Locnar

Right on! I got into a few openwater crappie and bullhead last night.

Reviving an ancient thread here, that I found searching on google. There's a marsh that I was ice fishing this past winter for Pike, Crappie and White Perch. With some decent success. But I know that there is tons of carp in there. The bay is usually around 6-8ft deep at best, this winter all I could find was about 5ft deep (really low water levels). It's really murky, so sight fishing is a no go. Any one got any ideas on maybe how to target them next winter?

The spot I fish is max 4ft, maybe even less. It has a small creek to another marsh that leads to the lake.. but it's blocked off. I'm guessing that they stay around, just huddle up in the deepest spot and mope until the warm weather hits. The good thing about the really shallow areas is that they warm up nice and quick, they get on the feed quick. I'm thinking about attempting next week sometime, maybe once the majority of the rain is finished. I stopped by a small pond while on break at work, just after the ice melted the first time around... back during those spring-like february days we had and I spotted some carp feeding, so I think they stay around.

I fished a spot near my house last year quite a bit, with the days of highest numbers in mid april. I think they would stay in there? Might be a little too cold for them to be very active right now. After the next week or twos worth of rain, they should wake back up. What sort of sizes are they in the pond?

Cheese n crepes! That's terrifying. I don't ever plan on driving my vehicle on the ice...

Hmm interesting, I'm gonna try to convince my brother (the one with the smoker) to smoke some for me.

Do the bones dissolve from smoking as well? Or do you just pick around em?

Seems like with the weather patterns, it'll be trout opener by the time it's warm enough for the suckers to reach that high. I had the MNR called on me once there for fishing suckers before opener, but we showed him our rigs... and were well aware of where we could legally fish trout and answered some questions about the regulations. He was a decent enough fellow, seemed glad we knew the regs and slightly annoyed that he got called down to check on us. I'm glad to see the enforcement out there, but once he left... we gave the house that backed onto the creek a little wave and continued fishing. If I could figure how to deal with them pesky bones, then yeah I'd give suckers another go. Italo is the man.

Beauty fish brother! I must be getting one of the steps wrong.

They are absolutely a hoot, I like using ultralight rods and light line for them... makes for some good fun. I haven't tried smoking them, but I have tried frying one. Tasty enough, but bony. I've heard smoking them is the way to go. The creek that I fish is usually devoid of trout, it does get a small run of rainbows... but at the bend that I hit, I've only seen 2 trout passing through over the years. Saw a big old largemouth there last year. I checked out the creek today after work, water is still too high and murky to see if they've come upstream yet. Will check again in a few days when the water clears up a bit... so long as it doesn't freeze over again like last weekend.

Think they'll eat corn like carp do? Do you think a slip sinker sitting on the bottom would rouse suspicion? I don't think I've heard of many people bottom fishing for migrating trout

I've heard roe bags work well, but I would never use roe before trout opener. Gotta use tackle that is clearly not setup for trout.

I usually just rock nightcrawlers on the bottom.

Hm, interesting. Might give it a go if the wind conditions allow me to. Thanks man

It's still too early for their run, at least in the creek I like to fish em... but, do they stage at river/creek mouths like trout do to prep for spawning?

Hoping to find some decent ice tomorrow. otherwise it'll be a long drive just to turn around haha

Anyone have any idea what the ice is like in the Kinmount region? I'm thinking about heading up either late next week or next weekend.

The shallow marsh that I was fishin earlier in the ice fishing season, which had like 8" of solid black ice when everywhere else was barely safe... is now half open water, and the remaining ice breaks if you throw a rock at it. Won't be long before the pike start spawning in that marsh. I haven't checked my carping marsh yet, but it's even shallower... probably be ice free there fairly soon if not already. But the upcoming couple of weeks is going to drop back down, especially north of the GTA. Ice should be nice and solid for a little while longer.

Sucks about the stupid warm weather right now, as nice as it is to work in... but I do look forward to casting for pike and early season carping. If you head to to Nippissing, let me know. Depending on when you go and if you'd like some company, I'd be down.

Screw medical, let's talk about Recreational. However, I like both scotch and the leafy stuff.

Thanks guys, I was pretty friggin psyched when I pulled 'er outta that hole. Would like to get back there again and give that lake another go. I was expecting smaller eyes, 16-18" range, so I was using a tiny panfish ice rod with 4lb line. Was a bit of an event bringing that thing in. Hopefully the weather allows another outing or two. But at the same time, I do look forward to some ice out pike fishing, and early spring carping.

If you find one, be sure to let me know! But yeah, agree with the other guys. MNR Fish online may be questionable for some of the species lists... but it is a useful tool for finding stocked lakes, and the recent stocking lists. I have a little lake that I am looking at, just hoping the weather co-operates and doesn't ruin my chances of getting onto it. And am quite prepared to get skunked. I had found a nice splake lake up near a tiny town, in bum-fudge nowhere... Hornepayne. It took me 3 days to finally catch a single splake. Basically zero pressure, stocked every other year with 1-2 thousand splake... 3 days in a row. That one single splake was the best thing ever!

I wouldn't say I'm a connoisseur, I'm simply too poor for that. But I really enjoy a good single malt when I can afford it. Lagavulin 16yrs is fantastic, a bit pricey but worth it.

Went to a back lake for some walleye. Morning started off a nice temperature, about a 10 minute hike to the lake, and another 5 minute hike to the spot. Beauty weather, beautiful scenery... and one damn nice fish. Unfortunately, no other fish came out to play... but, this one made my day, and my ice season. The biggest fish, weight wise, that I have pulled through the ice. The longest fish, was a pike about an inch or two longer. This walleye measured 28.5" long, and about 7.5-8lbs.

Dude, I'll make the trip up to Nord Bay