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Posted

This will only be my second year to ice fish. My first year I primarily stuck with live bait on rattle reels, had some success but not much. I tried a few lures but not even sure how to use them under the ice. In the warm season I can catch fish regularly on artificial baits, but not in the winter. So, what are your go to baits/lures for ice fishing? I mainly target walleye, pike, and largemouth but would also like to get some crappie action.

Posted

Slender spoons and anything that glows

Posted

JB lures has a basic low profile tungsten glow jig with as big of a hook as a #6. It's basically a hook, that can be rather quickly dropped, but also can be "worked". It's not flashy, no glitter, no revolutionary design, nor cool name......but hands down my go to for crappies and eyeballs. Gills will work a smaller tungsten. Usually Fiskas or Bently ...but many more options on the market now. High profile bite almost always involves a Flyer/Buckshot type.

Posted

^^^ what he said! Plus buckshots and fiskas (little tungsten jigs).

Posted

Jigging raps for perch, crappie and walleyes. Fiska jigs with a nuggie tail for general panfish fishing, and northland bloodworms. Lipless cranks for eyes and northerns. I'm more of a livebait guy, so that's that.

Posted

For panfish, small tungsten GLOW jigs with super sharp hooks all the way. It's all I use any more. You just don't need anything else. I'm partial to the Fiskas brand, but I'm sure others work fine as well. They are a bit spendy, but I'd rather spend a little more on gear I know I'll like and use than a little less on a wider variety of junk that I won't use as much.

Posted

Pugbug jigheads and slender spoons. Also quick strike rigs with suckers or shiners for tip ups.

Posted

VMC tumbler spoon for walleye has been my go to since they came out

Dead stick a fat head with a demon glow jig in green or pink for walleye as well.

Northern is the quick strike rig on a tip up

Sunfish has been northland bloodworm

crappie a pug bug or forage minnow tipped with a crappie minnow or Maki plastics I like those with a tungsten jig head

Posted

For 'eyes, I had good luck last year on Clam's Blade spoons, VMC Tingler, and Northland UV buckshot rattle spoons. For crappies, I'd recommend Clam's Bomb Spoon, Speed spoon, and the Ant Drop as well as Lindy's Rattlin Flyer spoon.

Posted

Jigs: Fiskas tungsten or ice flies from Jeff's Jigs in Two Harbors, MN - the man does some amazing patters for both trout and panfish

Plastics: JRs Jigtails out of Antioch, MI. Only plastics I will use.

Spoons: Like a lot of the new stuff, Slender Spoons and Buckshot Rattlers, but I probably use the venerable Swedish Pimple most of the time, just because I must have 50 of 'em and they all still catch fish

Blade: Reef Runner Cicadas are a vastly under-rated hardwater lure, especially the smaller sizes for panfish and trout. I'm excited to try some of the 3/16ths Echotail blade baits this season.

Posted

I am just learning to target crappie and I use northland slug bug and they work great (with no bait)! Any color.

Posted

Add another vote for Fiska jigs. Sharpest hooks, paint holds up great, couldn't ask for much more out of a jig.

Posted

Zenit: "Blade: Reef Runner Cicadas are a vastly under-rated hardwater lure, especially the smaller sizes for panfish and trout."

That man is brilliant! I'd second that as my name would imply. Takes an act of God or a greedy northern for me to not have one of these on while ice fishing. I've pretty much caught everything on this lure, but there are a few lakes where the fish don't respond to a particular lure. I just stay off those lakes. wink

Jigging Raps and rattle spoons can be very good at times.

I pretty much always fish with one live bait setup and then jig something.

Posted

buckshot rattle spoon in glow redfish is the first one down the whole when chasing eyes and perch on DL!

Posted

Something that rattles/makes noise and glows if fishing is slow

Posted

Lindy's Rattlin Flyer spoon in perch color.

Posted

almost everything i own is from jr's tackle, i like the waxie for suns and the hot tamale and stop signs for crops and walts.

Posted

--Tinglers, rippin raps, salmo darters, and jigging raps and rattle spoons tipped with fathead heads for walleye.

--Tumbler's and small jigging raps tipped with crappie minnows for perch

--1/16th oz tinglers and slender spoons tipped with crappie minnow heads/spikes/waxies/plastics for crappie

--tungsten jigs tipped with plastics/spikes/waxies for gills.

--Tumblers and Tungsten jigs tipped with waxies/spikes, or salted/frozen minnow heads for stream trout (in lakes)

-- Large Slender spoons, Tinglers, Huss Luhrs, Jigging Raps, 4"-5" tube jigs, rippin raps, and Salmo Darters for Lakers

Holy cripes I have too many go-to-baits

Posted

Northland's Buckshot Rattle spoon in the glow (more so than the new UV) always get's tied on one of my lines for Walleyes.

Small tungsten jigs or a Genz fatboy for panfish. The Northland forage minnows also work really well for Crappies.

Posted

Y'all are awesome, thank you so much. Heading out tomorrow, hope some new lures will help me out.

Posted

Jigging - I like the do-jigger for walleye. Buckshots are good too. I've lost a few big fish on jigging raps when the front or back hooks caught on the ice as I am trying to get them through the hole.

For panfish its the ratso, ratfinke, teeter totter and other jigs with a horizontal profile. They show up better on the vex and hook well.

Set lines are usually something like a frosty.

Posted

Y'all are awesome, thank you so much. Heading out tomorrow, hope some new lures will help me out.

Good luck. Keep in mind, knowing how to find fish is almost always more important than what to catch them with.

Posted

Slender spoons and anything that glows

+1 on slender spoons. My go to up on Red if the bite slows down especially

Posted

For walleyes and crappies it's the forage minnow for me hands down.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • monstermoose78
      Ok the ice was 15-16 inches and less than 2 inches of snow. It’s was -15 this morning and the weekend looks to be cold again. The fish were there but not biting with change in weather. 
    • Dash 1
      I guess the vikings are a lot like fishing.  Very entertaining but frustrating at times. I've probably been cheering the vikings for 50 plus years  that i can remember and once again it's all about (there's always next year).  
    • Dash 1
      I remember Jeno's boxed pizza years ago.  Mom made it every Saturday night while dad and I watched All Star Wrestling.  
    • smurfy
      Chef boyardee box pizza. Good stuff 
    • smurfy
    • leech~~
      Smurf, still trying to get his lure jigging down when using the camera!  🤭   https://www.facebook.com/reel/517510734635573
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore... Ice fishing is going great on the south shore of Lake of the Woods, with resorts and outfitters reporting thickening ice conditions with two feet of ice in some areas.  Many ice roads are now open to 1 ton vehicles pulling a wheelhouse.  Every road has different weight limits, check with each resort for details before traveling up and out on the ice.      Some good fishing this past week.  As a rule, fishing activity is happening in 28 - 32 feet of water.  Resorts do just about everything they can to get customers on fish and this past week, some resorts made some long runs, resetting fish houses in new areas miles off shore.  Most are reporting good fishing as a rule.     It is common to sort through some small walleyes and saugers to get your keepers on LOW.  Naturally, some big fish are showing up, especially in deeper water.  In addition, this has been a very good year for jumbo perch with good numbers being caught.  Other fish in the mix are eelpout (burbot), pike, tullibees and an occasional sturgeon.      Anglers are using the one-two punch of jigging in one hole and deadsticking the second hole. In the jigging hole, a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head or tail in gold / pink, gold / glow red, glow white / pink, or Wonder Bread have worked well.     Especially in the deeper water, some anglers are finding success on rippin raps or using jigging spoons with a rattle as well.     On the deadstick, a small jig with a live minnow hooked behind the dorsal fin set 6 inches - a foot off of the bottom is working well.  One day the jigging line catches most of the fish, the other day a deadstick is hot.     Electronics are very helpful to see suspended fish, know when fish are coming through and adjust your presentation to the mood of each fish.  Most resorts, outfitters and bait shops in the area rent electronics by the day.   On the Rainy River... The Rainy River is still producing some nice walleyes and saugers, primarily in the mornings and evenings.  A jig and minnow working well.   Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing continues to be good for those targeting them.  An oversized hole, or three holes drilled together, with nightcrawlers or frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig fished on the bottom are what anglers are using.     Ice conditions on the river can vary significantly due to the current. To stay safe and maximize success, always work with a local resort or outfitter familiar with river conditions.    Up at the NW Angle... Ice fishing continues to be very good up at the Northwest Angle. Resorts have fish houses set up on various pieces of structure as well as adjacent to structure in deep mud.  A consistent mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and tullibees in the mix.     Shallow structure is best right away in the morning and as the sun starts going down in the late afternoon.  Mud is more of a slower bite but all day.   The ice road from Jerry's on the mainland (Angle Inlet, MN) to island resorts (as of this past week) was open to 1 ton vehicles.  Guests drive right to their island resort after picking up a road pass at Jerry's or Point North Services.  Venmo is also available at all resorts.  Work through your resort for specifics.   Ice fishing is in full swing across Lake of the Woods and there are openings for lodging, fish house rentals, sleeper fish house rentals and meal plans across the area.  Ice fishing is extended on LOW with fish houses allowed on the ice through March 31st, walleye / sauger season open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes.  
    • Brianf.
      From your fingertips to God's ears...  Finally got some snow!   Several inches of new snow fell before and during the weekend.  Sunday eve when we left, the high winds had already begun to create some drifting on the lake.  It was fun riding for sure.  Lots of folks on the lake this past weekend too.  We fueled up the sleds at Shamrock and saw as many people fishing in that area as I've ever seen in the Winter on Lake Vermilion.     Our weekend results were decent.  Jeff and I and a buddy caught probably 50 walleyes between the three of us, mostly fishing a jig/plastics with our three biggest being 24", 25", and 25.5".  We also got one large pike of unknown length.  During the midday on Sunday, we targeted whitefish and Jeff managed one big one.  We released all of our fish, except for three small walleyes that our buddy wanted to bring home for a meal.  Definitely a fun weekend on Lake V!   
    • leech~~
      The Vikings are the Vikings so it's nothing new.  It is kind of sad that Darnold's off season stock is now going to drop like a rock after these last two games. It kind of shows he's not a big game guy.  🤔
    • smurfy
      I'm blaming leech... his food selection has been lacking game days recently  🤣
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