What's workin' now ICE...

[TNFL]

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Horizontal baits tipped with plastics worked best.

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I'm fairly new to ice fishing and have only used live bait. What type of plastics do you use. I was thinking a jar of gulp waxies, but what else works? Does scent (either in or on the bait) play a factor?

[Jim Hudson]

Did a little panfish hunting today on a local inland lake. Both 'gills and crappies were mixed together in deep holes scattered throughout a big weed flat. The deep holes were holding some green weeds still, and the pannies were loving the area. Hot and fast action all throughout the time I fished the lake. As usual during early ice, I caught my fair share of good sized gills on the lake, a lot in the 8 to 9 inch range but nothing over 9. The biggest crappie was probably 13". All fish were caught on a Red Glow #10 Genz Bug (my go to panfish bait), where it didnt matter if you used plastic or meat of some sort. Was a great day, but tomorrow I am off walleye chasing!!!

All fish were CPR'ed or CP'ed and here are a few photos for ya guys that are stuck at the ice show!!

[Corey Bechtold]

Tom hit the nail on the head. I would have liked to find the fish shallow but the Crappies were definately deep. Also like Tom mentioned, the tiny micro-organizm's are down there and easy pickings for the fish. The bottom 6' was full of this stuff and right when the sun started to go down they were dancing all over the place! Couldn't even see your bait mixed in with the stuff even with the locator turned down a low as it could go. Fishing was impossible when the bottom exploded.

One thing that has me a little curious is where the Sunfish were. I didn't look for them in the shallows but would have thought that they would be in the same areas as the Crappies. Guess not this weekend.

I also fished a little today but found the cold to be a bit much so we didn't last. I did however catch a few nice Crappies while hole hopping for 20 minutes. The fish were really scattered again so mobility was the key. If you were patient and stayed in one place the fish would roam back in and you could pick one up but I'm too impatient . I switched to a heavier horizontal jig and tipped that with the plastic to get my fish today.

I hope to get out again soon to search some different lakes to see what I can find.

Anyone else have any luck this weekend?

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[Corey Bechtold]

TNFL, there are a lot of good options for horizontal jigs. Some good horizontal jigs are:

Ratso's/Ratfinkies from Custom Jigs and Spins

Hot Heads/Horizontal Teardrops from JB Lures

Your looking for baits that when the knot is placed on the top of the eyelet your baits hangs sideways instead of up and down like the popular Moon Glows.

As far as plastics, there are plenty to choose from.

Custom Jigs and Spins have small plastic tails as well as Lindy and others. Gulp!, Powerbait, Power Nibbles are good options as well when the fish might need some smell to seal the deal.

Give them a try and let me know how they work for you.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[CrappieJohn]

Some things to look at as far as sunfish and crappies are concerned during early ice: The green weeds remaining on a lake will hold sunfish better than brown ones; crappies at this time can and will stay fairly mobile horizontally in looking for food, but their feeding tendency will be more vertical; Sunfish will have shown signs of the slow dow-down already; sunfish are less prone to annual repetitive return to specific haunts....the hot spot last year for the bull sunnies might show you none this year and those fisherman who are actively open water chasing sunfish up to ice-up are in a better position to know where the best early ice sunnie fishing will be ( think about it).

Sunfish and crappies will co-exist, but they are indeed seperate fish in nature. At this time of year you may find that they are neighbors, just not close ones. You might have to target them as seperate fish to do well with one or the other.

Plastics are a super bait right now. Not the full-sized plastics of open water but those mentioned by Corey are a good start.

Corey also mentioned the bottom being simply alive with bait at sunset....these are most likely worms like blood worms and the fish will gourge on them. Choose a plastic with action and lots of it as long as the plastic offers something lithe and whip-like. It is at this time that the

Ant from JB Lures will get good notice along with those from Custom Jigs and Spins. The key is lots of activity at the end of your line, just above the churning masses at the bottom.

The water temps down where the fish are being found, even if it is where they suspend over deep water, will be much warmer yet than just under the ice. The activity level of these fish will be strong yet when they put the bibb on for the dinner table. A daytime bite is likely but that late afternoon charge can be too much for a person using two rods.

[Matt Johnson]

A few plastic options to choose from...

I like the line of finesse plastics from Custom Jigs and Spins. The Standard Finesse plastics are nice, as are the Wedgees and both the Micro and regular Noodel. All have their time and place.

I also like the Lindy Techni-Glo line of plastics. A few options to choose from there as well, and in a few unique designs that trigger some interesting results...

[TNFL]

I tried a shrimpo last night with no results. Started in 7ft(4in. ice) then 9(3in.) then 11(2in.), the ice kept getting thinner and I didn't want to go out to the 17 foot max. I didn't move much horizontally though and only stayed out for about 45 min.

[RonZych]

The deep/shallow depressions in the lake is also the area where leaves and muck and crud eventually work their way down to, during the open water period. Lots of small organisms live and feed down there. Food chain.

[DEADhead]

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I tried a shrimpo last night with no results

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I've had good luck with shrimpos and ratsos so far. Also, genz bugs with a power wiggler or any finesse plastic will work well. if you can't get into the depression just yet, wait out the ice a little longer until it is thick enough. I'll bet you'll have success with that shrimpo...

[TNFL]

I think/hope your right. I wasn't marking anything shallow with my lx-3.

[Matt Johnson]

Found the pannies to be relating shallow this weekend. Depths anywhere from 5-8 feet seemed to be key. Soft-bottom areas too. A lot of smaller fish cruising the deeper water and transition areas, but the larger fish seemed to be relating more towards shallower structure. Pink/white Marmooskas tipped with a single maggie worked the best for me, although I could have got by with a much lighter jig too. The crappies were definitely coming through higher than the gills, and there were thick schools on jumbo perch mixed in with the crappies. Talk about a smorgasbord

Excellent weather this weekend, very comfortable fishing outside of a portable. Made hole hopping a whole lot easier too.

Hopefully I'll be able to chase down a few more pannies this week, but either way, when next weekend roles around they're mine!

[TNFL]

Hoping to get out after work on Tuesday to one of the Maple Grove lakes. With temps staying in the 20's should we start shallow and work out? Also, what type of structure is hot right now, cabbage, curly leaf, muck? I plan on bringing the camera with so I can check it out.

[Matt Johnson]

I would definitely target shallower, weedy areas right now, at least give it a shot before you head out towards deeper water. While you can land a stack of fish out in deeper water, it's usually the smaller ones that cruise out there and school up right now. I've been targeting mostly 7 feet or less right now for my pannies. Find pockets in the weeds and work those, or else shallow weedlines and breaks. Depressions in shallow bays can be very good as well. Soft bottom areas will produce too.

As far as weed type, look for green weeds and work those areas. You don't necessarily have to have thick patches of weeds, scattered weeds will work too, and sometimes can be even better this time of year...

[TNFL]

Maybe I should start my own thread...What's NOT workin' now. Here goes.

Went to Medicine Lake and fished from the park on the west side. Not very large flats very steep drop offs. Could not find very tall weeds. My partner stayed mostly deep 25+ and caught 5 small perch. Marked few fish between 6 and 14 feet and they weren't biting. I suspect it was a bad location but with 2 hours worth of daylight mobility was limited.

Closed Circuit to my partner. The ice is thick enough to bring your power auger next week. Man my arms hurt.

[Corey Bechtold]

At least you had a chance to get out! I have been WAY too busy lately to even think about fishing! I can tell you one thing that is working though... I bought a Strikemaster Bait Puck at the show and last Thursday I bought a bunch of Spikes to take out fishing. It's been a week and they have jumped froom my truck to the fridge many times and I still have to loose one! Seems like a great investment so far. Keeping bait alive can be difficult at times and the Puck seems to be working great!

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[harvey lee]

Ive been having very good luck with a white shrimpo tipped with a half a waxie or nothing for the pannies and crappies,biting very light but its working.Fishing has been so good I believe I could even keep up with Matt or crappie Tom,maybe.All my fish are coming in 10fow or less.

[rosspj59]

I caught my first crappies on a glow chartruese shrimpo with a waxie this weekend. My father caught most of his on a size 4 glow white ratfinke with powerbait. We were catching quite a few fish in 28-32 feet of water just off a steep break. Caught quite a few crappies with sizes ranging from 6-11 inches. He also tried gulp which didn't pan out as well as the powerbait. We caught fish all day and quit around 4 pm. The 8-10 am period and 2-4 pm produced the most active fish. We marked fish in the slow times too, but they were tougher to get to bite.

[Matt Johnson]

Found the gills holding over a deep depression yesterday. Mostly just cruising through not relating to anything in particular. I worked them over with Fairy Tears (blade jigs) that provide a lot of flash and vibration. Great for attracting and triggering roaming fish, yet small enough to still entice and finesse those finicky bulls. However, what I like the most about them is that they can fish heavy, and they get down quickly.

Soft-bottom areas mostly as well. Depth was about 14 feet...

I found myself struggling to find the big gills today on a different body of water. My usual shallow water spot was virtually nonexistent and nothing was happening. Must have punched about 30 holes to land a dozen or so fish, nothing real big either. Looks like I'm gonna have to hit the break and midlake structure now on that lake...

With that cold front we had move through is shut the aggressive kamikazee bite down for a couple days, but things will pick up again here in the near future...

[Jim Hudson]

Matt

Have heard, on a lot of lakes, fish are being found deeper then usual for early ice panfish action. A lot of Crappies and Gills relating to hard bottom point areas off usual early ice locations.

Regionally in my area, I think due to the cold and windy fall we had right before ice up, most fish headed to the depths.

[Corey Bechtold]

I was fortunate enough to hit the Ice with Matt Johnson to chase some fish on Wednesday. We had a good time as always and found some fish as well . Matt worked a small vertical blade jig tipped with Larvae while I stuck with my confidence jig (horizontal). Both of us had luck catching Crappies but staying on a school or having them stay in one area wasn't this night. Most of the fish seemed to slide in and out and the ones that showed themselves on the locator could be finessed into biting. It seemed that the fish weren't schooled up on the lake we were fishing yet. The size was a nice average with most of the fish being right around 10" with one fish that was just shy of 12". I hope to start hitting the lakes a bit harder as the Ice conditions seem to be slowly improving.

Here is what worked for us this day...

Fishing a breakline in 18 feet of water with a deeper flat nearby.

"Timing" was key as the fish roamed in and out.

Slowly worked jigs and keeping the baits just above the fish till they decided to take the bait.

Light line and a sensitive rod was crucial.

Here is what I was using...

Berkley 28"UL Lightning rod

Abu Garcia 100U Spinning reel

Berkley 3lb Micro Ice

Horizontal jig tipped with 2 Larvae

LX-5 flasher

Hope everyone is getting out and finding some fish.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[CrappieJohn]

I had a crazy day yesterday with most of the fish coming to jigging spoons (JB's Jiggin Eye 1/16, glo red and Customs's Jigging Demon in the smallest size, glo red and glo chartreuse, along with Scenic's Go Devil in the glo red 1/16....all tipped with either waxies , Custom's Finesse Plastics or Techniglo's Nail Tail Micro- both in the chartreuse glo.)As the fish got fussier I settled for a small ballhead in chatreuse glo with a solo waxie.

While I was geared out pretty light, I found no particular need to be needing a spring bobber. The only fish I took yesterday that would have been missed without that spring was a chub of about 10". Never done one of those thru the ice before.

In addition to the white and black crappies that kept me entertained I took a mess of white bass, some very nice perch, a sunnie or two (and they came from 24 fow at the bottom)a couple lm bass and 3 catfish up to seven pounds. I kept six crappies for last night's dinner that measured between 10 1/2 and 12 inches.

Deep water was the key and all of the fish, save for the sunnies, were found between 3 and 7 feet up with the bulk coming to the hook at about four feet. Hits were very solid until about 10 AM and then began to get more pensive and sizing down had to be done, but even then the hits were hard enough to feel well.

I started out with a very large profile crappie bait, the JB Jiggin Eye, and had a crappie within two minutes of fishing. Personally Ilike to start off with a more stand-out bait to get a feel for whether the fish will tolerate it or need to teased with the smaller stuff. Yesterday they came out of the starting gate hitting a large bait. The next time you have mediocre luck on smaller baits, try sizing up. The larger profile can help to draw fish from quite a distance and those fish can be quite aggresive.

[Matt Johnson]

Jim,

I would have to agree, the bigger pannies are not in their usual locations. Definitely holding out a little deeper than normal. Usually it's relatively easy to locate a large pod of gills in the shallow weeds this time of year, but all I found there today were just the little ones. Only way a person could get on consistent bigger fish today would be to move out towards midlake structure. If you can find a lake with solid weed growth in about 12-15 feet then you should be golden for finding probably both gills and crappies there.

Corey,

Always a pleasure fishing with you, I'm always learning something new. What a great day to be on the ice too! We'll find those big gills, they can't hide for long

I'm going to see if I can't find a few largies tomorrow morning in the shallows. Possibly even a little sight fishing action if everything works out. Then it's off to the relatives for the evening, and then to Grandma's for Christmas!

Monday I'll find myself chasing pannies on the Chisago Lakes chain. I hear some bigguns calling my name

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the holidays!

[Corey Bechtold]

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Here is a picture from the outing the other day...

I hope to get out and chase some more Panfish soon, hopefully you all get the chance too.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[TNFL]

Found some crappies in 25 ft of water the other day. At the base of the break they were roaming the flat/basin. Ratsos were the hot bait sometimes with a waxie. 9-11 inches on every crappie lots of small perch to keep you busy also!!

[Corey Bechtold]

Finally! I had a chance to get out and do some fishing last night after work. I took a friend of mine out and was going to show him how to use a flasher (he had never used one before). Man was he shocked at how well they worked. His eyes were really opened last night as I showed him some of my tricks to catch finicky fish. While there was still light out the fish were more aggressive as we had little trouble getting the fish to rise to the bait and take our offering. But as the sun set and the fish settled in they were a bit more touchy and wanted the bait presented perfectly. Once again I was using horizontal jigs tipped with plastics and/or spikes. My friend was using a Fiscas jig from Your Bobbers Down. It is a fairly new jig on the market and is a bit spendy. They are made from Tungstin and fish a bit heavier than ordinary Lead jigs of the same size. This allows you to get back down to the fish quicker and also gives you more control over your jig. I fished my standby jig which has a smaller profile and fishes a bit slower. When the fish were "on" both baits worked good. After the fish slowed down and settled to the bottom the smaller jig fished softer was the ticket.

It was an outstanding, short trip and we caught both Crappies(9"-10") and a few nice Bluegills(7"-8.5"). It's nice to help out someone who is fairly new to Ice fishing and watch him having so much fun catching fish.

Here's what worked for me last night...

LX-5!

Lightning Rods (24"UL, 28"L)

Abu Garcia reels (100U, 700U)

Micro Ice 3lb, 2lb test

Shrimpos, Fiscas, JB's Horizontal jigs

Spikes

I hope to get out again soon and try out some new products/techniques, I'll let you know how it goes of course.

Good fishin,

Corey Bechtold