Ice Fishing For Crappie

[signman1]

Looking to improve my winter Crappie limits !
what tips or tricks do you use ??
Is it better at night or in the day during the winter for crappie??
the lake I fish for them has mostly slabers all (10'' to 12'' 1/2 # or bigger)
DNR drained the lake a yr or 2 ago to fix the damm and things have slowed down
sence then. I still pull a few out on each trip but not like I use to and this gos for summer as well winter fishing !!but way slower in winter!! Any ideas ??

[blairbasser]

Signman

I don't icefish, but know plenty of guys that do.
Fish the creek channels, dropoffs or any available green weeds you can find.
If there is snow cover on the ice I don't think it matters weather it's night or day. It's still dark under the ice.

Use tip ups with small minnows at different depths. Once you find the depth of the fish set the rest the same.

If you prefer to jig do so slowly.

Hint: The regulars on our local lakes mainly fish the creek channels.

BB

[Len]

I have done the best ice fishing in Southern Michigan for crappie during the evening hours and up until midnight.Use glow jigs tipped with minnows.They always seem to bite just after dark.You can get the glow jigs from Custom Jigs and Spins and Jammin Jigs.

[Roberta]

Northland Tackle has glow jigs, too. We like a lot of their stuff. -Roberta

[THE FISHERMANS EDGE]

My jigs are perfect for ice fishing had alot of good reports from the ice this year.

[crappie66]

Ice fishing for crappie can produce very good results. From my experience, the best fishing is in the channels or waterways of lakes. During the daytime your best bet is to use an ice fly, no live bait. At night, you will catch more with the live minnows. Of course you will catch crappie in the daytime with live minnows, but not as many as you would using an ice fly. Usually if the crappie are there in the channels they are only a couple feet under the ice, and sometimes only a foot below, you will see them cruising back and forth in schools.

The most important tool for ice fishing is the Vexilar, its a must have to consistantly catch the fish, so you aren't wasting your time jigging water where there are no fish present.

[sparkie51]

It really depends upon if your lake has a night bite or day bite. Two of the lakes I fish are strictly day bites . Ten minutes after dark pack it up and go home, another has the bites at daylight and dusk with some during the day. Snow will effect the way the crappies bite.

We usually use an ice fly with a couple of maggots for smell and taste. I usually set up a couple of tip ups with minnows and jig 2 poles with maggots. Our crappie hug the bottom of the lake, average 15 deep but I've caught them deep as 30 feet. I lower the bait to the bottom and raise it up a little and watch the fish finder for fish to come near. Raise or lower the bait to the right depth.

Target transition points where the fish are cruising, drop offs, weed lines, sunken brush piles, rock piles, sunken islands etc; bites my be fast and furious and than nothing for awhile. I have a spot where the crappies will start hitting around 1-1:30 in the afternoon and than they move up the lake about a half mile around 3:30. I usually fish one spot than move when the bite stops. Don't be afraid to drill lots of holes and move when you aren't getting them.

If you know of sunken brush piles the crappie will be there, also some gills. If you don't know of any, salt a place during summer and remember by gps or land marks. Rmember draw downs happen during winter and depths of brush piles will change.

[signman1]

THANKS for the great tips guys !!!!!!
I will put them to work this winter !! and see how well I read them >>LOL

[WildBill]

From my experience the dark water is generally a night fishing lake, and the clear water is generally a daytime fishing Lake.

when I'm looking for crappies in the winter I generally look for the holes. One particular lake that I fish in the winter has a 30 foot hole. I've caught fish anywhere from the bottom of the whole to about 21 feet. There are other holes in the lake that are not as deep as this one. And they also produce fish. The crappies seem to be more concentrated in my opinion in the 30 foot hole.

Bill

[bowdenja]

Man it's nearabout 100 degrees down here and you guys are talking ICE FISHING.

Fishing kinda gets into your blood......... don't it!:p

Only Ice Fishing we do down here is looking in the cooler for the last drink!:p

john