They put up a hell of a fight and are very toothy never lip on lol. You can find them in the adks in most lakes and in Stillwater if you ever want to target them
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Very nice. It might of been the pic but I thought I saw the blue spots of a splake but it's still a very nice fish
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Smelt are the best I usually get mine in the afternoon in about 45 fow and as it gets darker I get them about 10ft below the ice. The last time I went I got about 100 of them in about 2 hours
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I'm looking for a good place to go smelting. I know millsite lake has them but I don't know where or how deep they are. I'm looking for some help finding them
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As for perch hot spots right now try in Shallow water near Johnson Shoal the ice is about 30 to 40 inches thick all over the bay. I've had the best luck on and around that shoal. Try in 10-20 fow or right off Independence point or in sawmill bay.
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I agree king when the fish did bit we hammered them. But with all the storms and wind we got all month. But on a brighter note the ice is 30" Plus almost everywhere in upstate. It was the first time in along time I could bring my truck out on the ice. And that opened a lot of fishing for me. In the summer and spring and in to the fall I'm in the rivers after trout and salmon in the fall. But when I come to the big water I'm a shore fisherman. Only cause I don't have a boat yet.
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So far as I can tell the bit all but died in February. And the last few days have not seem to making up for it at all. How was everyone else's month been
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Lake cobby is another hot spot but that is for splakes, lakers. But if you want big northerns cranberry lake but that is like an hour from there or hell Lake Champlain is another amazing bet and you have have 15 tip ups per person on the lake lol
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Pan I got it off a tip up but I found it when I was picking up for the night. but it didn't swallow the hook. It had a dead grip on it and as soon as it left the ice it let go. I got it in lake Ontario near sackets harbor.
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So far I've seen largest bass caught ice fishing, and the things not to do ice fishing. Well let's see what weird things people caught ice fishing.
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For tip ups I run 30 lb cloth braided line then barrel swivel with 10 mono on it with two small (the size up from bb's spilt shot) and size 8-12 trebil hooks. As for bait use bass/walleye minnows (med minnows) and pike minnows (large). And I run them off the bottom 18 to 24 inches. If that will help
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With in the next year or so the sale of 10 in augers will be band in most states due to the fact that 10 in holes are so dangerous. In warm weather like this 10 in holes quickly become 12-16in holes. Also they don't freeze over as fast as 8 in or smaller holes. So at the end of a day ice fishing those 10in holes become potential pit falls for anyone walking on the ice and even worse for kids. Also if the temp doesn't drop below freezing they become even worse (like in last season). Like drift ice to many 10 in holes in the ice make it very unstable.
Sneaky I use 10lb mono for my leaders and size 8 to 10 trebles for hooks eyes are smart fish and if they feel the line they will spit the hook and bait. As for the ice braided it is cheap and cost a lot less they spider line. I use max of 12 pound ice braided, with and 8 to 10 lb mono leader that is about 12" mono. Floral is nice and strong and thinner then mono, but it doesn't like the cold at all. Mono won't cold snap on you and to top it off its cheaper. As for my tip ups I use 3ft of mono on that. With two bb split weights first one about 10 in up and the second 10 to 12 in from that. Hope that helps man
Camera are nice when your on the fish and kinda of fun to fish watching your bait or jigs. Also the help on learning how to use jigs right. They cost more then flashers. There are camera that have flashers on them too but they cost well over 1000$ and some have Bluetooth on them so you can watch it from your smart phone. Also you can set cameras up to watch your tip up so you can sit and jig in the shanty without getting up to look for flags all the time.