What should I try?

I’m heading to osakis this wknd wonder what I should try for crappie?

Ultra light rippin rap is my go to for starting my hunt. Then I always run a dead stick with plain red hook and crappie minnow next to the rippin rap. When the rippin rap fails I have many small tungsten jigs with some sort of b-y plastics.
But I always start aggressive it can only get tamer from their

Small jigging rap, with about 4 spikes on the treble, start with chrome if water is clear,

Chrome, white glow, and or perch are my starters. I’ve never done the spikes thing.

You clearly know how to fish Bearcat and I certainly don’t want to contradict you but nearly everything you said in your post does not work very well on Osakis. Nearly any other Lake you are spot on but not out there.

I’d recommend a Tungsten #12 horizontal jig tipped with Euros. You can get your big gills and crappie with the same bait. The fish on Osakis are fairly pressured so you need to have a small presentation to get them to commit. 2 lb line is also helpful.

There are those days were they will hit anything but those days on Osakis are very very far and few inbetween.

A plain number 8 hook and a crappie minnow after dark works very well but during the day stick with euros. You could also use much heavier line after dark.

Thanks Joe and everybody else, Joe any color ?glow you might suggest I’ve heard osakis is a differnt duck, all the other posts are what I would have started with anywhere else, I’m bringing a lady friend who loves to fish but has never ice fished before, she’s a trooper as far as weather is concerned but we will be good in the voyager, just trying to get a leg up so she can hook a couple. I’m guessing the local bait store just down from the cafe would carry your suggestions?

Thanks again to all,

Tom

Yup I’d listen to Joe’s advice

I’ve never fished that lake. I was just winging how I hunt near home.
Hope the best for your fishing excursion this weekend. Its gonna be chilly

I hope this doesn’t get too long, but here it goes.

Osakis is one of the toughest lakes you will fish during the day. It has big fish and they are great at staying below the ice. Somedays you cannot pull more than one fish a hole. You should drill until you read 2-5 nice marks then drop down quickly. If you’re good and lucky you can get a couple fish and many days you’ll need to leave those fish to find fresh fish in the next hole over. You can go back to the original hole later on and possibly get a couple more. Just keep moving hole to hole and you can get your fish. It’s the initial drop that generally produces the most fish out there.

Now if you hit a day where fishing is good it is possible you can sit in your house and not have to move too much. The fish will let you know.

As far as jig color I like green/blk #12 Lindy Toad. Glow isn’t a big deal for me.

For what its worth I love Osakis for big fish but when it comes to just catching a lake like Minnewaska will treat you much better. Good luck.

Thanks Joe, your advice is highly regarded, and can’t thank you enough, I just started fishing the lake at the end of last winter and it had me trying everything I knew in a short period of time, and I’ll for sure check out Minnewaska.

Thanks again

Tom

Great report Joe! Also makes me feel a little better about the 2 times I’ve fished it…

Joe Scegura wrote:

I’d recommend a Tungsten #12 horizontal jig tipped with Euros. You can get your big gills and <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie with the same bait. The fish on Osakis are fairly pressured so you need to have a small presentation to get them to commit. 2 lb line is also helpful.

This is what I always begin with, stay with it the entire time and end with it too.

I confess I’m mostly one dimensional (or demented), but 9 out of ten times panfish are likely neutral or negative. But can’t resist a tiny offering with a little worm. Spikes is what we called them in Wisco. And if they’re hot and aggressive, they’ll still hammer the micro offering.

I’m ready to hammer down another micro brewery beer…

I have also found if they are on the bottom neutral, upsize your lure and strum the heck out of it in one place never stop the lure. stay way above them

Not as much pressure this year compared to years past because of the early ice conditions were not good. If you have a snowmobiling to use I would recommend it. Can be tough to find fresh spots off the beaten path. Just talking from my experience this year on the lake.

Joe is spot on for Osakis. I have fished many times and fishing multiple holes is a must to be successful. I have had best luck with a orange #3 fiska. Red euros and if you have access freshwater shrimp can make the difference. It’s a very finicky bite. He’s also right about Minnewaska for more action. You have to sort through a lot of fish but you can also end up with some nice size fish.