Finding crappie under the ice

[lhumphre]

So a friend of mine and I fish this lake thats about 7-8 acres i would say...We have ice fished it 3-4 times this year and only found 1 crappie and hardly any gills..You fish this any other time of year and you can catch gills all day long and it has huge crappie in it..We have fished 2/3rds of this lake on the ice and didnt hardly catch squat..we have fished 4-18 fow to no avail..we know th elake like th eback of our hand..have fished the sets i put out a few years back and there was zilch on em..what would be your suggestions or what to try next? they just not biting, we tried all the way up and down the water column, just needs some thoughts next time we go try and tackle it..

[crappiejohn]

dynamite sounding really good.

[slipbobber]

I have a neighbor that has friends that ice fish and tells me that they bought one of the underwater camers. Drill a hole drop the camera down look around if no fish drill another hole and keep looking until they find fish. I'm sure the camera isn't cheap but if you do a lot of ice fishing might be worth it.

[tail chaser]

Hi guys,
We usually try the evening bite & after dark. We also use a lantern on the ice or a submersible lite a few ft. under the ice. Minnows & wax worms with glow jigs.

[crappiejohn]

lol night fishing, have you any clue how cold its been at night?

[harpenter]

Cold..who cares??? Get in a hut & turn on the heater...fish on.

[crappiekeith]

cold...32 below zero last Sat and we ice fished in my Otter Lodge.

[crappiejohn]

Cold..who cares??? Get in a hut & turn on the heater...fish on.

if i want to fish in a house ill stick a pole in my aquarium... pfft fishing in a hut isnt fishing.

[chaunc]

People who dont use a shanty in the cold should go home and fish in their aquarium. Most that i know are too cheap to buy one or too lazy to drag one out. :rolleyes: Sounds like someone here fits in that group.

[dwaw]

first off a flasher unit, like a vexilar fl8 or above or marcomis almost indispensible. you drill a hole stick your transducer in it (turn it on) any blips between the bottom and top are fish. fish that hole. if you don't see fish, drill more holes. re-check your holes periodically. crappie are usually suspended. gills often are on or near the bottom or at3,4,5ft off the bottom. w/o a flasher its a crap shoot use small ice fishing jigs and wax worms for gills and waxies or minnows for crappie. hope this helps. don't overlook shallow water. i like 12' but have caught many in 5-6'.