Newbie icefishing help needed!

[TiNK3R]

Hello, this is my first post so go easy! I'll skip the blah blah no father to teach me stuff and get right into my probably very simple and obvious questions. Any helps is GREATLY appreciated. Any pointer/tips/comments/concerns please speak up!! <3

First. I'm targeting walleye/northern/crappies. I am fishing on lake Waconia (mn) and have been out twice this winter season. (First time I only got 2 sunfish, second I got 6 decent perch).

My first question - I want to setup a tipup for walleye. Below is a picture of my setup. Do I put a full shiner on? Do i put a small sucker instead? Do I hook it in the back fin to keep it alive? Are my weights at the right spot or do they need to be closer to the bottom? Lastly... do I want to have the weights hit the ground and have the bait float the rest up (lindy rig i think its called?)

My next question is about jigging for them. I purchased 2 differen't jigs/lures that I have heard about over and over on these forums, and I just wanted to be sure I have them setup right. Below are 2 pictures of them...I use a slip bobber for depth. IF I end up needing weight, how far up from the jig do I put a weight on? The first picture I have a swivel tied to the line, with the jig snapped on.. will that "scare" the fish away? - as opposed to the 2nd picture that I put the jig directly on the line?

- I will likley have more questions later, but any help is again... greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the time to read!

Jeremy

[Shack]

For starters,

The first image/pics, I would locate the weights about 5-6 inches above the spinner.

The other images, I would remove weights and use the weight of the lures.

That should help with what you have. I would hook the minnow up thre the anal area on the first rig and use a minnow head on the others.

Welcome to FM.

Good luck!

[TiNK3R]

Putting a minnow head (would a shiner head work? idk) on the trebble hook in picture 2 work? I'll keep that in mind ty!

[Shack]

I would use a fat head/crappie minnow head. I would only use a shinner on the first image.

If I had my digi camera tonight, I would show you some images of what I use.

What I have told you should get you on some fish. We will go about line size later.

Get your self a depth weight and locate your self a 1' to 1 1/2' off of the bottom.

Report back on what you get.

[looneyducer]

I don't know anything about tip-ups, but for the jigging setup you're not too far off. Take off the weight and the bobber, and the snap off the snap swivel. Tie another chunk of line to the swivel, and your jigging spoon to the end of that line, maybe 18 inches down.

It will look like this:

rod -- line -- swivel -- line -- spoon -- fish (hopefully).

Nice choices on the jigging lures, by the way.

[TiNK3R]

I am going tomorrow at 2pm and staying as late as the heat holds. I'm hoping for something

tyvm

[Shack]

I would not remove bobber yet. If bobber holds up to the weight of the jig, use it as a back up. I think you can use bobber to rest situation when not in use. It will keep you in the game for fish. When you can, jig the jig and hold just above bobber stop. This way, you can learn the feel of a fish bite.

As far as the swivel, when you are ready, try removing swivel and clip. Mean while, it should not matter to much.

One thing I know, is you do not want to bomb bard a newbie with to much. They have to learn and grown from a point.

Good luck on Fri!!!!!!!!

[Marmot]

For walleyes -

I like a plan hook, often a red one with a split-shot 6" or so above the hook on my tip-ups. Hook a whole shiner in the back so it will stay alive.

As others suggest, a minnow head on your jigging spoons and get jiggy with them.

I set my tip-ups and jigging rods to be roughly 6" off the bottom and adjust as needed to target the walleyes

[bgreen82]

all good stuff. for the tip up a lot of people, myself included, would recommend a quick strike rig. get a medium to large sucker minnow or some dead smelt, and throw a couple split shot about 18 inches above the rig. in winter, early winter especially, pike may be all up and down the water column, so trial and error may be necessary.

good fishing. let us know.

[TiNK3R]

What I've been doing the last 2 trips is... I have my two tip ups (gf comes with me!) that both have a premade rig on it. It's essentially just a wire leader with a treble hook at the end. I then put a medium sucker on it and suspended it at all differen't depths.

I've had those two bad boys out for full days twice now - the bait stays fully alive all day (i was amazed) but I haven't gotten a SINGLE bite. I"m in about 10-15' of water in the weedline.

I think today Im going to try smaller bait (shiners) and see what I can produce. If anyone can give a better idea (ill look at a quickstrike rig before I leave) as to why that didn't produce I'm all ears!

Again, thanks to everyone replying. Much <3

[Shack]

Quote:

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It's essentially just a wire leader with a treble hook at the end

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You will not want to be checked by DNR or CO with that rig going on down the hole. To make a treble hook legal in MN, you must have a bead or spinner attached to make it a lure.

Did you know you can have 2 lines down during ice time in MN? That means 4 lines with your girl friend in tow (as long as she has a Lic. or is under 16 years of age).

[TiNK3R]

Quote:

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To make a treble hook legal in MN, you must have a bead or spinner attached to make it a lure.

Did you know you can have 2 lines down during ice time in MN? That means 4 lines with your girl friend in tow (as long as she has a Lic. or is under 16 years of age).

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Yeah lol, it has a spiner on there about half the size of a dime. When she comes with we do 2 tipups and 2 jigs inside our portable.

I'm thinking of taking that treble rig off and putting a quickstrike rig on it with 2 single hooks

[eyebjim]

Given the 4 lines that shackbash just mentioned. You may want to try putting two more lines down with teardrop glow jigs under a smaller bobber and use small shiners or fatheads on the glow jig. I would not use any swivel snap just the line to the jig. Keep in mind that the time of day you are fishing is important. If you are targeting the dusk or dawn bite try 15 - 20 feet or so just off the weed edge and again about 1 - 1.5 feet off bottom. If you are fishing in day light you are more likely to get northerns than walleyes but if you want to taget walleyes I would fish deeper off the weed edge. The northerns durring day will likely be roaming in those weeds so you may want to try to find a pocket shallower in the weeds to set up your tip up with a big shiner. If fishing after dark you will want to target the walleyes in shallower water and maybe into the weeds but the weed edge should work fine. Make sure you charge the glow jigs with light at night. I hope this helps good luck.

[Shack]

Quote:

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Yeah lol, it has a spiner on there about half the size of a dime. When she comes with we do 2 tipups and 2 jigs inside our portable.

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I figured I would just ask .

Good luck if you are going out today!

[TiNK3R]

Quote:

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Given the 4 lines that shackbash just mentioned. You may want to try putting two more lines down with teardrop glow jigs under a smaller bobber and use small shiners or fatheads on the glow jig. I would not use any swivel snap just the line to the jig. Keep in mind that the time of day you are fishing is important. If you are targeting the dusk or dawn bite try 15 - 20 feet or so just off the weed edge and again about 1 - 1.5 feet off bottom. If you are fishing in day light you are more likely to get northerns than walleyes but if you want to taget walleyes I would fish deeper off the weed edge. The northerns durring day will likely be roaming in those weeds so you may want to try to find a pocket shallower in the weeds to set up your tip up with a big shiner. If fishing after dark you will want to target the walleyes in shallower water and maybe into the weeds but the weed edge should work fine. Make sure you charge the glow jigs with light at night. I hope this helps good luck.

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Something like this? Any that glow in the dark essentially?

[eyebjim]

Yep!,

I would start with the green on the top right and the white one below it and mix it up a bit if you get no takers.

[Farley]

Quote:

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Hello, this is my first post so go easy! I'll skip the blah blah no father to teach me stuff and get right into my probably very simple and obvious questions. Any helps is GREATLY appreciated. Any pointer/tips/comments/concerns please speak up!! <3

First. I'm targeting walleye/northern/crappies. I am fishing on lake Waconia (mn) and have been out twice this winter season. (First time I only got 2 sunfish, second I got 6 decent perch).

My first question - I want to setup a tipup for walleye. Below is a picture of my setup. Do I put a full shiner on? Do i put a small sucker instead? Do I hook it in the back fin to keep it alive? Are my weights at the right spot or do they need to be closer to the bottom? Lastly... do I want to have the weights hit the ground and have the bait float the rest up (lindy rig i think its called?)

My next question is about jigging for them. I purchased 2 differen't jigs/lures that I have heard about over and over on these forums, and I just wanted to be sure I have them setup right. Below are 2 pictures of them...I use a slip bobber for depth. IF I end up needing weight, how far up from the jig do I put a weight on? The first picture I have a swivel tied to the line, with the jig snapped on.. will that "scare" the fish away? - as opposed to the 2nd picture that I put the jig directly on the line?

- I will likley have more questions later, but any help is again... greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the time to read!

Jeremy

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My Opinion:

In the first pic, get rid of the spinner and beads, put one sinker about 6" above the hook, maybee even use a different hook like a circle hook or a glow jighead. Set it up about 6"-12" off the bottom. Get a small clip on bobber and clip it to the line once you get your depth set so you can always reel up to the bobber to reset the depth quickly and hassle free. Probably would use a barrel swivel or bloodline knot too instead of the clip swivel.

2nd pic I would get rid of the bobber and sinker. When you jig leave your finger on the line so you can detect any weight change or light bite.

3rd pic I would put a big treble hook on that baby, and again get rid of the bobber and sinker.

Not saying its the right way but thats how I would do it.

[TiNK3R]

No luck. We tried going deeper 15-20" of water. Not a single bite off any presentation/depth/etc

Hard to get accurate without a vexlar or a gas auger ;(

Might be going out to a smaller lake tomorrow to test my luck. Thanks for the responses though guys!

[chris63]

One thing I would like to add is in the winter you can go with lighter line.At this time of year your not trolling or drifting (unless your on superior and you broke off on an ice burg?)so you can get by with 4 or6 pound test for eyes and panfish.IMHO,people use to heavy of line summer or winter.c63Good luck,nice to see a newbie not afraid to ask questions!cyac