[stormfront]

I've always started my seasons fishing for walleyes but this year I thought I'd give the ice out game a go. Any ideas or input? How soon after the ice breaks up do you start? Baits? I need no locations, just a game plan. Thank you.

 

[cement569]

find shallow bays, anywhere from 2 to 8 ft. use soft plastics under a bobber or live bait and fish it slow. crappie like the 6 to 8 ft. and suspend anywhere from 2 to 6 ft from bottom when staging for the spawn

 

[B Ron 11]

Find the warmest water such as a bay with a creek dumping in the back. The bait fish will come and that will bring the fish. Try small jigs under a light float. Minnows under a bobber will also work for crappie and perch. Maggots and waxworm for gills. Northern pike and some largemouth may also cruise these bay areas.

 

[stormfront]

Thanks for the help, guys. This will get me going. I've a few places just as you both described. Appreciate it.

 

[Bass knuckles]

I like the ice jigging method just w/o the ice, smaller tipped jigs over side of boat/yak vexilar humming. Hard part it staying stationary enough to find your bait!

 

[c. j. stone]

Don’t overlook the culvert/ditch/small stream inlets. Those have water just a bit warmer coming into lakes or rivers(plus food?) which just might draw some nice craps, gills, perch. Redworms are a good choice here. Below dams is another hot, early spot to try. Some of our Brethren know well where these spots are-a few report on them.

 

[Mattiba]

Sometimes you need to cover water. One day last march we looked shallow and so did most others but we ended up fishing a deeper main lake channel and hooked up pretty steadily. It seems we almost always can find fish in 15 to 20 feet of water.

 

[chaunc]

I look for pad and stem fields. Small jig and bobber very shallow work very well for me. I’m going to try 8lb test this spring as I lost a lot of jigs using 4 and 6 last season. Those stems are tough. Didn’t get any walleye but lots of good panfish were caught. Early March was best.

 

[Saugeyefisher]

Ice out pad fishing for big gills and crappie can be some of the best. My go-to at buckeye as soon as the ice is off...

 

[nixmkt]

I look for pad and stem fields. Small jig and bobber very shallow work very well for me. I’m going to try 8lb test this spring as I lost a lot of jigs using 4 and 6 last season. Those stems are tough. Didn’t get any walleye but lots of good panfish were caught. Early March was best.

Yep. The pad and stem fields can hold plenty of fish. May need to go even heavier though. They are tough. Lost plenty of jigs with 8 lb. Gave up fighting with them till can’t find fish elsewhere.

 

[c. j. stone]

Thanks for the help, guys. This will get me going. I've a few places just as you both described. Appreciate it.

How’d this work out for you? I tried a couple “ideal” spots from shore. No fish there.

 

[stormfront]

How’d this work out for you? I tried a couple “ideal” spots from shore. No fish there.

I got as far as buying my license but have yet to get out. I had a knee operation in January that didn't fix my problem and in the meantime the other knee went south. I received more cortisone shots (a waste) and will get gel shots in July. I guess I'm heading for two knee replacements and I'm currently walking like a duck. :/ Not the way I expected this Spring to be.