Does this sound logical?

[bosco]

Perch fishermen hit that northeast corner of I- Bay hard and heavy because there's lots of perch in there. Right? Mostly small ones after first ice from my experience. So....if Walleye like to take advantage of their superior night vision, and often work the shallows after dark, and often feed on small perch, is there any reason why eyes wouldn't be perusing these shallows at night in good numbers? I'd think that if this were the case that there would already be a few hardcores out there fishing at night already but I haven't seen it. Anyways, I'm thinking about giving this a try for a few outings but I'd like to know what other people think about this idea. Any reason why they WOULDN'T be in there? In fact, I don't think I've every heard of anyone targeting eyes through the ice on I-Bay. I know the numbers aren't like they are on Honeoye or Oneida, but my experience is that there are good numbers of good size eyes in the Bay. I haven't tried through the ice for them yet.

[GAMBLER]

bosco,

I have tried icefishing walleye in the bay and have not had any luck. We tried during the day and the night. If you do fish the NE cove, you will find browns, and pike from time to time.

[bosco]

I've fished the bay for eyes regularly the last 3 years and did well all things considered. Anywhere from 0 to 5 fish a night. generally 2-4 was the norm. I don't believe the DEC is still stocking eyes in the bay so I expect the fishing to taper off in the coming years.....but they're in there allright. I'm going to give it a try through the ice. I'll try and get some photos near a recognizable land mark if I get any.

[GAMBLER]

The DEC stopped the stocking a while ago. The eye population seems to have dropped but has leveled off. Back when they were stocking, we would do really good at night in June and July. Good luck.

[bosco]

Thanks Gambler. I'll definitely give 'er a try. I'm trying to really get to know the bay as it's so close to my house. It's just so much easier to hook up the boat and drive 1 mile to the launch, or drive 2 minutes to the bay to get out on the ice. there's better bodies of water no doubt but it's so close to home that all the time and gas I'd save seem to make it worth putting the extra time in there to see what I can come up with.

[Swamp Fox]

I agree with bosco. I live about 1 mile from IBay and it is very easy to tow my boat to the launch. It gets pretty busy on summer weekends, tho. I like the off-season better. The last three Falls (Oct. & Nov.) the perch fishing has been fantastic with lots of big perch. Twice I have run out of bait and I can be very selective on what I keep.

I only got out ice fishing about 3 times last winter, but am retiring in Jan. and expect to spend much more time on the ice this year. I haven't heard very much about walleyes through the ice at IBay, but will stay posted to this section to see how you make out. Any tips on open water locations, bait choices and techniques for 'eyes would be appreciated, too.