Icefishing Primer

While out Crappie fishing the other day (ref. reports, pool 17)

I did something which I should have posted several weeks ago before most of you put your boats up for the winter. I do this annually in the fall. Now is the time to map your ICE FISHING SPOTS !!

This is an excellent time to take your hand held GPS and make waypoints of your spots or especially any newly found brush piles. If you don’t have a GPS, use your own version of triangulation on your spots. This will keep ya from getting mad at yourself when your trampsing around in 6” snow, and 6 holes later saying “I know that ____ing stump’s around here somewhere “!!!

While your at it here’s something else that separates 90% of the would be’s out !! This is an excellent time to do some tree trim’n (not Christmas tree trim’n) take a clipper out with

ya next time and trim those over hang’n branches that you’ve been pitch’n your Bass or Crappie jig into ! Yes, you might look like a nut but who cares. I do this all the time !! Most of my clients that come to Bass fish usually have never “pitched a jig” into cover and want to learn how to cast. My tree trim’n saved my bacon many times !

OkeyDokey Later Gofish

Kensyl Reading

Ol’ Miss. Guide Service

Later Gofish

Hi Kensyl

Have you gone so far as to plant/submerge your own brushpiles or trees and if so, have you had much success creating artificial habitat? In some of the backwater sloughs and shallow lakes in my area cover is relatively hard to come by once weed growth dies back for the winter. I could se where a bass or panfisherman could really benefit from a little off-season work of this kind.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Hey Guys, before this thread goes much farther, you may want to check with the game warden on the subject of planting brush piles or any other sort of fish attractors in the river. A friend from Ill. told me this summer that he was ticketed for that same thing a few years back. The laws reguarding this could be different from state to state though. Just don’t want to see any of you get in trouble for a good deed.

Yo James, No I’ve never planted brush in the river (thought about it meany times !) One big reason is that the high water will wash it out. I have been known to rearange a logpile to make it better (a limb at 45deg. in the water as opposed to 90deg is much more productive. I don’t why the DNR would have a problem. The Corp of Eng cops would probably say i was blocking/impeding boat traffic, maybe creating a hazard,etc.

Gofish