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Advice For A Beginner.....?


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I am planning on getting out early Saturday morning. I think I am going to try middle cormorant. I have only gotten out two weekend this year so far kind of sad with a new house and auger! Still trying to figure out where to go around here I have heard about a few different locations to try but don’t want to drive my truck out yet so it’s all walking which isn’t all that bad until you have to go back. If anyone has any pointers for a beginner I would greatly appreciate it! I am not asking for your secret spots or anything just some advice on how deep what kind of tackle or bait I should be using.

Hope everyone is having a great new year!

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Check out the reports from Lida, I was there on tuesday and did well. 17-26 fow.. try a little shallower during mid day, see if you can get into some weeds. In the afternoon pull out a little deeper. I was just using waxies and different color jigs, I'm no expert on that lake but I managed some fish!!

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Leechbait thanks for the info maybe I will give that a try one of the days. This will probably sound like the dumbest quetion but whats the easiest way to figure out the depth you are in? I use the weight but then seems like I can never figure the depth cuz I am used to just using my pole to look at it and guess....

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If you want tips and tactics on Crappies check out the thread "Crappies, Need Advice". There is some really good information there.

A free and easy way to look at a topo or contour of lakes is go to the MN DNR website and click on the link "lake finder" I believe it is under the fishing section. There just type in the lake you want to fish and it will give you a lay out of the lake. It may have some more information on what type of fish is in the lake but look at the date of the report.

I try and study the lake a little bit and look for spots to try and fish at instead of randomly just set down somewhere. I am 0-4 so far this year but I am a beginner too. I am still learning on how to become better by reading some of the threads on here and I am currently reading a how to ice fishing book. The book I am reading is called "Hooked on Ice Fishing II: Panfish" by Tom Gruenwald.

I hope this helps, it is good to know that there are newbies out there other than me. Good luck and Happy fishing.

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Easy way to figure out how deep you are is using your arm length. Grab your line and and put your arms straight out. That distance is pretty close to your height then keep moving down the line and add.

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Setting depth. I tie on my choice of hook/bait with bobber stop and put depth bomb on the hook. Drop it down the hole, then pull up a foot or two of line (how ever far off bottom I want to fish) and put on a small crimp on sinker. Pull up your line and move the bobber stop to your sinker marker, and replace the depth bomb with a minnow head and drop back down the hole...and you are set. No measuring needed.

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whats the easiest way to figure out the depth you are in?

A 25' tape measure works very well. provided your under 25' even lets you know what the bottom is like, muck. sand, rock etc.

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A tape measure!?! All my years of fishing and never thought of that. All I can say is "AWESOME!" wink

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Leechbait thanks for the info maybe I will give that a try one of the days. This will probably sound like the dumbest quetion but whats the easiest way to figure out the depth you are in? I use the weight but then seems like I can never figure the depth cuz I am used to just using my pole to look at it and guess....

When you can budget it, get yourself a flasher (Marcum,Vexilar,Humminbird)... hands down the best innovation for ice fishing. I have a hard time fishing with out mine.

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A tape measure!?! All my years of fishing and never thought of that. All I can say is "AWESOME!" wink

I have used a tape measure in the past too. It works great to get a good feel for the lake bottom. Great advise!

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • redlabguy
      Mark, Great that you made it back up and great report on another great trip. Sitting here in Urbandale, I am jealous. I’m working on training my new lab, not at all sure he will be ready for pheasants! Thanks for sharing your trip, RLG
    • monstermoose78
      Shot the muzzleloader and I am good. Then saw big groups of woodducks  everywhere. I saw 300 easy as the sunset. 
    • leech~~
      Those darn tournament guys, their always trying new ways to get weight in their fish!  🤣🤣
    • SkunkedAgain
      Hogs! Hogs!!!
    • MarkB
      My 2 cousins and myself just finished up a windy 4 day trip to our favorite lake. It was the last of the year and was eventful to say the least. When we arrived, water temperatures were 61 degrees and when we left yesterday morning the water temps had dropped to 54 degrees. The fishing was fantastic, once again, and we caught walleyes, bass, and northerns on minnows and crawlers(northerns only on minnows). We found the fish adjacent to shallow rock piles(14') in 20'-28' of water. Our best fishing hours of the day were ~5:30 -twilight in the evenings and until ~ 10:30 in the mornings. Although those two time periods were prime time, fish bit all day. For us, the bite was very light and we probably missed or lost as many fish as we caught. Some people think I'm nuts when I say bead color can make a difference and it certainly did this trip. My cousin's "go to" green/white bead combo did zilch on this trip. It was one translucent red bead and a plain size #2 gamakatsu hook with a 3' leader that produced the fish. We ended up with 137 walleyes and 19 bass for the 4 day outing. We caught far more 17"-19.999" walleyes on this trip than on our previous trips and our numerous slot fish measured from 21"-25". My younger cousin caught 4 slot fish in ~20 minutes one evening. We fish exclusively for walleyes and additional species are incidental. With that said, we caught some beautiful smallmouth bass on this trip and they were right down there with the walleyes, usually in the rocks. As usual, everything is catch and release except for the fish we eat while there and the 12 walleyes(3 individual limits) we take home to the wives. While cleaning some eaters we kept for supper, we always check the stomach contents. One of the walleyes had the jig that is pictured below loose in its stomach!  No attached line, no embedded hook, just the jig! It baffled us as to how in the world it could have gotten there . As you can see, the jig is in good shape so the fish must have swallowed it recently .   The boat traffic was minimal this trip and we had a couple days where it looked as if we had the lake to ourselves. Sunday was a brutal day with wind gusts to 50MPH!. We stayed in and ventured out finally at ~5:00. It turned out to be the best 2 hours of the entire trip. This time, the baby loons were around, the eagles were abundant, the changing leaves made the entire lake area look like a painting. If I could make only one short trip a year to the lake, now would be the time. What capped off the trip was the magnificent display of the Northern Lights. We can't wait for next spring to return, God willing, and, in the meantime, good fishing.  MarkB🙂 The jig found in the stomach of a walleye we ate.   My young cousin with his best of the trip.   a chunky 17" smallmouth   19.5" smallmouth
    • leech~~
      Well, since they both say Propane on them.  Not propane QT++ their probably both the same gender!  🤭
    • Wanderer
    • Brianf.
      What an amazing extended weekend. The fish were happy and cooperated nicely.   We also had the unique experience of fishing under Northern Lights each of the last three nights in pristine weather conditions.  I wish everyone could have that experience, even if just once.  The pics below don't do it justice, though you get the idea.  The walleyes are putting on the feedbag and some are getting rather plump.  We caught mostly slot fish with several 'overs' in our bag.  Our two biggest weighed 8lbs 5oz and 8lb 3oz.     The crappies were active at dusk and beyond.  Almost all of the ones we caught were 14" or bigger.  The biggest we caught was a bit over 15".  We lost two muskies at the boat and caught a 38" pike after dark - quite surprising.   Every fish we caught was immediately released btw.  Water temp 54/55 when we left.  All-in-all, another great fishing experience on Lake Vermilion - for which I'm so incredibly appreciative.        
    • JerkinLips
    • leech~~
      The price and the label.  It's that same exact gas.  
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