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East coast Ice fisherman

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East coast Ice fisherman

A place to share tecniques ,past successes /failures and future prospects for fishing Gills and other fish through the ice.

Location: Ringwood New Jersey
Members: 21
Latest Activity: Feb 12

Finally...On the Ice!

We'll, the Carp Whisperer Bob and I got out for a little ice fishing today at a local pond that had 4 inches of good clear ice, We rigged up for bluegills with jigging rods and 1/10 oz Kastmaster spoons meal worms as a tipping bait. We didn't get a single bluegill, but we got some of these...

Ended up with 4 bass for myself in about 2 hours of jigging. Bob had two good strikes, including a bigger fish that ran his drag some. Bass went fro 14 to 17 inches. I lost about a 20 inch bass right at the hole...the fish just hovered slowly in the water just below the ice...giving me a great view of what I was losing! Would have been my largest ice bass had I got a hand on her. I got all my fish on 2 pound mono. Fish were 5-6 feet deep.

At least I got to feel a few fish today and get a slight 'fix' for my ice fishing habit! We have done good on gills here, but not today.

High today was 30 F with light winds. Might go tomorrow, but they are calling for sleet and freezing rain...sheeeesh!

The window for ice fishing here is very narrow...maybe only a few days this year. Calling for 65 on Wednesday! Crazy!

Carp guru Bob had to put me in my place..'.a 4 or 5 pound fish isn't a big fish to me" but I think he still had a good time. Glad to be out and glad to catch a couple fish!

Discussion Forum

Top Ten Ice Fishing Lures 4 Replies

TOP TEN ICE FISHING LURESNot sure I've ever caught a Fish through the ice on a lure un-tipped.1/4 oz. and 1/3  oz.Swedish Pimple,Nickle or Gold /Green Prism Tape/Shiner Head-Pickerel, Crappie Red…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 10, 2024.

Plastics for Ice Fishing 3 Replies

I hope to get some safe Ice this Year 2024. Last Year I did no Ice Fishing at all. If I get the chance this Year, I'd like to get into using a variety of Plastics for Panfish and Predators. Any…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 9, 2024.

Tipping with Perch eyes 2 Replies

Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Jan 22, 2022.

Ice Fishing Chronicles 2009-? 7 Replies

     In NJ we are allowed 5 rigs .I generally set 3 tip ups ,Jig a rod and have a dead stick rod hanging off a bucket. I switch on and off with the jigging rods .I have two set up for Gills and pan…Continue

Started by John Sheehan. Last reply by John Sheehan Feb 13, 2018.

Comment Wall

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Comment by John Sheehan on February 13, 2014 at 8:37am

Thanks Jim .Tony says "what you're dealing with" ? Hope all is okay!

Tony ,those hybrids YOU catch are what's to be envied! Also ,I would like to see a few pics of what jigs and spoons you are using through the ice .On my jigging rod ,I  start with a bigger  presentation and scale down if the bite gets slower .For my dead sticking rod I may do the same or start a little bigger and scale down .Waxies have out fished Mealies and spikes.

Comment by Tony Livingston on February 12, 2014 at 5:52pm

I am so envious of you guys pullin' perch through the ice. Always wanted to do that!

Jim, sorry to hear about what you're dealing with out there....you and Linda take care, I'll keep you in my thoughts.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 12, 2014 at 5:12pm

Nice fish, John!

Hey...I'll get back to you on the perch article you wrote, been crazy here with power outages and snow and lack of heat. Sorry for the delay!

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 11:24am

Better fish so far 2014 .

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 11:16am

So far I've been on the ice four times now .6 species caught :Gills, Pseeds, White Perch ,Yellow Perch, Crappie and Bass . Details of effective lures ,catches and pics  at: http://bigbluegill.com/photo/albums/hardwater-2014

Best catches were caught on spoons/dead shiner head or tail.

Comment by John Sheehan on February 12, 2014 at 7:51am

Thanks for the report Jim and great job ,especially the Bass! I'll post some accounts of my results later . It's been a decent Crappie catching year for me but Perch ,Gills and Bass have been small .

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 11, 2014 at 10:04pm

Some of the better fish from this ice season...

Bluegill on the Rap, above.

Nice perch on the Kastmaster.

Personal best 'ice bass', above, went 22 inches. Still swiming!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on February 11, 2014 at 9:58pm

Still can't seem to cash in on any amount of panfish, although I am trying my best to target them. My totals for 6 trips on the ice are as follows...

Bluegills...6 total, biggest at 10.5 inches, all over nine.

Yellow Perch...9 total, five from 11 to 12 inches.

Bass...25 total, biggest at 22 inches, 15 between 17 and 22 inches.

The bass tally is a huge surprise to me, especially the bigger fish with many 18 inch plus fish. I am catching most of them from one of my best bluegill ponds. With 10 inches of ice right now, I am pretty sure I'll be on the ice safely til almost March. Perch and crappie are picking up at some southern PA lakes.

Almost everything I caught was on the 1/12 or 1/8 oz gold Kastmaster spoons tipped with maggots. Caught a few fish on the smaller perch patterned Rapala Jigging Rap with maggots on the center trebles. Bass and gills 3 to 5 feet deep, 1 foot off bottom and perch in 6 to 10 ft, one foot off bottom.

Comment by John Sheehan on January 31, 2014 at 8:38am

In the past my favorite ice bait, for Perch and Gills  has been the mealie  but this year so far , it's the waxie . http://voices.yahoo.com/ice-fishing-wax-worms-10715439.html  Minnow heads and Tails on a spoon for Crappie and Larger Perch and a Perch eye on a spoon can't be beat at times however .

Comment by John Sheehan on January 29, 2014 at 4:35pm

Personal best ice Crappie today 13.5" Hope to break that real soon . Dink Perch and Gills on staright line combo  till the Crappie showed up .Four Crappie in Nungesser spoon tipped with shiner heads and tails.8fow .

Here are the reports  of the four trips on the ice so far this year : Finally got on the ice with my brother 1/9/14. My first fish (Crappie ) ,took a 1/4 oz. Hus spoon /Gulp Maggot .Greg did good on his chenille ties . I caught on 4 rods. The Tandem, Marmooska /Genz worm worked good .My marabou bloodworm caught a few . Jigging Rap/Perch eye ,Small jig with spinner bait rubber also caught .chartreuse Crappie nibbles turned the fish on .
Our tally, using various jigging rods and Lures tipped with Berkeley Crappie nibbles, Gulp maggots ,Perch Eye : 3 Crappie,2Pseeds,1 BG,1Bass,1 White Perch ,about 6 or 7 Yellow Perch The Crappie were only in 9-7 fow around fallen tree branches from a tree that hung high above the water. We only caught one fish in 20" all the others were 10-8fow. Early ice on my home lake I usually do best 8-12 feet and come mid ice a bit deeper, say 10-25fow.Light biters except for the Bass and the Larger Pseed.
2nd )went alone two perch cupsaw .fished two hrs. 3rd)Vernon Valley Lake .Lot of guys out catching Bass and Pickerel on tipups .The Gills about 20 between me and my brother loved the mealworms and waxies on the beaded nymphs we tied and used .Also got a Pseed and a Bass on the brown beaded nymph ,grey tail feather/ mealie. Also the micro jig tipped with waxies was my most productive lure .The straightline combo was happening toward the end for me .fished 12:30-4:00 .Wet snow!!
4th ) 1/29/14 Fished 1:30-5 pm Low 20 degrees .a few inches of snow on Cupsaw lake .Started out over 11fow and through about four holes caught plenty of dink Perch and Gills .The fish were hitting 9'-7' area.Moved into 8' and got a few small Perch and Gills but an inch or two bigger thatn what I was catching before .Straight line combo 3# test small feather jig ,and Marmooska tipped with waxies were the ticket ,same lure with mealies or spikes caught some too . The Crappie ,four from 11- 13.5 "s ,hit between 3:45-5pm when I banged it up .Dead shiner heads or tails on Nungesser spoon .Lost a spoon on a hook set on the 4lb leader .Stayed with 6# test and caught 4 on the Eagle claw rod . Pain fishin' the 2#test in the wind on the spring bobber rod ,I stopped using it .

 

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