Crawling Valley ice fishing
 

Hello gents. Been ice fishing at Crawling a few times this year and have been catching walleye and pike. Popular lake as theres usually many others fishing. Typically I'm jigging with a jig head and a minnow in one hole and a tip up with a 6" smelt in the other. I dont have electronics and I've been usually in 10 to 20' of water. Like I said I've been catching fish but would like to target big pike. Been catching mostly 5 to 7 pounders. Are there big girls in there? How would I target them? Bigger bait? What about staying away from the crowds? Tips appreciated.

Go to Newell.

4-9 feet of water.

Buddy was there last week and caught a beauty 20lb, a couple in the 12lb range and several 4-6.

I keep hearing Newell is the place to go.

I've had decent success at crawling valley this winter and in the last few years. I'm usually fishing about 14' for walleye and 9'-10' for pike and have landed some decent ones. Nothing crazy but some in the 10lbs range. I usually try to find a saddle between two underwater humps or islands and it's been working well.

I've fished Newell in the summer, managed to get some pike and perch but nothing crazy. Any tips on where to find them? Just a general location or what type of structure to look for? Thanks

I was in 13foh when reeling in a few burbot there last weekend. Using a glow tube jig and minnows with a 1oz weight bouncing off the bottom

I’ve fished there a lot and never seen big pike. I don’t go after them and I’m not pretending to know what’s in there. Yet I can tell you if there’s 10+ lbs, there few and far between.
Mc Gregor, Travers, and Newell are where you want to go for size. Get some herring, pink smelts and minnows. Hang a herring or smelt on a quick strike type of rig, slightly head down. Tie it with 40 lbs or more fluorocarbon, yet 30 lbs would do I guess. Hang that on a tip up, and have good gloves by it. Hand fighting a 20 lb pike can be a challenge.
Get even a cheap used camera, but keep it above the lure, looking down. Big pike are picky I find, and easily spooked. Be setup at dawn, and be patient. You have better odds at staying at one spot, then hole hopping. Pike roam and they’ll come around. You can scout with a rod in the area. It pays to have a sturdy rod. An 8 in hole isn’t enough, but you can clover leaf a larger hole if 8 is all you have.
Remember you can’t handle big pike the same way you handle normal pike. You can’t gill them, hang them on a scale by the mouth, or be unprepared. I use a cradle / sling to weigh them, if everything goes good enough to do so. Big pike get big by being cautious, and the food is there. Their rare in part because they can easily die being caught, and especially out of water.
My wife caught a monster pike last summer. Pig wouldn’t fit in my xl net, and while I was lifting it, it flopped out and snapped the brand new hook off. My guess was it was close to 30 pounds. She was so upset because we didn’t get at least a picture. I remember learning the lesson that you need to fish to enjoy the time spent, not the bragging rights of a picture. Cameras are the worst thing that happened to fish, and especially now a days, everyone wants a photo shoot with their catch.
If your after big pike spend time preparing everything you’ll need before you leave. Be prepared for Moby Dick, cause there’s nothing worse than losing one that you only got a glimpse of, because you weren’t ready. Don’t fish for big fish for the pictures, and if your alone, forget about it unless you have a Gopro rolling.
Sorry for the rant, but I once was caught up in fishing for Instagram, rather than myself. It adds pressure, lots of disappointment and worse of all, you’ll end up killing a fish that could have been someone else’s glory.

Crawling Valley
 

We were out at Crawling Valley today and caught 2 Walleye and 9 Pike. Nothing big but had a great day. Biggest was just under 5 pounds. Cheers

Cvr
 

Awesome. Hoping to get out again soon.

Feb 21, 2020
 

Hahaha, so you were the other guy on the lake.... and I thought we were the only truck out there. I'll bet that was you, that we followed out at dusk?

It was a nice day; 22" of ice.....We caught a few pike and Walleye's...Nothing topped the 5 lb mark but close 4.13....

Havent fish Cvr lately but used to all the time. Caught many pike but never in the jumbo category, many walleye in the 5 to 10 lb range and lots of burbs with many of them close to 10 lbs as well. If I was looking for big pike Newell or a few other lakes around Brooks would be where I would spend my fishing days not Cv. I would go to CV for burbs though as it has always been good there.

No not us we were off before dusk

I'm heading this way today if anyone is interested.

CVR has been no kill for pike for only a few years. They will come with time!

CV does have big pike but they are not super common. I have not seen or caught any monster but 20lbs give or take a few pounds yes. My wife actually pulled a solid 20lbs casting off shore by the spillway a few years back. Best Ice fishing was 18lbs but I am not a big ice fishermen either.

Not my top choice for big pike and never has been but there is some good ones in there but you will earn them

Feb. 28, 2020
 

I was out yesterday. Slow day; the biggest pike was just under 5 lbs and the walleye were healthy, a couple at 4 lbs.

The north road coming in at 7:00 am was good.

Going out was VERY poor deep ruts and muddy. Take some extra water to wash your lights and windows off.

At the point where you drive onto the lake was 3" of pooling water.

Got to the car wash when I got home and spent $14 with a wand wash, then helped the attendant shovel up all the mud....:)

See any any burbot ? i was there myself last night and didn't see any.

I am trying for burbot as well.

I have watched videos and read info on them and still no luck. I have fished CVR at sun-up and sun-set weedy bottom, sandy and rocky bottom, deep water 40ft and shallow 8ft.

I have jigged and set it just inches off the bottom. Shiny spoons and minnows....Still no luck.

I caught one 2 years ago and I think it was just luck....hahaha

Please share your success recipe......:angry3: ....if you have one.... The above is mine, with no success...

ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED....

Good luck,

How’s the ice looking at CRV these days? Is there a bunch of water on the ice with this warm weather?

the ice will not be affected by this amount of heat for this short of a time period.

its not the main lake ice you should worry about, its the accesses. the one I came off tonight was starting to melt out pretty good. boat ramps, mud from the trails and traffic are chewing them up pretty good.

yup, definitely.

March 05, 2020
 

Today was my last opportunity to ice fish this season. Thanks to everyone who chimed in with your comments.

Cloudy and some wind, a few guys out at the south end, it just never warmed up to what the weatherman said...haha.

Access through the campground was good in the morning a sloppy in the afternoon.

Ice access onto the lake; at 8:00 am the ice was hard and showed no real signs of melting.
We were off the lake at 6:00 pm and still no ice issues, we drove right onto the boat ramp, no problems...

Ice depth was 22".

It was a slow fishing day; 6 pike and 1 walleye....all under 3 lbs.

Still never caught a Burbot....

Good luck,

Last weekend
 

Anyone targeting whites at Crawling? What depths are best to look for them?