Unwilling Fish?

[Curtis]

I have spent a total of about five hours on the ice so far this year and i have yet to land a fish. I'm not use to this and im starting to get frustrated.. I have found the fish but they wont bite. I can watch perch all day long on the flasher and camera but the most they will do is nudge the bait. I have tried everything i can think of when it comes to lures and every presentation i am aware of. I am using artifical baits but this has never been a problem before...

 

Idea's, anybody?

[rylan]

Sometimes you have to give them CANDY.

[richyb]

Dynamite

[troutboy]

The key for early ice fishing is finesse.Jig slow and use finesse jigs.Hopfully that will get you some fish

[richyb]

Sprinkle some metal shavings down the hole, the fish will gobble them up. Then all you need is a nice big magnet on your line

[troutboy]

LOL!

[fishinguypat]

try grubs with feather tips ...like lindy fuzzy grubs tipped with minnows

[johnnyb]

Can definitely be frustrating. You can stick with the fish you see on the flasher, and continue to throw the tackle box at them. If you're going to do this, try changing the presentation. Sometimes they want it left completely still -- even right on bottom. Other times they want to chase it up, or hit it as it falls...sometimes just a gentle quivering of the rod tip will do it.

 

The other option is to leave these fish altogether and find some other ones...just because there's fish there, they may not bite. When doing this, you may want to come back to the area at a different time of day...you might find that they'll bite more willingly at different times.

 

Hope that helps...good luck!

[Greencoachdog]

You aren't fooling them and they ain't buying it!!!

 

Your bait might be too big...

 

Your bait may not smell right...

 

Your line might be too big and they can see it...

 

You may be dealing with insolent fish!!!

 

Try live minnows on 2 lb. test line, if they bite... take it from there!

[DANIMAL]

Try real maggots or minnows. They'll outfish artificials by far most days.

[Daplumma]

I heard that marsmallows work when all else fails.

[smally21]

i don't want to always say that live bait (or real bait if dead) is better than something flashy or scented but a fella said to me once that if a fish isn't eating its natural forage (minnows) than it isn't eating anything. or if it won't eat a real minnow it won't eat a plastic one, something to that effect.

 

just an idea for you to munch on.

 

also when ice fishing i have found that if the perch are there they will take minnows. if you can't catch a fish in a certain hole in a few minutes move. just my take, i'm not too experienced in this area...

[Leecher]

Moving around is a great idea and live bait should trigger a strike.... time of day is another. Early morning and late afternoon are the best time to go out fishing.

 

Leechman

[perchslayer666]

If it's perch you're after, pound mud, and use live bait.

[ChrisK]

Only been ice fishing a couple of times but the last time I was out the fish weren't biting either or at least until I accidentally dropped some rabbit stew down the hole . Matter of fact the fish weren't even around until that point. Could of been timing perhaps or just the fact that I showed them something they had never seen before or tasted for that matter ....We all started baiting our hooks with tinny peices of rabbit and the perch were gobbling it up along with a couple mud puppies that arrived on the scene as well.....

 

Good Luck !!

[Spiel]

Try live minnows on 2 lb. test line, if they bite... take it from there!

 

That's where I would start.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

if they aren't liking your presentation, lighter tackle, lighter line...