How to ice fish with minnows?

[hotsky]

I'm still new to ice fishing and I only recently started to fish with minnows and while I had luck when it was warmer didn't catch anything today ice fishing. I dont have a fish finder and after cutting the hole in ice I attach the egg weight and drop it down to measure the depth, than attach a weight to the line about a foot or two above the hook to keep the bait in the desired depth and fish a few feet off the botttom. I just set the rod and let the minnow swim around, occasionally giving it a tug.

 

Am I doing something wrong? What (else) should I be doing?

Edited January 10, 2014 by Gray_Wolf

[BillM]

You really should invest in a cheap graph.. Going out there blind is just making things way harder then it should be.

[hotsky]

I plan to, but the meanwhile what would you guys suggest?

[Sinker]

What are you fishing for?

 

Match your line and hook size to your bait size. Small minnows, small hooks And light line.

 

S.

[Old Ironmaker]

Man like Bill said you need some type of sonar, you're fishing blind. I always hear "yea but what did they do before sonar?" Get skunked a lot, or fished the same spot year in and year out and never moved much, and got skunked a lot.

 

Figure what you invest in a days outing and not catch a thing then ask yourself what would I pay for a shot at success?

 

Use a $200.00 sonar 20 times it costs $10.00 a trip, 30 times and it's the cost of a dozen minnows. 40 times and now it doesn't owe you a thing. Don't forget get a portable and use it all year long. I had a portable long before I had a boat. It was like night and day knowing we were on the fish.

 

I bet you can find a used portable or ice specific flasher cheap. Put an add here on the classified for portable fishfinder wanted. You may be surprised at how generous the folks here are. I gave a portable with the ice fishing set up away for free to someone on another site last winter. He came out here 5 times last summer asking me what he could do around the place. Great kid.

[Big Cliff]

Well, first of all it would really help to know what you are fishing for, different species, different setups. Going out without a fish finder can make it a bit tougher but there are ways around it.

 

Find an area where other people are fishing and fish that area, most of the people I know would be happy to help you with the setting up if you explain that you are just getting started. Might even get to make some new fishing buddies that way .

 

Short term though give us a bit more information to work with and I'm sure you'll get plenty of help.

[Bernie]

To this day I have never personally used a sonar on the ice. Fishnsled has been bringing his up the last couple years. Handy for finding the edge of the reef.
For fishing pickerel I just use a jig and a minnow hooked to the trailing hook. Works for me.

[doubleheader]

Just as an option to a sonar, if you have a smart phone you can purchase the Navionics app. You get pretty incredible detail and it will allow you to locate ledges and other preferred areas.

Edited January 10, 2014 by doubleheader

[manitoubass2]

Just as an option to a sonar, if you have a smart phone you can purchase the Navionics app. You get pretty incredible detail and it will allow you to locate ledges and other preferred areas.

good suggestion! Just remember iphones tend to freeze up pretty easily. If ya have one, store it close to your body inside your layered clothing

[Headhunter]

Jig and a minnow... hook the minnow in the tail, not the back or head, drop it down right to the bottom. Reel in a few inches so the bait is off the bottom and let that little sucker swim. You'll know when you're about to get bit, the minnow will frantically swim trying to get away... hold on! LOL

HH

[fishindevil]

Jig and a minnow... hook the minnow in the tail, not the back or head, drop it down right to the bottom. Reel in a few inches so the bait is off the bottom and let that little sucker swim. You'll know when you're about to get bit, the minnow will frantically swim trying to get away... hold on! LOL

HH

the best way ever !!!!!! my fav ....now the secret is out joe....

[NAW]

I use minnows in several ways.

 

My favourite rig for crappies and perch is to use a simple small spoon, and hook the minnow sideways through the back. So the minnow and spoon make an upside down T shape. Drop it down. Pull it up off bottom by a foot or two. Then jig lightly. Almost like little twitches. The odd time, drop it right to the bottom, and repeat.

 

You can add a stinger to the above rig by adding 4 to 6" of line with a small jig head on the bottom. On the stinker, I like to use just the head, or a perch eye.

 

 

 

I also will use a bell sinker on the bottom. With 3 small hooks on the line above the sinker. Space the hooks about 8 to 12" appart, with a minnow hooked through the head on each hook. This rig covers the bottom 3' of water. Drop the sinker down to the bottom, than pull it up an inch. Jig lightly. This is great on a dead stick with a slip float or bell.

 

And there's always the simple jig an minnow. For pickerel with larger minnows and jig heads. I like to tear the head off the minnow and feed the minnow body on to the jig head until the severed part of the minnow butts up against the jig head. This is great for many species of larger fish.

[limeyangler]

Like others said….what are you fishing for?

[bare foot wader]

a lot depends on what you're fishing for, and how the fish are biting

 

sometimes too lively of a minnow is not a good thing on neutral/finicky fish... ie if you give it a big lead to swim in circles, a neutral fish may not respond to it

 

I learned that lesson a few times, me not getting many very many bites but marking a lot....finally broke down and asked my neighbor who was hooking up...only different was the weight of our jigheads

 

a lively minnow on a heavier jighead, and all it can only wiggle right in front of the fish, it can't swim circles down there

 

I find dace are very hardy and lively, but I get less bites, so I tend to fish them on a heavier setup compared to emerald shiners

[hotsky]

I'm fishing for anything really but hoping to catch pike.

 

I'm using 15lb ice braid and a short flouro or mono leader tied to a swivel clip. Weight was attached to the bait near the swivel. Would a weighted jig not look unnatural and spook the fish?

Edited January 10, 2014 by Gray_Wolf

[Old Ironmaker]

I'm fishing for anything really but hoping to catch pike.

 

I'm using 15lb ice braid and a short flouro or mono leader tied to a swivel clip. Weight was attached to the bait near the swivel. Would a weighted jig not look unnatural and spook the fish?

In ice fishing you look at a rig and say " what self respecting fish would eat that contraption?" They can look strange but work.

 

For Pike of which I don't fish for through the ice anymore since moving to Erie, I want them to stay as far away from my perch as possible a large minnow on a medium to large spoon such as a Williams Wobbler or whitefish. The brightness of the spoon or lack thereof would depend on light conditions I believe. I would hook it through the back as NAW explains. The pike guys can help you more than I but that would be my first tactic. I might even go with the tried and true Original Red Devil or Daredevil. I would try dead bait if live isn't the ticket.

 

Go in with a game plan, then a backup, and a backup to the backup. But be diligent about it. I hate when I get to the point I'm staring into my box for I don't know what with a look of despair on my face.

 

There are some nice Pike here and might give it a go this year. Don't tell any of the perch guys near me, they would flip I think.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Old Ironmaker

[Big Cliff]

I use to fish pike all the time when I lived in French River. Our go to rig was a weight (bell sinker) on the bottom and two snelled hooks tied up the line, one with the hook hanging about 1' off the bottom, the second one with the hook hanging about 2' off the bottom. Sometimes we used tip ups, other times we just tied the line to a branch we would get on shore and stick in the snow or slush. For bait we often used frozen smelts or sometimes minnows, smelts worked really well. Then just sit back and wait because if there are any pike in the area you'll know it quick enough.

 

I often use a similar rig for perch, just smaller hooks and bait. Hope this helps!

[NAW]

Quick strike rigs work decent for pike too, if your minnows are large enough. Chubbs are what I normally use.

[manitoubass2]

Ciscoes up this way. The bigger thebetter

[Nipfisher]

You are too high up off the bottom!

Attach your split shot (don't need too big) about 10-12 inches from your hook. Drop it to the bottom and then lift it off 10-12 inches (same distance and hook to sinker). If you are targeting pike you may want to use a treble hook and a titanium leader.

I don't use a leader but I get bit off occasionally.

You can use a big minnow 3"+ if you are targeting pike. May not get the smaller fish though.

[hotsky]

My consern for not going lower was if there are weeds the bait would probably be unseen.

[wormdunker]

Weeds is where the perch hang out to hide from bigger fish such as pike. Don't be shy to fish just above the weeds or near the edges of a weed bed.

[Garnet]

You said in OP that you set the line in the desirable depth.

 

No that wasn't the desirable depth because you caught nothing.

 

Fish Finder no fish finder you got to keep moving that bait around, you got to keep working until the fish say you have found the right depth and presentation.

[Acountdeleted]

Pike are my favourite to ice fish for because you don't really need sonar. Set a tip up or a tip down with a good sized minnow (4-5 inches) about a foot off the bottom, relax, talk with buddies and wait for those flags to fly.