Ice fishing the Dark and mysterious…..

This is something I have little experience. Everytime the sun goes down, the bite really shuts off for me. I would like to possibly spend a full night on the river to see what I can do at night on the ice this winter…Am I missing something? I just can’t muster up more than a few crappies and gills onece the sun goes down! I know theres a few Ida’ers out there that might be able to help me out. I’m mostly interested in what times to look for the bite to heat up. I would think some of the nocternal slabs would come alive just after the sunset, but it never happens for me. I’m guessing they must turn on much later. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Cade

I don’t ice fish a lot….but I have had the same problem…..nothin after sunset.

ive always hurd useing lattens on the ice(if theres no snow) to make it shine and the crappies will come. i dont know if it works but im gonna try it this year.
-Aaron

Cade I hate to be so general but,….A fish’ life revolves around the light. Thats obvious. I’m a beleiver in that the patterns of fish are determined by daylight available. Now I know that there are plenty of other factors but light is a big one along with temperature. When that sun goes down, different things are happening. I’m not sure if you’re changing your attack at this point, but you should be. How well can those fish see? Are they changing their depths in search of food? Are they laying low from predator fish? What are they doing before they shut off?
Those are questions I can’t answer, and are questions you should be thinking about. If you want stereotypical amswers I’m going to guess that the gills are laying low in the dark to avoid being a meal, and the craps are looking for their protective schools deeper in order to make their runs to shallower water for food.
Bring your headlamp and energy and figure it out. Might be well worth and investigation. Actually its worth it either way. Good luck!

Matt, well put! It is definately the charge of the fisherman to get in the minds of the fish, whether they be predator or prey, and find them at their most weekest point. All fish need to eat… but their patterns of when and where they eat still elude us at night. I find that changing tactics once the dark sets in does not always produce the results I want. Experimenting is the best tactic. Stay mobile and be willing to change up. I never give a specific lure and bait more than 15 to 20 minutes before I change up. Be sure to keep an eye on your electronics. Get on them fish… and watch for them to move. If they move, you move. If what they were biting on a half hour ago doesn’t seem to work, change your presentation. And what worked last night does not mean that it will work tonight. You need to be flexible in order to garner the attention of them fish!!!

I am no expert in area I can only give you my experience. First I think it has a lot to do with what you are fishing for. I mainly only fish for crappies and walleye after dark. For me it seems gills and perch don’t bite well after dark. I have one small lake that we mainly catch gills during the day, but when it gets dark the crappies really turn on (most of the time). Maybe it is the lantern that attracts them, many times we have been fishing in the same area all day with minimal crappie success, then when it gets dark its like shooting ducks in a barrel. One thing we have found in this lake is that the crappies like the deepest water at dark, I don’t if this is true for most crappie water. Good electronics is my first priority for this type of fishing.
Everett

Yep, i got the good electronics covered(Marcum LX3 and aqua vu ZT) However I still seem to have the issues…We did some crappie fishing on the soft water and still found some biters into the dark last wednesday and the sunday before that. it still slowed way down but we coaxed a few and they were generally nicer. The other question i kinda had was if they go deep or not at night. Your responses sum up a lot of what I have been thinking but i’d like to hear some more input yet. Where I am fishing, we catch nice crappies all day long. However, I have not had the chance to stay late into the dark, just took note of the fact that if i stayed on the ice say 1 hour past sunset, the bite would be pretty much dead about a half hour after dark. I’m wondering if this is because they are making their moves to other spots to feed at night. could it be possible that you would have better success targeting these fish later in the night, say 10 pm or later, assuming they would have settled into their feeding areas?

I get the feeling you’re talking crappies as your gills sound like they’re done for the night, which is fairly typical. You do mention you can catch crappies all day long which leads me to beleive you’re catching those fish during their most inactive time. They’re obviously not moving. This makes me believe that your fish will be more agressive at night. However you’re not on them when they’re most agressive in their feeding schools. I’m just using educated assumptions based on what you’ve told us. Crappies are roamers when they’re hungry. When feeding they’re moving all the time. A crappie fisherman who sits in his fish house knows that they seem to make runs. A crappie fisherman who is out staying on top of the fish is doing just that,….staying on them. Thats what you need to do. You say the fish are shutting off. Are they really shutting off or are they leaving the area?
At what depth are you finding them during the day? Any structure around? What time of the season are you talking about?
We’re going to get to teh bottom of this

I would have holes drilled both shallower and deeper so you can check to see which way they moved [shallow or deep]. How deep of water are you fishing in during the day? What is the depth of the deeper water near by and how far away is it? Are there any weeds in the shallows [still green]? Any wood?

Thanks, Bill

I learned about this location from a friend last year. I didn’t catch on to the secret until later in the year, probably late january so i missed quite a bit of the season out there. The thing that gets me is that we are catching them in anywhere from 15-45 feet mostly. 45 was the deepest water i could find in the area and i did catch fish there last year. I always find the crappies suspended about halfway down no matter the depth, give or take a few feet. This is not just what i think, its what the marcum lx-3 and the bucket of fish shows. It seems like they should have everything they would need at night, but they don’t continue on their feeding binge once the sun goes down. There are a lot of submerged trees at this spot and docks within walking distance There is current and the biggest schools of the biggest fish seem to be right on the edge of that current over 30 feet. There may be some green weeds near the docks, but probalby mostly decayed by mid winter. There isn’t much vegetation in that 20-40 feet that i know of, but plenty, i mean a lot, of wood and junk. Maybe I shouldn’t go off complaining as I have never actually stayed out long long after dark to see if it picks up. I am a very mobile fisherman. i use a clam 2000 which isn’t a flip over but i keep on the move with it until I find active fish with my marcum. one day, we moved to the docks which are probably 5 blocks away, and we drilled our own holes with nobody around within shouting distance. we found our own fish and the people back in the community hole weren’t doing much. this is proof that I am up and moving to find my own fish and that this can’t be much of a factor in the reason why I am not finding the fish at night. But like I said, once things settle and we get very solid ice all around the area, I plan on taking the clam and giving it a shot at an overnighter. Maybe i’ll learn something new.

Cade,

My experiences on the ice after dark have had mixed results, mostly on the negative side. I think the crappies on the river are a lot different then the crappies on the lakes. The bite really shuts down after dark even with a lantern to show light. Now I have to admit I haven’t been out on the ice for mare than a couple of hours after dark in the past 5 years, but we used to do this all the time with very limited success. One positive thing about this is the beer tasted better and the stories get bigger

Matt hit it right on the head as far as fish when there biting and when they shut down…the fish you and I are looking for are the aggressive fish, they are on the move…hole jumping will no doubt put more fish on the ice then sittin in the hole all cozy. Stay on the aggressive fish and figure out their pattern…

My fish come out of deeper water (their security blanket) into shallow water with weeds looking for food. I pop several holes in and out of the shallow and deeper water and follow them in…and then follow them right back out again…

Ditto Ecnook, I’ve caught a lot of crappies at night, but they’ve almost all been in the lakes, in 10+ feet, whereas On the river backwaters, I’m only fishing up to about five FOW, and I just don’t think the fish are there very often at night.

My fish come out of deeper water (their security blanket) into shallow water with weeds looking for food. I pop several holes in and out of the shallow and deeper water and follow them in…and then follow them right back out again… [end of Daves quote]

This is exactly what I am thinking Cade. Drill the holes deep and toward the shallows so different depths can be covered.
Thanks, Bill

Night time Crappies….now we are talking
You will not catch a limit but you will take some nicer slabs in the area you are fishing at night Cade. Spread out using Tip Ups. Drill plenty of holes before the sun goes down so you can do some jumping around without making any more noise than necessary after dark. Drill from deep to the first shallow edge, being able to fish 3 lines in WI helps. Set a Tip Up in the deep for suspended fish and set a tip up on the first shallow shelf to catch the bruiser cruisers chasing bait into shallower water Keep your jig stick when checking a flag. Get you jig stick in the hole as quick as you can for the possible bonus fish hanging around

The area you are talking turns on late January and into February for the night bite. 1 hour after dark you should see some action if there is going to be a bite. From then on things will happen in spurts as the crappies move around. Move around with your jig stick and move your tip ups every half hour until you find a honey hole. One flag does not make a honey hole but a good spot to bounce to with a jig stick every now and then. Crappies are night time cruisers so move around with them!

Bret is right. The time of year is the determining factor for the night bite on the river. And Dave’s method is top notch for the daytime bite in the backwaters.
Dang, I miss that.