CRAPPY FISHING................................HELP!

[ray koziatek]

Ok so im trying to downsize as to the size of fish im catching ......or trying to.

 

had a great day in the canoe with only 1 small larthigic pickeral..gota couple cool pics of a goose on her nest and at 5 ft she walked away and gave me a couple egg shots ,shulda brought the eggs home at least i could of had breakfast. 

 

I used live minnows 2on bobers and 1 jigging ,fished where i was told the fish are normally hooked , 

 

On was on Cayuta "little" lake .dont know water temps but they are active through the ice so I ASSUMED water temp would not be a major issue... so any experts wanna retrain a troller how to use a bober and ultralight...for these evading me fishes???

 

locating structure was out as i had no fishfinder .....

 

 

Thanks 

Ray K.

 

will edit some photos in a couple min.

 

[ray koziatek]

 

 

[flybuster]

Ray this time of the year I find more fish in bays near creek mouths and in all the little inlets and channels. Depending when the lake iced out they will also hold up wherever they were during the hard water season for a while before moving on. I'm not familiar with that lake at all so I can't help ya there. I have found that depth is one of the most critical elements, when searching for fish vary your depths in ten ft I'll start with a 3-5-7 and three different colors switching the setups to the different depths untill you get one in then refine from there. Black chartreuse , red white blue and straight white are my go to colors. Throw a grub or waxworm on a tiny ice jig "northland live forage are nice " crappie will hit it but gills will be all over it find one the other is near.

Best of luck

[Chas0218]

The water didn't look real deep in your photos any guess on depth you were fishing.  I catch crappie through the ice in 10-15 FOW. I would guess they are shallower in the spring looking for warmer feeder streams to feed a little.

[ray koziatek]

thanks guys the "holding in winter feed" or water makes sence as to what ive picked up on this lake from a couple guys there..

 

I did pretty much as you said   "fly"  started at the edge 2 ft ish then drifted out to 10 ft ,judging by anchor depth....

[BSmaster]

That lake has a lot of forage fish.  You could have been doing everything right and they just aren't hungry.  Could be that prespawn they don't have as much room to eat large meals.  The 3 colors I hear the "experts" use are green, black and white hair or tube jigs.  I like to use white body/split tail/green black accents beetle spin and reel as slow as I can while keeping the spinner active.  I also like to use minnows under a bobber (2-3ft).  I find at this time of year they eat but don't swim away like a bass or pike would making indicators more difficult.  Anyway, I am not an expert by any means but, I do believe that timing is important.  Some times you can't keep them off your line and other times you catch one and wonder for an hour where the hell his buddies are.  1/2hr before and after sunset seems to be most active.  Good Luck.

[Sk8man]

Ray we're getting them shallow - 4ft. water around here by using small jigs called Trout Magnets (also used for ice fishing) with small to medium sized fathead minnows. If you use grubs, oaks or waxies you will get opportunists like shiners, sunnys etc. I rig them up on 4 lb test fluoro about 2 1/2 ft long and use a #10 or 12 barrel swivel to tie to the main line (4 to 6 lb clear mono).  I put the small bobber with a lead ring at the base (makes it easier to cast) just above the barrel swivel and let the minnow swim around freely. Fast snaps can be used to attach the jig or tie them directly but NO SWIVEL it spooks them. If they are not hitting them switch to a third to half a nightcrawler...you risk the other "intruders" but especially after a rain or in murky conditions they work.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Sk8man

[flybuster]

Not just changing boat depth but depth of bait from lure to float, they won't always fly up to hit a bait so be sure to cover the water column from top to bottom regardless of boat depth. When there on fire they will attack but especially this time of year getting in there face is important.

[Sk8man]

Real good point flybuster...definitely have to adjust for depth....I was just setup for the 4 ft. in the above example. It is also noteworthy that these little pkrheads are often very fussy