was an 8" perch... but it was the first time I was able to really sit and think about what was going on.

To try to call the bigger fish up from the school, I put on a lindy darter with 3-5 euro larvae on it and jigged it above the fish. It worked, the fish I caught that way were bigger than the ones I caught on the tungsten jig.

[TruthWalleyes]

One tip to help you out on the clear ice like we've got today and to help put you on fish is:

Bring a gallon of water out with you. Spill a little water on the ice, and put your transducer cone in the spilled water. This works well when the ice is thin and clear. Suspended fish will likely be crappies and sunfish, northerns too.

You can tell bottom structure with your marcum also. Leave your gain somewhere between 1 and 2 when you move around checking fish as described above. A thick green bar on the bottom will identify weeds. A thin green line will identify mud, or possibly fish on the bottom. A solid red line will identify rocks or a hard bottom. Orange can be a combination of sand/mud/gravel.

When fishing crappies and sunfish, i like to raise the jig slightly and let the fish come UP to the lure. Often that turns fish into biters. Also, as a general rule, the fish highest on the screen tend to be the most active.

Good Luck. Glad you had fun!

[HandGunner]

I set the gain to were i can see bottom bu then i cant see my lure so raise gain til i can but then some lines show up deeper than bottom bit then i can see my lure and fish so i guess thats how it works... Not sure but the marcum puts me at 7 ft but im out somewhat in he middle not sure if its rigjt need some more insight on that az well

[TruthWalleyes]

You've got the right idea. Turn up the gain until your lure shows up as a light green/orange. There will be lines below the bottom, that is normal. Look for lines above the bottom as those will be fish!

[HandGunner]

Id like to hit up some better lakes coon and linwood just seem somewhat deserted or doesnt seem active all i caught today was 3 small perch and a small pike i was on the deep channel at about 15 feet... I would like to get some good size eaters like sunnies and crappies but dont seem to get any not finding any suspended fish at all also dont want to travel too far

[HandGunner]

Would like to hit up some bigger fish soon some sugestions on were to go would be nice