Early ice fish patters

[lookin4fish]

I have always targeted walleyes at first ice, and occassionally northerns. not the hardest to find them, but what about other species, mainly crappies. where do they sit during that first ice period? are they susspended over the deep like they usually are during the later mounths? what are your expierences with any species you target related to fish movements throughtout the winter.

hey dietz...podcast idea?

[Deitz Dittrich]

lookin- funny you should mention it.. I already have it recorded, did the last of the 3 interviews last night.. I will edit it up tonight and probably put it on the web thursdayish?

[lookin4fish]

lookin forward to it. so what do the rest of the massess do for the ice season patterns?

[gritsnham]

For early panfish I usually try and stay near weeds that are still alive and green...walleyes can take some more searching and for early ice I usually like shallower lakes

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bring this back to the top.. Just came out with the new podcast.. hope you like it.

[Beege]

I personally focus mostly on eyes for early ice. So i stick to the 8-14 ft range along weed edges.

[Ed Carlson]

If you were on fish in the fall on the body of water you intend to fish on the ice, start there. Or stealthily ask the guys at the Bait Shop how was the fall bite on that lake, very often they will share this because they think that game is up. Sneaky ...Eh?

Fish do not immediately or automatically run to deep water just because the ice formed over head. It is often the case the opposite is occurring. When I mean shallow, I mean as shallow as 2' at times, or riding high over decaying or live weeds..right below the ice.

Lot of chow is shallow in the late fall, and so are the fish, this will continue right into early ice. Start shallow and work deeper as needed.

Be cognoscente of fish movements from deeper to shallow water, and back again, throughout the day and night. When you hear guys say.."Well they bit at dusk and quit dead."....I would suspect they moved in very shallow some place near to hunt. Drill likely shallow jigging holes long before dusk so when they move in..you can creap in on them.

Shallow clear ice often spells spooky fish, keep your hunt stealthy, it will pay off. A tip-up set in close can also alert you of their movements shallow and tight, use it as a alarm and than jig on in.

[lookin4fish]

thanx for those that replied, hope to hear more from you out there! I will be seaching for crappies on my first venture out but it wont be till next weekend. truth said, i never target crappies this early, but time to get away from old easy habits. it is nice to get success trying something new. hope to use some of the info to find them early. for those wondering the same, matt johnson has k few old articles and old posts on the early crappie attach. found them by using the search feature.

ed, you post cant be expierence more than by fishing lake of the woods, i am sure you know that if you are crafty, you can follow the migration for the fish from shallow to deep and then shallow again each day at at LOW. helps keep the walleye bite constant all day. like all fishing, mobility will pay off