Ice fishing without electronics

I don’t have any electronics for ice fishing. So how do I find and catch fish even though I don’t have electronics.

I would get a map, look for structure, drop offs, weed lines. Also ask local tackel shops

Hey Nicholas. Do what I did up until a couple years ago, look at maps if You can get a hold of them. Computer if You have one. Open a lot of holes up and put your $1.39 depth weight with the alligator clip down the holes. Look for clusters of fisherman on the ice and chat them up for info. Most ice fishermen are nice people and are usually willing to give info. You also have to be willing to put some time and effort into it. Good luck and have fun!

Ask at your local baitshops,might always be spot on, but will give you a starting point, A good shop owner will try and put his customers on fish, and if not, your probly patronizing the wrong shop!

Buy a good set of binoculars and spy on other fishermen on the lake you’re interested in. Then when their gone jump on their holes. If it’s a day bite get out extra early and get on their spot before they do. Or you can save up about $275 bucks and get a Vexilar FL8 on sale at Blaine’s or Mills. Good luck.

How far should I space the holes from the first one I set which is about 30 feet from shore. We got about 4 to 7 inches ranging all over up on the lake I’m fishing and I haven’t seen to many people fishing it. Is that a problem?

While it is possible to get on fish without electronics it can be very frustrating. I would recommend everything above (except spying on other fisherman…you can’t unsee some things that happen on the lake ) but also keep an eye out in the classifieds here as well as Craigslist for used gear. Seeing the huge prices on some of this stuff in the stores is very intimidating but there are always people trying to unload used stuff. I have an Eagle Silent Sixty that I used for a while and I got by with it. I still keep it just for a backup and because its neat.

I would take up knitting…..You will get something out of that.

It makes it tough when you can’t locate fish in the water column.

But, what I would do: find a nice piece of structure as noted above using a lake map, and go set up on it with slip bobbers. Set one about a foot off the bottom, and the other 2-3 ft off the bottom, and adjust depths based on which one is getting the most action.

It’s tough to jig without a flasher, IMO. A lot of times you need to play a little keep-away with fish to get them to move in the water column and get a reaction. It can be done, but you’re really just hoping to get lucky and stumble into something. On a tough bite, you’re all but screwed without dead-sticks.

Here’s a story I experienced last year on Poygan. There was a conglomeration of fishermen converged in this one particular area. At the end of the day just before sunset most had left. Then 2 small cars showed up and about 5 guys jump out each holding a bucket and a rod. They spent the next hour hitting all the open holes left by the guys earlier. I didn’t see a fish finder or auger among them. I also didn’t see if any fish were landed…I had left my binoculars at home that day.

We used to fish this way all the time as kids. No other choice back then. Lots of trial and error this way. Fishing community holes was one way to go. Lots of talking with others that ice fish trying to get info. Lts of talk about how many arm lengths down we should be fishing.

Thinking back on those days Im still amazed we caught anything. Hand auger or chisel just a few holes. Sticks with heavy black line on them. Not a clue until something bit if we where even on the fish.

By the way what type of fish are you trying to catch?

Ok here’s the thing also. I have tried everything you guys are offering. I’ve used maps for finding depth and how far they are out. I’ve used multiple holes to try to find fish.

ID like to catch some panfish. But I also have some tip ups for bigger fish.

We fished without electronics for years. Mostly tip ups for pike on known weedlines.

One tip I can offer. Get a spool of kite string and mark off 5 – 10 foot increments with a marker. Tie on a bolt or other weight to sink the end of the line. Old school way to find the depth.

Good luck!

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

We fished without electronics for years. Mostly tip ups for pike on known weedlines.

One tip I can offer. Get a spool of kite string and mark off 5 – 10 foot increments with a marker. Tie on a bolt or other weight to sink the end of the line. Old school way to find the depth.

Good luck!

-J.

this is what I did, except I had duct tape flags every two feet.
It won’t hurt to fish a little high up in the water column. It’s been my experience that fish will rise to take a bait rather than go down.

The main thing is that you’re getting out there!

Without spending much money, back in the day a schooly rod/reel setup was used… Clip a depthfinder on and set the depth with the peg. Then fisherman would fish the entire water column jigging as they went to catch panfish. Once a good depth was found that could be pegged as well. Also the Native Americans used to use blankets to cover themselves so they could look down the hole and sight fish.

Got to start in areas with panfish so scouting those areas are also important.

Mark

If you can find a lake with clear enough water you also try site fishing. I’ve done this many times before I bought my first flasher. Find the weeds, and you will find panfish and just outside the weed bed you can set up a tip up for pike. btw. I have bought all my flashers at pawn shops. Cheaper than brand new yet I still got somewhat of a return/ Warranty if it work right.

What lake are you looking to fish? With your circumstances I would focus on one lake that is smaller, but yet a proven producer and put the days in to learn it. Do you own a gps so as to be able to mark and return to areas where you found success?

B-E (before electronics), ice fishermen typically fished shallow water. I fished a lot of Mississippi backwaters in 3 to 9 foot depths, hardly ever more than 15 foot.
Drop a lead weight down to get an idea of the bottom depth and type of bottom, mud, rocks or sand could be determined by bouncing the lead weight on the bottom. Then it would be a matter of jigging the entire water column to locate the active fish. either a peg in the reel to set depth or never crank up your jig. leave the reel alone and hand line the fish to the top.

Deep water never got fished much because it was just too hard to find the proper depth for suspended fish.

Nicholas,
7 years ago I started ice fishing again after raising my 2 daughters.
I decided to go to LOTW without any electronics. I went up there with 31lifer, he had a Vex and out fished me 10 to 1. Same results the next year.
Year 3 I bought a locator (brand doesn’t matter, but it was a Marcum – lol). Let’s just say I smoked 31lifer once I was playing on a level field.
Morale of the story – get electronics.

Not just any electronics, but get a Marcum!

Find green weed beds. most of the time there is some kind of fish in them or buy them

Fishing without electronics isn’t like it was when I was a kid (I’m 44). Not many had them back then and topo maps were limited. Nowadays, I’m guessing over 75% of people have flashers, if you have a smart phone you can get topo maps for cheap, and the fish have pressure they’ve not had historically. THat said, it will be more challenging to get on certain species of fish.

In my findings, northerns are easier. Find the weeds, find the northerns. Walleyes won’t be as easy, but not horrible. Use a topo map and a GPS to get close to the structure, punch holes and find the right depth/area you want and you know that 95% of those eyes will be on the bottom foot or two. Panfish and crappies will be much harder though.

All said, I would try to find a used flasher and make your experience much better if you can afford it. Can you catch fish without one…yes. But not remotely close to the numbers if you did have one….even an older one.

In my experience (I’m not expert or very old) but electronics are huge when fishing lakes of any significant size so the suggestions above are about the best you can do. Find structure and start setting lines from 1-3ft off bottom. Eventually you will find something.
The other option is change where you fish. I started ice fishing the Mississippi river backwaters where average fishing depth was less than 10ft most of the time much shallower. In these conditions most electronics lack real usefulness.(yes I know shallow water mode etc have changed this but unless you have those higher end units 5ft of water and FL8 doesn’t equal huge benifits.) These backwaters often have concentrated channels or holes where the fish stack up, and you can fish easily without electronics using basic bobber rigs and working within a foot or two of bottom. Now if going to an area like this is not an option try finding a smaller lake to fish. Smaller water equals less area to have to cover. It’s easier to cover a 50 acre lake in a day over a 100 acre lake.
If you want to get a flasher or other type of electronic unit, I would suggest saving for a new unit. If you watch craigslist occasionally a unit will come up for decent price, but what I have seen is most FL8’s go for around 250ish used, and a new unit is right about 300 so save up for a new one if possible.
MOST IMPORTANTLY DONT QUIT FISHING!!!

I never had electronics till about 10 years ago…frankly, they make such a difference-especially for panfish/jigging-that I don’t know what I’d do if you took mine away.
That being said, we still caught plenty of bluegill “back when” with just a simple Schoolie-type rod, and/or a bobber set up a foot to foot and a half off bottom, jiggling or lifting the bobber now and then. Was only after getting a flasher and fishing those same waters did I learn that I spent most of my time fishing UNDER the crappie…but we did catch fish.
Yesterday I marked suspended crappie and bottom hugging pannies in several holes, and couldn’t catch them to save my life. They simply would not commit to any jigging presentation I gave them-4 bites in 4 hours, all short strikes that I lost. The only fish I caught came off the two tip-downs I had out. They definitely wanted a dead stick presentation and I’ve become so single minded with my jigging and flasher approach I didn’t even have any bobbers with me…would have made a difference too.
Take all the above advice, and keep at it-you’ll eventually connect. And, if possible, add a used flasher to your wish list and start saving.
Fish, a lot of them at times, CAN be caught without them(come to think of it, tip-downs are another great way to spread out and cover some water), but dang, flashers truly are a game changing tool on the ice.