3mm Tungsten Wolfram.

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Comment by carl hendrix on November 14, 2014 at 1:23pm

with great discussions  like these by some of the best guys around;; willing to give information on any thing they know of in the art of fishing!  myself;; in the short time I have been on bbg site;; I have learned a lot from these guys.  thanks every body!!!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on November 13, 2014 at 8:27pm

Carp thru the ice...that's crazy, and at night?...wow! I've caught one carp thru the ice and that was in Feb 2011 at Lake May in PA. The fish was 32 inches and I had a heck of a time getting him through the 6 in diameter hole...still by far my biggest fish through the ice.

Comment by jim cosgrove on November 13, 2014 at 8:26pm

thanks tony, just asking cause there has been a lot of redear stocking the last  few years around meand i know a county lake that has some nice ones .my son is young strong fireman and he looks at hand drilling as a good workout,not me.a smart man admits his limitations ,i am looking into the lithium drill type augers.the drill is a tax write off at least.i wish i had moved further north ,a grumpy old men kinda shanty would be awesome.hopefully we wont have that much ice again.my buddy he stayed over the winter in canada when he guided up there.he said they had to put extensions on the augers sometimes.

Comment by jim cosgrove on November 13, 2014 at 8:14pm

john-the carp fishing was epic.my buddy had caught lots of big crappie the previous evening.it was late ice as it was melting some but clear like fishing thru hazy glass.we fishing thru the same holes as the day before.old gravel pit on a dropoff full of sunken wood.had 2 lanterns going and the whole area beneath us glowed.i know the spot well and we were dropping tiny minnows on jigs to about 18 feet.luckily we had reels on the poles with drag.still had to stick your arm down the hole and grab em however you could.some of those carp were 10lbs.bigger ones we could not get thru the hole but with the lanterns you could see them real well.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 13, 2014 at 8:12pm

There absolutely is something to be said for fishing small, familiar waters. It does take some of the burden of finding fish off the angler's shoulders. If I were unable to move easily, I would probably adopt the same strategy, Jim.

30" of ice....that propane auger is sounding like a better bargain all the time!

I don't know that I have ever deliberately targeted redears under the ice, but I usually catch several each winter that way.

Comment by jim cosgrove on November 13, 2014 at 7:57pm

the areas i will be fishing are not that big .and like most BOWs the fish will be in certain areas and not in most.i do have one high tech item i forgot i had.an under water camera.an older one but it has lots of leds around the lense and most places i fish are fairly clear.unless i get my hands on a pwer auger i am gonna camp out on some known structure as the years of work have taken their toll on my shoulders and wrists.we had over 30 inches of ice last year.last time i drilled holes it was about 8 tops.anyone fish for redears thru the ice?

Comment by Jim Gronaw on November 13, 2014 at 5:19pm

I agree Tony. If I haven't caught a fish or had a bite within 10 minutes, I move to another hole. Its easier with two or three ice anglers as you can drill multiple holes over an area and work them effectively.

I live on the very extreme southern end of the ice belt in the Mason Dixon area of northern MD and southern PA. We sometimes go 6-7 years without any safe ice to fish on, so the acquiring of flashers, portable shelters, gas augers and the like may go years without use, as I don't always travel to the north for ice fishing. Hence, I have not purchased any of these items. If I were 200 miles to the north, or living in Minn or Mich, I am sure they would be in my arsenal to help get me through the winter.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 13, 2014 at 5:10pm

I don't have any doubts that chumming would help draw in fish, it just doesn't fit in with what attracts me to fishing in the first place. We talked earlier about how we all look to fishing for different reasons, and for me it's the challenge, not the actual numbers of fish.

Again with the squirrel hunting analogy...if the goal is to put meat on the table, a 20 gauge will make quick work of knocking one from a treetop. But if it's more about enjoying the hunt, and the stalk, a well placed head shot with a .22 will bring me much greater satisfaction.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 13, 2014 at 4:54pm

In one of my one-too-many books, the suggestion is to have a circuit of holes, drilled around structure, weed beds or whatever might be below that would attract fish.
They can be as widely spread as needed.
Then chum each with small bits of chopped shrimp, liver, etc
By the time you get back to the first, the chum has had time to work.
Probe, fish and keep working the holes. I'm sure tip ups wouldn't hurt.

Kind of a hybrid between bouncing all over the lake and working a good area of the lake by making it more appealing than it already is.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 13, 2014 at 4:43pm

John, I don't chum at all, whether it be ice or open water. To my way of thinking, chumming goes hand-in-hand with something Jim stated earlier, about being committed to a hole, or an area because you drilled holes there. If you're committed, you're gonna' stay put.....no matter if you're catching fish or not. You're vested in that hole, or area. And that is contrary to my strategy. When a hole goes cold, or is drilled cold, it's time to move.

I look at it this way: When I'm fishing open water, and I cast to a particular spot, I'm not likely to continue casting to that same spot if I haven't had any action after just a few minutes, I'm going to make a cast someplace else. It's the same with ice fishing. I'm not going to try and call the fish to me, because I'm much more likely to go looking for them.

Anyone who squirrel hunts will likely tell you that spooking a wily fox squirrel means that he's liable to hunker down and quit moving. Then the hunter has a decision to make: Does he sit down at the base of a tree and wait the critter out, or does he move on down the trail and look for active game? I'm a mover.....if there's no fish at this hole, or area, I won't spend time trying to call them, I'll go looking for another spot.

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