Its important to remember fish dont eat constantly, and even if you find them when their not in feed mode, its no guarantee they will bite. I notice they will swim away from a lure and seem to get spooked by it when their not on the hunt.
Probably seeing their prey approaching them or in their bedroom makes them sketchy. Maybe Im giving them too much mental credit, but it does make sense.
When I get to a hole and dont see or get bites soon after, Ill drop a rippin rap to the bottom and rip it up like 3 feet fast. Let it drop and repeat 2-3 more times. Then add a pause and watch the flasher. Ill do that whole deal say 3-4 times then switch to a jigging spoon, often with a 8 line between spoon and treble with minnow. Ill keep my line tight so I can feel bottom, and drop the spoon on bottom repeatedly. Ill try to find a rock and some mud. This will kick up a bit of silt which will trigger lots of fish. And the banging to attract.
I have thousands in tackle, yet I use $20 worth 95% of the time. Im a sucker for buying crankbaits, lol. I will often tip a whole minnow on a lipless crankbait, head hook to head of minnow and rear to rear. Sometimes Ill let the rear hook off and that imitates the fry (crankbait) eating a minnow ( distracted prey ).
This is for Walleye and pike, but sized down can work for other fish.
Years ago I started looking at the Solunar calander ( this one is great
http://www.solunarforecast.com/solunarcalendar.aspx ) and after going back through years of pictures and cross referencing date and times with the calendar it was like over 60% right, maybe even more. By right I mean in the Major time of day (tidal).
If you think about tidal forces on stuff like shrimp, bugs, plankton etc, the effect seems noteworthy. Since baitfish move to find those food sources, and our target fish move to baitfish, the connection is easy to see.
Thats not to say I wont fish on a normal day or catch fish out of the Major or Minor times of day. Yet I catch on to the times of day the Walleye move in to my spot and its like clockwork. They will cruise an area while feeding, so were usually waiting for the next pass while sitting in our tents.
I recommend the Linder Brothers book Catching Fish. One line I remember is to think of fish as a land animal, and essentially ignore the water. You wont find deer in the middle of a low grass field, in plain sight resting, normally. And you wont find them hunkered down between trees feeding. They move from a resting area to a feeding area, and fish are the same.
A natural way to think about fish is they are just at random spots and either dont move much at all, or theyve moved across the lake as far as possible, lol. Now that we have crazy sonar and bathymetric maps, scouting fish is on a whole new level. And you can do it in your underwear at 2 am, nowhere near the lake.
Im not sure why I went off on that giant rant / advice, but oh well. I agree with everything else in this thread, and if you dont see them, its just a waiting game. All you can do is ring the dinner bell.
How long are you fishing a certain presentation (Ice Fishing)
Hybrid Mode
