Has anyone purchased or tried using an artificial plant or structure system while ice fishing in seemingly structureless lakes. Would it work, or is it just another gimmick to make money off of desperate ice fisherman. 
Hey Iowan, check out this post by IDA’s own Scott Steil. I have not personally used them… But I know people that swear by them.
Thanks for the link Dave, the info was very helpful.
No Problem. Honestly, I haven’t used them yet. But I know a lot of unbiased fisherman (Scott being one of them) that have used them… And as soon as funds allow, I am picking me up a pack of them. Gotta get that GPS first.
I haven’t had the opportunity to use them either. But I’ve had enough conversations with those who will not leave the house without them in hand. Some claim, “when the place is right” they are just as important as the flasher and camera.
If you snoop and search, you will find a ton of talk around here about them. Basically, my obersvation is about 95% of the people who have purchased them, swear by them.
But again, my comprehension is that it depends on the water you are fishing. Dropping them down in a weed choked, mil-foil infested pond isn’t going to do much. But I’ve heard nothing but positive results for both pike and crappies for over 1 year on Upper Red Lake.
I have been trying some fake weeds, but have not had any success yet. I bought some of the leafy stuff from walmart to try it, but haven’t got it fined tuned yet.
Matt
I went to Michels of all places,and bought a batch of plastic plants that looked similar to a milfoil and a cabbage weed type plant. I spent about $20. I then bought a 5 pack of extension cord wraps at home depot for $3. I had plenty of vinyl coated tip up line for a cord and I set to make my own. It was fairly simple to do, just using zip ties to attach the plants to the cord, with a 3 oz pencil weight on the bottom. Over the weekend I ventured out to lake in Burnett Co. Wisconsin. Temp was 20 to 30 below zero. I set up my tent & heaters and then put down my home made weeds. I had five plants and also enough to camo my cord for my aqua view. The lake was one with absolutely no structure, a small dishpan. About 20 minutes passed seeing no fish and then a couple blue gills came in, and then more, and then more. 2 hours into my expirement I had Blue gills and perch all around me all the time. The only time they left, was when a northern came swimming through. I ended up with about 1/3 of a bucket full of gills. Had a lot of big gills go up and tap the bait with their nose but not bite it possibly due to the high pressure cold front occuring. I fished the same area last year and came up with a couple but never saw that many in one area. According to the locals nobody ever catches much for blue gills in that lake, but I think due to my artificial weeds, they came to me. I still have more experimenting to do, but I think the reel weeds people may have something.
i don’t know what kinda gps your lookin for but i picked up an h2o in the bargain cave after christmas for 70 bucks. the package had been opened and car lighter was missing other than that it was new. i had been lookin for a long time but my funds were tight too. i couldn’t pass that deal up though. now i don’t no what i’d do without it when i’m out on the ice and it keeps the wife busy when were makin the long trips upnorth! 
good luck searchin
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