Ice fishing for drum

[john.wells]

Anybody ever catch sheepshead through the ice? I would think they are just as voracious in the winter as they are in the open water times. The only time I have seen any during ice fishing were in the belly of a pike, and there were a lot of them, all 2-4 inches in length.

[minky]

I have never heard of anyone getting them through the ice.

It will be interesting to hear if others have caught any.

[Flaco651]

Fishing bluegills down on Clear lake near Montgomery a few years ago we caught some here and there. They were a blast to catch on a panfish rod and were taking little jigs tipped with spikes. That day people around us were catching them too and seen a few people just throw them on the ice. I picked them up before we left and brought them to a guy I know that likes them. Not sure if it was just a fluke or what. That's the only time I caught them thru the ice. Most places I ice fish they're not present though except the Croix, but haven't iced any out there this year. Pokegama and Cross lakes by pine city have good numbers in their surveys. The Faribault area lakes all seem to have higher populations of drum also.Maybe people that frequent those lakes run into them at times.

[john.wells]

I have fished Pokegama, Croix, Rush, and others that have good populations of drum extensively through the ice and have never caught one. I have heard they are delicious and would think winter would be the very best time to try them. I guess it is just like anything else, timing and location are everything...

[morepower02]

Fishing bluegills down on Clear lake near Montgomery a few years ago we caught some here and there. They were a blast to catch on a panfish rod and were taking little jigs tipped with spikes. That day people around us were catching them too and seen a few people just throw them on the ice. I picked them up before we left and brought them to a guy I know that likes them. Not sure if it was just a fluke or what. That's the only time I caught them thru the ice. Most places I ice fish they're not present though except the Croix, but haven't iced any out there this year. Pokegama and Cross lakes by pine city have good numbers in their surveys. The Faribault area lakes all seem to have higher populations of drum also.Maybe

people that frequent those lakes run into them at times.

Not a fluke. I catch a few every winter on Clear-Lexington.

[hillbilly...]

I eat them during the summer there good I mean if your eating it by itself but lets not compare to walleyes. I usally keep a good number to eat but now these are under 5lb so once over that size I don't know.

[Wanderer]

I've caught one on a set line during the night on URL and I've eaten them out of URL. Nothing wrong with em at all.