Night Ice Fishing

[Mike Stark]

just wondering if anyone ice fishes at night. are the eyes still active?

mike

[zamboni]

I would say about 3/4 of all ice fisherman fish after dark (I mean its only 4:30 when sun goes down) but 1/2 of all ice fisherman fish all night long, and mainly walleye is what they are after

[Mike Stark]

is this true??? do that many of you fish at night???

[maros91]

I do. I mainly fish Mille Lacs. I get there at 6am, the sun sets at 5pm and I stay till about 8pm. Plenty of fish after the sun sets.

[EJ]

If I am using the wheelhouse, then I am staying in it and fishing all night long. The only problem is when Monday comes along and I have had about 2 hours of sleep because the rattle wheels were dinging all night!

EJ

[Huntin&Fishin]

Yep I fish as long as possible in the night.

[arbuck]

Yep, it's about the only time I can fish. Like said earlier the sun sets at 4:30-5:00, so by the time I get home and get to the lake (less than a mile) it is already dark. I can't speak as to the fishing is better/worse after the sun sets....I don't keep notes.....but I figure anytime I'm on the ice, it's good.

[JigginIsLife]

If i had the choice i would probably fish at night. and then catch the morning bite. besides sunrises are great to be pulling in nice eyes.

[redbandit]

90% at night for me. I've even caught sunnies at midnight with glow baits and a lot of coaxing. No worth the trouble though IMO. Craps 'n' Eyes when the lights go out.

[Cletus]

Yes, Walleyes bite at night. But you have to keep in mind that you need to use similar run and gun tactics as you do in the middle of the day in order to be successful. I believe many anglers give up after the "nite bite" (normally between 5 and 7pm on most lakes). You target transition areas and on top of the flats during this time... but after this time, you need to get back out on top of them after they move off that structure. If you really want to keep on them... do the same as you do during the day. Pop a bunch of holes and jump between them with your electronics. You see marks, you fish the hole until they disappear. When they do, move on. Do this, and you will be successful in catching them at night. If you are ok with "waiting them out"... then, by all means, sit in a house, kick back, and try and jig them in.

[Farley]

Some of the biggest walleyes I've caught have been between 2a.m. and sunrise. A few nights last year it was crazy at 2-3 a.m., walleyes and crappies.

It's funny, during the week, my alarm clock can go off and I'll sleep right through it, but get me in a fish house and I'll wake up at the first tick of a rattle reel going off.

[Surface Tension]

If your not fishing sunset and into dark you probably went home to early.

[Mike Stark]

thanks for all the info. im going out tonight after a run with the dogs on the sled!

mike

[Dances with Walleye]

Last year during the "Portables" phase of ice fishing, it took us a while to really dial in the change at night.

What we eventually figured out would work best was:

About 2 hours before sun set (Which usually seems to be a dead window of the day)

We'd go scope out an area that's a little more shallow... And pre-drill the holes where we thought would be a good spot. (Obviously the better you know a lake the better chance you'll be able to find hot structure.)

Then we'd place a tip up with a flouro leader and a large energetic minnow at a spot between our Deep day location and the shallow night location...

When the tip up in the middle zone went off, we'd know it was time to drag over shallow.

Seemed like if we just stayed deep it would be a total scratch within an hour after sun down.

Though usually we never stay later than 8:30-ish...

I mean after that point we're talking a half hour to pack up and get on the road... And another hour or so home... In what was usually pretty cold conditions.

*****

Later in the season when we got the wheel house on Mille Lacs... Then we'd fish actively (Usually for perch) during the day... And then switch over to rattle reels for Walleye at night...

Making sure to really hit it hard in stealth mode for the two hour windows around sunset and sunrise.

****

In general though... The big pigs seem to come truly active at night... And it's more of the scrappy adolescents that are running hot during the day.

[irishwalleye]

Quote:

---

Last year during the "Portables" phase of ice fishing, it took us a while to really dial in the change at night.

What we eventually figured out would work best was:

About 2 hours before sun set (Which usually seems to be a dead window of the day)

We'd go scope out an area that's a little more shallow... And pre-drill the holes where we thought would be a good spot. (Obviously the better you know a lake the better chance you'll be able to find hot structure.)

Then we'd place a tip up with a flouro leader and a large energetic minnow at a spot between our Deep day location and the shallow night location...

When the tip up in the middle zone went off, we'd know it was time to drag over shallow.

Seemed like if we just stayed deep it would be a total scratch within an hour after sun down.

Though usually we never stay later than 8:30-ish...

I mean after that point we're talking a half hour to pack up and get on the road... And another hour or so home... In what was usually pretty cold conditions.

*****

Later in the season when we got the wheel house on Mille Lacs... Then we'd fish actively (Usually for perch) during the day... And then switch over to rattle reels for Walleye at night...

Making sure to really hit it hard in stealth mode for the two hour windows around sunset and sunrise.

****

In general though... The big pigs seem to come truly active at night... And it's more of the scrappy adolescents that are running hot during the day.

---

THIS IS THE KIND OF POST THAT MAKES THIS SITE SO GREAT!!!

[polarsusd81]

Dances,

I really like the idea of setting up a bit deeper during the day and putting a tip up or two in between the shallow spot for prime time and day spots. I was just planning on poppin holes prior to prime time like you are explaining and move over about an hour before sundown. This sounds more reasonable though because we like to generally fish two or three holes in the trap guide when my buddy and I are out and have one or two tip ups out. Just keep the em close to the house in the deep water during the day bite and move them to the in-between stage when you go drill the prime time holes. Do you also drill a series of holes in different depths along a breakline for hole hopping after sundown as well as the ones to set up the portable on?

[slipperybob]

Sooo, for the folks who don't have GPS gizmos. What do you do to keep track of the direction you came from? It's easy when there's snow and you've got a trail but on glaring ice, especially after some rain?

I generally point the sled in that direction so as to not get disorientated after taking things down. There was a time that after we got to the parking lot / ramp, a guy came in afterwards and said that if we didn't pull the vehicle to pick up stuff he would've still been lost out there. He said he might've been wandering around for 45 mins. LOL's I'll like to say leave trail markers but that's just littering...

[Eric Wettschreck]

A compas still works wonders.

Also, if I'm on a lake I don't really know that well, right at or after sunset I like to go outside, and get one last set of "Mental bearings." Landmarks, different lights, etc. Yes, it can be difficult and sometimes scarey trying to find your way off of a lake at night.

[Farley]

Quote:

---

Sooo, for the folks who don't have GPS gizmos. What do you do to keep track of the direction you came from?

---

The shoreline.

[Dances with Walleye]

Quote:

---

Dances,

I really like the idea of setting up a bit deeper during the day and putting a tip up or two in between the shallow spot for prime time and day spots. I was just planning on poppin holes prior to prime time like you are explaining and move over about an hour before sundown. This sounds more reasonable though because we like to generally fish two or three holes in the trap guide when my buddy and I are out and have one or two tip ups out. Just keep the em close to the house in the deep water during the day bite and move them to the in-between stage when you go drill the prime time holes. Do you also drill a series of holes in different depths along a breakline for hole hopping after sundown as well as the ones to set up the portable on?

---

I've gone back and forth on the question of "Stay Put vs Keep Moving" versus open water and hard...

I don't really Hole Hop...

When it comes to eyes I've never found hole hopping to be more effective than a strong understanding of the structure I'm fishing.... And I combine that with with a cerebral finesse jigging game, courtesy of my Vex.

I have a very cerebral style... And I'll pop a bunch of holes to find the best location... But once I've got a Day and a Dark location... With a transitional "Warning Zone" in between... I have a hard time finding a good enough logic in moving around.... And I have NEVER been skunked ice fishing.

****

Also I would Add that the Tip Up in that Transitional Zone, is also there to let me know if I should move or not.

I've found that Eyes don't Always Move shallow... It seems that the colder it is the more they hang in the depths... And will stick to the deepest part of the weedline...

So if I am going to hole hop... It's going to be me going over to the shallow spot for a while because the transitional tip up (With a flouroleader of course) didn't go off... So I'm checking shallow for a while just to make sure it's the fish and not the tip up.

[Only Eyes]

Night Rocks If it's possible we usually always stay all night Usually set up pretty shallow 13-18 and have pretty good action. Hot and heavy hour before hour after then off and on 2 am is a great time for a HOG!!!!!!

[09ultra]

I will almost never fish during the day,I prefer to fish at night more peaceful and it seems to be better fishing.

just my .02

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

i was just out fishing on a small metro pond for crappies and caught good numbers in about 12-15 feet after dark. The bite would have to continued but since my buddies didnt have a shack they wanted to go home i was sitting in my pak shack with the buddy heater going full blast... it was a good night as far as action goes...

Later,

Ryan

[Lisa Almquist]

I've never actually icefished all night. When we go to LOW or URL we rent cabins but not sleepers. Do you guys bring cots and sleep out there? Do you just sit on you buckets and doze?

[EJ]

Bunks, sleeping bags, pillows and ear plugs because my fishing buddy snores. Of course he says I snore too, but I have not confirmed that yet.

EJ