Sometimes, when fish are finicky and especially in clear water, it pays to do your best to imitate what fish are eating. Earlier this week, fish were sure giving us the stare-down treatment on the flasher at times, and I’m guessing that the below photo has a large share in explaining why. I found quite a few perch in almost all of the walleyes I cleaned, and it’s not surprising that most of our fish were caught on perch imitations!
Joel
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I check the intestines every time I clean fish. My grandpa used to do it when I was young and I never understood it, until one day I asked and now its a mainstay when I’m cleaning fish. The problem is especially during the ice fishing season, crappies and gills eat a ton of plankton so there is really nothing of note in their stomachs but in the open water months for the pannies it has paid off more than a few times. Joel have you any experience with imitating plankton in any way?
Good point guys. I did the same on some fish on Tuesday… Gills caught at midday were empty, gills caught in the evening were stuffed with a variety of stuff… very small stuff mostly. Lots of little snails. Had a few perch too… they had big white grubs that looked just like waxies in them. Anyone know what those would be? At first I thought they were just really good bait stealers but upon closer inspection the heads were different from waxies.
As far as imitating tiny invertebrates, I’ve always felt that the smallest wet hackle ice flies do the best job with that. Probably because of the almost weightless way they move through the water.
Rigging those on a dropper, where legal, is something that most folks don’t do. Probably because it’s kind of a pain, but when the bite gets really technical, and especially when gills are present but shunning other offerings, I’ve had good experiences with this tactic. It’s really cool to see this verified on a camera.
Joel
I’ve often thought of employing that tactic Joel, but have never taken the time to do so and also like you said it can be a real pain at times. Great insight though, guess I’ll have to find some flies I like and give them a try when the bite gets super finicky.
As far as imitating tiny invertebrates, I’ve always felt that the smallest wet hackle ice flies do the best job with that. Probably because of the almost weightless way they move through the water.
Rigging those on a dropper, where legal, is something that most folks don’t do. Probably because it’s kind of a pain, but when the bite gets really technical, and especially when gills are present but shunning other offerings, I’ve had good experiences with this tactic. It’s really cool to see this verified on a camera.
Joel
Could you post a link to this Joel or some picture of what this rig up looks like for us newer to ice fishing. I have no idea what this is or looks like.
Thanks!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joel Nelson wrote:</div>
As far as imitating tiny invertebrates, I’ve always felt that the smallest wet hackle ice flies do the best job with that. Probably because of the almost weightless way they move through the water.Rigging those on a dropper, where legal, is something that most folks don’t do. Probably because it’s kind of a pain, but when the bite gets really technical, and especially when gills are present but shunning other offerings, I’ve had good experiences with this tactic. It’s really cool to see this verified on a camera.
Joel
Could you post a link to this Joel or some picture of what this rig up looks like for us newer to ice fishing. I have no idea what this is or looks like.
Thanks!
I can’t find the perfect graphic, but attached is something similar. In salmon or saltwater applications, this is called a teaser rig, and the idea is almost exactly the same but vertical. The bottom end of the dropper is a heavy lure, like a tungsten jig. Spoons work OK, but can get tangled more easily with the main line and or dropper line. Then you tie a dropper loop up above the main lure, and clip one end near the knot to “open” up the loop. Then you tie on a small wet hackle fly. The idea is to get a fly that “breathes” with very little movement, and is neutrally buoyant.
If you can tie an albright, rig a 3-way in the river, or set-up a planer board rod, you can do this. The dropper loop is tied like this:
As far as legality is concerned, last I checked this was not legal in MN but was in WI. The hub-ub comes with definitions of single hooks and where artificial flies come in. There’s some grey area there that has been answered in various ways to me by various officials.
Joel
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That walleye measured about 20 inches. It sure was fat though.
I had another that was around 16 inches that had 3 crappies in its gut as well.
The crappies measured between 1 and 2.5 inches long. This was the first time I had ever seen crappies in a walleye before.
Joel, It’s funny that for years I wondered why in the clear waters of Walker bay, gold spoons outproduced silver by a big ratio. A few winters ago it dawned on me. Hold a gold spoon and a silver spoon up to a Yellow Perch sometime and see which one looks out of place. Details really can be huge.
I always get a kick when I get to verify what the fish have been chowing down on…Here is one from a walleye just a few weeks ago. Those are 10 crappies that were in its gut. Pretty amazing.
How many silver lipless cranks or jigging raps did you go out and buy!
I did this while fishing for Pike on Lake Gogebic in the Western U.P. Cut open a 24″ and found a half digested Perch about 10″. It is amazing that they are still hungry lol.
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That walleye measured about 20 inches. It sure was fat though.
I had another that was around 16 inches that had 3 crappies in its gut as well.
The crappies measured between 1 and 2.5 inches long. This was the first time I had ever seen crappies in a walleye before.
That would explain why the walleyes were hammering the Crappie Live Forage Rippin SHad the other day!!
As far as two lures goes…As long as they are within 9″ it is considured 1 lure and you could fish two rods with that setup.
I’ve done the two jig method walleye fishing. Great way to offer presentations and at two different depths. Just be sure to keep them within 9″.
Conservation Officer/Warden approved.
That’s For the video and description. Something new to try for me.
I think the largest Rippin Rap is a No. 7. 2.75″ and 7/8 oz.
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