Early Ice Walleye Bite

[Havin' Fun]

I don't consider myself a poor fisherman by any means and infact, what I'm about to say may make a few irritated, but the walleye bite seams very strange this winter. A buddy and myself have put A LOT of hours on the ice this winter already,(every night!!!!) on some pretty good spots to only come away with a couple fish....all be it a 24" and 28". One is going on the wall.(Wouldn't swim away!!!! ) I almost cried. The question is.....is anyone else finding the clear ice, with no snow a problem, or am I really that poor of a fisherman? Any suggestions? I guess my buddy and myself have decided to keep our similar pattern going, but do we need to practice more stealth, and use candle power? Help would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

Hammer 'em.... I can't say you're a poor fisherman, I haven't seen you fish What depth are you guys fishing at? Does the lake you're fishing hold a good number of Walleyes? If I'm fishing in a lake that doesn't hold a lot of Walleyes, I don't expect to catch a lot of them. By the way, what area of the state are you in? I wanna go ice fishing!!!

[32 degrees]

Hammer em',it seems to me like the fish have been really light sensitive. Especially at shallow depths. When there is no snow on the ice I like to use a fishhouse with a bottom like a Mankato. If your in a fishtrap or otter turn the lantern down LOW. Use the Vexilar light if you have to. Depends on the water clarity and moon phase too but who knows....??

[GullGuide]

Toad and I hit a lake up by Park Rapids last weekend.
The water was crystal clear and so was the ice. It was so clear you could see the bottom as clear as day as we walked accross the lake. Kinda spooky.
We fished in about 15-19 feet of water and managed to land 3 nice walleye and a monster pike.
I think the secret was to be VERY quiet. We made sure all our holes were drilled well before prime-time and placed the lantern inside of the otter sled as not to cause the light to shine into the ice once it got dark.
We also had to really work the fish. They would come in and stare at the spoon for a long time before they would hit.
Good Luck
>"////=<

[Guest]

Hey, to help keep the light off of the ice and in the house, try using a nice industrial rug, built for shop use. Make sure it's not too heavy, and will fit easily in your house. This serves three purposes: 1)you have a quiter floor to your house. 2) It helps to block the cold out from the ice. 3) It eliminates a lot of the light shining through the ice.

Note: There are times when I believe that light helps fishing. Why? Light can bring in bait fish, which bring in both panfish, and predatory fish. I have had light help and hurt, you just have to experiment a little.

Good Luck,
Rusty

[Havin' Fun]

Rusty..in Detroit Lakes area. Gull Guide, I have the same thing. Clear ice, and clear water. Also fish come and just look. Actually getting most of the fish on plain glow hook and minnow under a slip bobber. Jigging brings em in, hook and minnow gets em.