Yes this helps. Thanks for all the info. I’m sure you have alot of people wanting to fish with you. If you have an empty spot i’d like to as well. MGB also gave alot of nice info, and obviously knows what he’s doing up there, but I don’t see him on here as much? Anyway, thanks for all the tips and if I get up there before iceon i’ll give you a report.
Thanks for the kind words. MGB is the Strawberry Jigging Master. Every time I think I have learned how to catch them up there I go fishing with Mike (MGB) and I get humbled again. Often looking for folks to fish with me, so if you are interested send me a PM with contact information.
MGB is the master at locating fish I don’t seem to have the skill and I definitely don’t have the patience that he does. I typically head to places that have produced for me in the past or in some cases I have received some tips from fellow anglers. Occasionally, I see fish on the fish finder before I start fishing but often I do not. My experience at Strawberry is that often the fish are hugging the bottom so tightly that few of them show up on the finder until I drop a jig down and get them to follow my jig up to where I can see them on the finder.
I heard it said on here awhile back, “Never leave fish to chase fish”. I have followed that advice the last couple trips and it has paid off. Both trips I have been anchored up fishing an area and we have been catching a fish every 15 minutes or so and I have been tempted to move to locate more fish and then I decided to give it a little longer before moving. Each time the catching has gotten red hot (my definition of this is I drop the jig down and jig it two or three times and get a bite – all within two minutes and often less time).
If I move to a new area and we don’t get a bite within 15 to 20 minutes or so I will typically either pull the anchor and just drift for awhile and see if that takes me to some fish or I will totally move to a new location or perhaps shallower or deeper in the general area that I am already fishing.
Some trips when I can’t seem to locate the fish I will look around and see if I can see a concentration of boats anywhere and if I do I will motor over and fish around them and see if they are doing very well. Sometimes I don’t even bother stopping because I can see that they aren’t doing very well.
If all of the above fails to find fish, I have been known to troll around (hopefully, using the electric if it is working that day[:/]) and see if we can locate an active school of fish. If we do, or if I see a concentration of fish on the fish finder, I will throw out a marker buoy and fish that area.
Hope this helps.
thanks for all the great posts and tips what are your techniques for ice fishing as far as moving around a lot vs being patient?
On Strawberry I like to start shallow (15 to 20’)and move deeper (up to 45’) as the day progresses. I am not nearly as patient as I could be when ice fishing. I tend to drill lots of holes (especially when I have my 10" power auger) and then I when it slows I like to move from hole to hole and see if I can find some active fish. I also tend to use more giant meal worms when ice fishing (I use them year around) than at other times.
thanks appreciate the help.
whats your opinion on ice fishfinders good ones bad one s do’s don’ts how much should i spend to get a decent one? etc
I have three different fish finders rigged for ice fishing, plus a depth finder. I prefer the Marcum and Vexilar flasher style for ice fishing (assuming one purchases one that is powerful enough to be able to see a jig in 100’ of water), but I also do just fine with my Lowrance color fish finder that I use on my boat (I have it rigged so it can be moved from my boat to use ice fishing). One just needs to purchase one that will show a jig (not just fish symbols) and if they come with the puck style transducer they are much easier to work with. I found my Marcum LX-3TC for about $165 used on eBay.
Thank You, Tube Dude and yourself make many a fisher better.
Thanks for sharing!