when to fish

[superpastorchris]

I am going ice fishing on a lake that is very small, and the water is very dark. I have fished it in the summer and used a blue glow jig with night crawler. Its deepest spot is 27 Ft with one inside bend of 8 ft, the lake is only 20 some odd acres, and it is mainly a bowl. I am wondering what depth to fish and what time to fish. Any advice would be great. If you know which lake I am talking about (it is in the northern metro area).Thanks.

[CrappieJohn]

If this water has few structural elements, save for the one inside bend, I'd be looking at that. How deep to fish and when carry quite a few factors that can change things. You do not mention any electronics, but I'll assume you are using a locator of some sort. Drill a mess of holes in the vicinity of that cup and start looking for fish. Work your way from shallow (8') to the deep or vice-versa. Again I'll assume you are snooping for panfish/crappies. The sunfish should be near bottom to start, look for crappies somewhere above the sunfish. I'd begin at the deepest water and work my way up to water just shy of that eight foot mark.

You mention dark water....fish it anytime, especially now with the snow cover. Instead of glow jigs, you may want to use a simple bright colored jig and be ready to downsize. In real dark water with substantial snow and even an overcast day, don't be afraid to try a black jig. I mean all black! This will contrast beautifully with that environment. Tip it with a maggot or grub (waxie) and jig it very softly. One of the new gold plated heads in a horizontal presentation with plastics whip tail like the ratso or shrimpo from Custom Jigs and Spins would also do the trick. I do well with the dark in the dark, so to speak, on the horizontal presentation, but fish with a friend who does equally well with vertical jigs. If you do decide to use a glow jig, be certain to keep them smalland unimposing in that dark stuff. A little glow will go a long way in this situation and you may be better off making some noise with vigorous jigging instead of going to the glow.

[superpastorchris]

Thanks for the help. I do have an FL-8 to find the fish. I am still curious as to what tiem fo day to fish it. Any advice? Thanks again.

[Corey Bechtold]

Superpastorchris, I might know the lake you are looking to fish. If you want you can e-mail me at [email protected] and I will try and help you out.

Talk to you later,

Corey Bechtold