Frank D?

[iceismine]

after a night on fish lake, as i came off the lake at Hi Banks, i ran into a nice guy who said if i ever had any questions of how to fish this area, i need to talk to a Frank D. i can't remember what the last name was exactly, but i'm pretty sure it ended in a D??

[BD110]

iceismine,

Are you trying to figure out who Frank D. is? or do you have a question about Fish lake?

Surface Tension would most likley be the Frank D. that your looking for. I'm sure he will reply to your post when he sees it.

[SKIPPERS KID]

JUST ask we all can help frank is the grand lake guy I would help if I now what you need to now just ask . We are here to help you out just ask I think frank is still fishing on grand .

[iceismine]

thanks! i was just wondering the "alias" of a frank d-jus trying to put some pieces together... everyone on this site is always helpful, which is why i check it out nightly!

[Surface Tension]

iceismine, being a life long resident that fishes, I've gotten to know the area lakes well. There are also guys on the forum that can say the same thing. We're lucky to live around here, some many lakes and a lot of diversity.

Since you've been fishing Fish lake I'll add my take.

Fish lake does have a good day bite for all species but will talk eyes for now. Theres one huge difference between Ice and Open water. Open water I'd never sit in one spot during the day. You'll need to move to around from spot to spot and my presentation is normally trolling leech/minnow/crawler harnesses. So not only am I moving around but once in an area I'm still covering ground. Sometime during that day I'll find the eyes. Come Prime Time (evening) I'll be anchored up casting jigs or slip bobs on a spot I know the eyes will be moving to.

How does the relate to ice fishing? You sort of put all your eggs in one basket. You choose a spot that has some some fish sticking qualities. That could be a break where the eyes will be on the deeper side during daylight hours and have that shallower water for quick access come Prime Time. Typically during the day I'll setup up the portable where that break starts to level off. I'll be using swimming lures there. My tip-up will be set out deeper. At some point during the day I might move the whole show deeper or in shallower but you can count on that I'll be in shallow come evening and for sure there'll be a break there. I'll have pulled that tip-up and fish two lines in the house.

Be prepared to downsize and slow your jigging lure and presentation down. Jigging one rod and a crappie minnow w/ice buster bobber set a neutral buoyancy. That'll be good for the one two punch on eyes and crappies. Keep an eye on that sounder for crappies coming in suspended. No sounder? Then come 1/3 the way off bottom or what your break or nearby weed bed levels out at with the deadline. I could rattle on forever here but you need to be on the ice come evening and into the dark. You'll notice a flurry at sun down and things might start to slow but if your in a good location that bite will be off and on long after dark.

Many times I've thought about pulling out and here they come again.

If you've fished a spot under different times,pressure & weather conditions and it hasn't produced, get out of there and try a new area. Even though your on foot, I'd rather slog my gear another 15 minutes then spend hours fishing a dead area.

[iceismine]

thanks alot for the info! i think my problem is i don't move enough- i'm still stuck on only fishing about 1 spot for a whole wk... coming to a new area, it's pretty difficult to find those "prime spots" like i had back at home... you know, everyone has their set of spots on their favorite array of lakes, and coming from having a bunch of favorite spots, to not knowing anything about the lake is slightly frustrating for me i guess... i have looked at all the lake maps for the area lakes, such as fish, island, and boulder but i find it difficult to pick out an area that would outproduce another- all these lakes seem to have a hundred possible fish producing spots! i'll just have to keep on fishing and find some!

[Northlander]

It was proven a couple winters ago on Fish Lake that if you stay away from the community holes your catching percentage goes up greatly. The fishing sensus results are up in Highbanks Resort by the minnow tanks. Check it out. Some good info on that 1 little map.

Some people are limited this time of year because they have to walk out. In that case look at a good lake map and find some rock/wood structure that is close to weeds, deep water or even better both. Fish lake has a lot of sunkin logs and little rock piles. Find them and you will do well.

A rock/gravel/sand transition area is a honey hole all year around.