What's workin' now : ICE

[BDR]

I think it was just one of those days. I went out to a spot that has been producing, and the fish were very finicky and tight lipped. They were there just not onto eating. Was it a pressure(barometric)thing, new snow cover? Probably a little of both among other factors.

Or was it that Pete came with a video camera?

[Matt Johnson]

I would work a spring bobber set-up if you're not already. You'll be surprised how many of those fish that rise to the bait actually do hit, I know I was. They are barely tapping the bait, and before you can even react they are spitting it out. A spring bobber set-up will allow you to detect a lot of those bites. These are movements and "feelings" that are almost impossible to detect on a plain rod. For some reason the suspended fish lately are beginning to really turn finicky, and I'm sure there are a lot of factors that can come into play. I've been using a 1/100oz jig tipped with a single spike under a spring bobber set-up for pannies lately. Sure, it's a pain to wait for that jig to get down to the fish, but it's the only consistent way for catching fish on the bodies of water I'm targeting lately.

I've also noticed that the fish that suspend the highest in the water column are not the most aggressive fish either. We've been taught to fish the highest fish first because they are the most aggressive and because then we won't spook the school, but, I've noticed that the fish in the middle are much more eager to take a bait.

I was on a bite where the fish were suspending in about 40 feet of water. These fish are anywhere from a foot off the bottom to 20 feet up. The fish that are 5-10 feet off the bottom are the more aggressive fish. I find myself dropping the bait through the higher fish suspending 20 feet up, and stopping on the fish that are in the middle of the suspended school. A weird scenario but it seems to be working.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Breuer]

Move off the basin to the edge. A lot of lakes are in transition right now, and the fish in the holes aren't aggressive, but the ones traveling the edges are! You said you're fishing 30'. well try 27'.

[Fish'n guy]

Thank you guys soo much I will give these techniques a try tonite!!!

GOOD FISHIN!!!!!!!!!

[Crappiechaser]

I also have that problem. There are alot of fish on the Vexlar and none of them want to bite. Ive tryed different lures like ratso and shrimpo and spoons and not a hit. I droped the cam down and they are crappies. I even waited till dark to see if they would turn on but they didnt. What sould I do? Just give up on the spot and find new or just keep trying new things?

[Matt Johnson]

Crappiechaser,

If you're fishing where I think you are, try using an upside-down minnow on a size 10 hook. I've done well out there using this approach when fishing the deeper holes and basins. I would also try just the head of a size 10 Shrimpo tipped with a wacky rigged maggot (t-boned maggot). That's worked well too. And, when a fish approaches you want to continue to jig but slowly pull the bait away (up and up).

The upside-down minnow hooked through the tail is a good trick for those crappies...

Have you tried the northeastern bay yet? Some nice gills are moving in up there.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Fish'n guy]

I tried the spot agian tonite and got skunked but I tried your techniques and got some of the fish to look but not to eat it. I think you know where it is, where you caught some nice eyes last year while bass fishin. Do you think that I should work the deep water liek 40'+ or not. thanks for the help!!!

[CrappieJohn]

Matt Breuer mentioned fish being in transition. Here in the SE corner of the state I think this is the case in a few areas. I have noticed a shift towards less deep water, even toward water with a bit of current.

I think you should look for moving fish.....those which go in and out of the flasher's cone fairly quickly. These fish are searchers. If you will listen to what seems to be being said here....."they will come up slowly , but won't hit". To me this is a classic situation where suspended fish are the neutral fish. Maybe even negative in mood. When I bump into a bunch of these with tight lips I look for fish that are here and gone again quickly and note at which depth this activity is taking place. Then that is where I put the bait. This worked for me a week ago at the Backwater Brawl when it seemed that a mid-day lull was going to set in hard. But I managed four nice crappies bang, bang, bang by concentrating on fish moving quickly and away from where the serious concentrations of fish were.

[7 grand kids]

Thought I might as well make a few comments. Yesterday afternoon on a southern minnesota lake I used the transiston comment of Matt B., the spring bobber comment of Matt J., and the move comment of Crappie T., to end up with a nice catch of sunnies and 7 crappies (all released). It was interesting because the sunfish were the largest I have ever caught in this lake. There was a 30' hole and the fish were on the edge in 26' away from a group of houses. The sunnies were suspended 15-20', all of the crappies were caught less than 10' below the ice. The largest ones were just below the ice and were the most aggressive. Small marmooska jig, 2lb line, eurolarvae,and spring bobber was the presentation. Thanks for the continuing info guys. Just use a little bit of advice from all the comments here and see what works for you. That's what makes it interesting.

[Corey Bechtold]

I took Cole out on the Ice yesterday in search of Crappies and Sunfish. When we arrived at the lake we were to meet up with my cousin and fish with him. Cole was taking a nap when I got on the lake so I found my cousin and asked how he was doing. Nada. He had some holes around so I asked if I could drop in one and see what happens. On my first 6 drops I caught 4 nice White Crappies and 2 Bull Sunfish. Not too bad considering I was only 50 feet away from the area he was fishing all day. He moved his house over to where I was fishing. Cole woke up and we fished in the comfy house. The fish were on roam mode and Crappies and Sunfish were mixed. The presentation I used was a horizontal jig tipped with a black plastic tail from Lindy. That tail had just the right amount of kick that the fish were triggering on. After the sun set the fish became a little more tight lipped so I changed to larvae to get them to commit. Cole was a blast in the house and he helped me catch several Crappies and Sunfish. He even un-hooked some fish by himself too. The biggest Crappie we managed was just shy of 13". And the Sunfish ran smaller with the biggest being 9". It's nice to be back in Minnesota and on the fish again.

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Breuer]

Since this thread has become the report/picture mecca and it's gone empty for awhile now I'll add today's report and pics.

I am on a weird bite right now, drilling holes in a small area, with depths ranging from 34' up to 18'. I'm hole hopping and finding the crappies suspended 18 feet down in 34' and on the bottom in shallower. It's kind of fun hole hopping and finding them in all depths at the same level. Anyway, I managed 14 fish tonight and kept 4 for a meal. They were 12-13.5". I should mention that these fish are headed for a 25' flat where they'll stay until ice out, it's a transition and I'm only picking up one fish per hole, then on to the next, and so on...

[Stratosman]

Good report Matt, nice looking slabbers too! I havn't been out in a while, maybe this weekend.

[Corey Bechtold]

You're the man Matt! I can't wait to get on those fish with you. We'll stay in touch and get together to chase those late Ice Panfish.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[ChuckN]

That is about the same case on a lake I fish, Matt. The only exception is they are on the 24' flat already, have been for awhile. They are more bottom huggers too. They are spookie, you see 2 on the graph, yank one up the hole and the other disappears. Move to another hole, do it again. It's strange...

[Fish'n guy]

Matt I am having almost the same results as you are the bigger crappies are about 20' down in 35-40' of water. I am getting about 1 fish per hole.

GOOD FISHIN!!

[Matt Johnson]

BDR and I made it out on a local Metro lake today in search of gills. We found a pretty good concentration of fish in 4-8 feet of water. The fish were fairly aggressive and were willing to chase the jig all the way to the bottom of the hole on some occasions. Some of the gills were around 8 inches and one went about 9 inches. We used Shrimpos tipped with a single maggot.

We also spent some time scouting out the lake and we found a nice sport where it drops from 3 feet to about 15 feet in a matter of 7-8 yards. On top in 3 feet of water it's all green weeds. The weeds tapper off and end in about 8 feet. At about 13 feet is where we caught the 9 incher and marked several other nice sized fish. Those fish were definitely on the move and I would be willing to bet they are cruising that weedline right now.

From what I've seen lately a good majority of the gills are starting to move shallow and relocate over the shallow weeds and weedlines. The crappies are still roaming but I'm also starting to see an increase of shallow water crappie activity as well. However, I'd still focus on mid-depth structure for crappies right now, but I'd hit the shallow weeds and depressions for gills. Sight fishing is definitely just about in full swing right now for gills.

We also picked up a couple pike and bass while chasing gills in the shallows. Always a bonus to fight them on 2 pound test and get the adrenalin pumping!

Some melting on the ice today and it started to get a little slushy. We should experience some excellent fishing in the next couple weeks...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[pathogen]

If they were showing interest in the forage minnow, I'd go to something like a Hali which has a short dropper. I have customized a few of my 1/16 oz forage minnows by taking off the treble hook and adding the single hook and chain dropper from a Hali. Combined with a single maggot or two is absolutely deadly. A sensitive rod is a must and a spring bobber won't hurt. It is very possible some of the fish you saw on the flasher hit and spit without giving any indication. They can suck it in and spit it out remarkably fast, so fast that you can't set the hook fast enough even if you are watching them 3 feet below. They can also do it without even shivering a float. As a last resort, I'd have tried a tiny Marmooska with a single maggot. Just throwing in my 2 cents worth.

[Corey Bechtold]

I can't wait to see the pictures Matt Johnson took yesterday! We got a chance to fish together along with a few other FM'ers which is always a blast! We found a tough bite but when you did catch some fish you were rewarded with quality. We found a shallow concentration of Sunfish and Crappies in a smaller bay. The fish seemed to prefer a slow/small presentation. Deadsticking and trusting your electronics helped put some fish on the Ice. We didn't keep any of the fish yesterday and it was nice to see all those big Gills and Slabs go back. We practice what we preach here on FM about putting those bigger Sunfish back in the lakes. These are delicate fish and getting a Sunfish over 9 inches is just like getting a 30" Walleye or 50" Muskie. A great day to be out on the Ice and things will start to heat up in the next few weeks. Lets get those pictures up Matt!

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[CrappieJohn]

Corey....I saw some 12-13 " crappies and sunfish to 10.5 yesterday on the Zumbro. Of course I got there AFTER the big bite occured, but Dan Thiem and a couple others including Smallieobsession got to go home with some good eating. Open water a hundred yards from where the fish were being taken! What a wonderful aroma that open water has right now!

[Matt Breuer]

Must've been a great weekend for 'gills all over! I can't wait to see the pics Corey and Matt! You've got me all giddy!

Anyway, myself, woodman, and hollywood_pete made it out for a day on the ice yesterday. We first hit some 'gills in 9 to 14 feet of water on a small local lake. We probably caught 70 'gills in around 3 hours. They ranged anywhere from 6 to 10 inches and were feeding aggressively on a blood red Shrimpo or all black Shrimpo. We caught around 6 fish over 9" that had to go back, including one tall bull that I'll never forget! We also caught two largemouth and one pike.

hollywood_pete with a nice 'gill!

woodman with a 9.25"er.

Me with a disperportioned MONSTER!! 9.5" long and 5" tall!

After a fun time chasing 'gills we went after some crappies and ended up with 10 fish that ranged from 11.5" to 13". These were all hit on a Demon suspended 20 feet down in 30' of water.

Sunset crappie...

[CrappieJohn]

Real nice fish Matt! And yes, they must be on a statewide tear. People are getting some real bruisers down here too. The rivers and streams around home here are getting a workout today and yesterday was about the same. With temps over 60 here today the snow is quickly becoming a memory. All of our impoundments and the Mississippi backwaters are going to take a hit from this I think. But it is exactly what we have needed here to get things picked up a bit by getting some color and current in the water. Again, nice fish there Matt.

[Dragonfisherman]

Nice fish Matt! My brother has been hammering the crappies back home on ratso's on a lake that I took him to a couple of weekends ago in the Bemidji area. He has had a good morning bite for the last week and a half. Going home this weekend for spring break, gonna try a couple of little secluded lakes for some bulls! What do you think the ice will be like by next weekend with this weather

[Matt Johnson]

Nice fish Breuer!

Yep, this weekend was definitely a nice day for pannies. Yesterday I hit the lake with Corey and I happened to stumble across the biggest gill so far this winter for me...

I'm not sure exactly what the measurements were but I couldn't get my hand around it and it was very thick all the way through the tail. I would have to put that up there as one of the biggest gills I've ever caught.

Shallow water bite and the fish were VERY finicky. Corey isn't kidding, those fish were horrible!! To say we had to work for fish would be an understand, I think frustration would be a better word I managed to land all my fish on just the head of a size 10 pink Shrimpo tipped with a single euro. My spring bobber would barely quiver when a fish would hit, a very tough bite but like Corey said, the rewards were well worth it. We landed several plus 9-inch gills and plus 11-inch crappies...

Corey with a nice 9 inch gill

Corey and my dad with a couple pannies

Another nice gill

A lot of fun out there and I'd trade quantity for only catching a few fish that size any day

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Breuer]

Great fishes guys!! Nice catch there Matthew!!!

What a great weekend to be on the ice eh?

[iland99]

I'll second that Matt! The weather couldn't have been any better and the fish were biting like mad! Now if I could just learn how to hold the fish right for pictures.....

At least I held this crappie halfway right.