Late season fishing changes

[Jays toyz]

Heading to slave again this weekend and had good success setting up camp in 20 feet of water but after the last trip, most of the shacks had moved to deeper water by the time I left. Granted by then the pressure had risen to 103.3 and the fish at 20 feet had stopped showing up at all on sonar

What are your feelings on high pressure and fish behaviour? The internet says they go shallow to relieve the pressure but that didn't track with my anicdotal evidence.

Made me think about behavior changes as the the light levels increase. Finding a consensus on the internet is impossible but what do you find changes in fish behaviour in the early spring? Burbot I understand move deeper in general but come into the shallows (15 to 20 to spawn?)

Perch? Deeper or shallower than a month ago?

I have noticed that when the fishing stops for me at 20 feet, the guys at 30 feet are drilling new holes, which leads me to believe its not a 'me' problem but an 'us' problem, and the fish start biting for me again in a few hours.

[58thecat]

Its all I know is you have to be on the hunt. I have seen so many scenarios that went against weather patterns, moon phases etc that I just drill and move until I find active fish or signs of good potential.
Never was one to hit a lake and sit on numbers as in ice shacks etc....people are like cattle in some cases....good luck and catch'em up!

[AlbertanGP]

As a very general rule of thumb ice fishing starts shallow, moves deeper during the February doldrums, and then moves shallower again in March.

Having said that, no one has ever sat the fish down and explained that to them so they can be anywhere. They also have a nasty habit of not being where they should at any given time of year.

If you're not seeing fish at 20' and the guys at 30' are punching holes all day, I'd definitely be looking shallower. Following the masses on Slave Lake is not a recipe for success. There were a lot of lemmings on that ice when I used to live there.

[mlee]

I keep track of weather conditions moon phases etc and make notes all the time. Started doing this years ago because we typically drive 2-4 hours every time we go fishing and we fish as a family with a toddler so it's a lot of effort just to get out. Figuring out how to maximize succes became a priority pretty quickly lol.
Barometric pressure is the single biggest influence on fish behavior imo and most people (including myself somedays) just have trouble figuring things out on bad pressure days. Sustained high pressure is just a bad day fishing and that can continue for up to 48 hours after the pressure stabilizes. I don't buy into the high pressure fish shallow low pressure fish deep theory as much as I buy into the fact that high pressure conditions cause fish to just stop feeding due to the extra pressure on their organs and that is what may push them up shallower out of their normal comfort and feeding areas. When they do feed the windows are short and specific.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by mlee

I keep track of weather conditions moon phases etc and make notes all the time. Started doing this years ago because we typically drive 2-4 hours every time we go fishing and we fish as a family with a toddler so it's a lot of effort just to get out. Figuring out how to maximize succes became a priority pretty quickly lol.
Barometric pressure is the single biggest influence on fish behavior imo and most people (including myself somedays) just have trouble figuring things out on bad pressure days. Sustained high pressure is just a bad day fishing and that can continue for up to 48 hours after the pressure stabilizes. I don't buy into the high pressure fish shallow low pressure fish deep theory as much as I buy into the fact that high pressure conditions cause fish to just stop feeding due to the extra pressure on their organs and that is what may push them up shallower out of their normal comfort and feeding areas. When they do feed the windows are short and specific.

Maybe that is why we pop a lot of holes just to get that bite be it low/high or between pressure systems.
Funny the other day I iced 18 on a high pressure system that was kinda locked in but changed depths from 100-140 to find active takers all within 100 yards but also changed presentations to fine dial it in.

I think the best is to be active as we are looking through a 8-10 inch hole not like boating around with our eyes on our electronics.

Don’t get me wrong as I have been so many times when it comes to fishing
Sometimes I get stubborn and wait for them to come to me but if I was basing a fishing trip on numbers I would be all over the lake fortunately I like to kick back periodically too.

I know a few people that keep a log on all lakes they fish for all species and it proves itself over time too.

Always a student!


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[Curtsyneil]

The best time to go ice fishing is when the weather is crappy. Nice sunny days and blue skys the fish won’t bite as well. Never follow the fish calendar on full moons but pay attention to 1/4 moons and new moons. Like other have said finding active fish is the key.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

The best time to go ice fishing is when the weather is crappy. Nice sunny days and blue skys the fish won’t bite as well. Never follow the fish calendar on full moons but pay attention to 1/4 moons and new moons. Like other have said finding active fish is the key.

I got the fishing hole calendar and it’s out to lunch!



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[mlee]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Maybe that is why we pop a lot of holes just to get that bite be it low/high or between pressure systems.
Funny the other day I iced 18 on a high pressure system that was kinda locked in but changed depths from 100-140 to find active takers all within 100 yards but also changed presentations to fine dial it in.

I think the best is to be active as we are looking through a 8-10 inch hole not like boating around with our eyes on our electronics.

Don’t get me wrong as I have been so many times when it comes to fishing
Sometimes I get stubborn and wait for them to come to me but if I was basing a fishing trip on numbers I would be all over the lake fortunately I like to kick back periodically too.

I know a few people that keep a log on all lakes they fish for all species and it proves itself over time too.

Always a student!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lake trout its a bit different I think. I read an article about lake trout where they say it's more of a delayed chain reaction. Rising and sustained high pressure causes all the micro organisms and zoolankton and bugs etc to go dormant. Once they all go dormant the bait fish now have nothing to feed on so they go dormant.....now the baitfish are all dormant and the trout have a tough time feeding so they slow down until the lake turns over and then the chain reaction needs to reverse. I guess this whole start to finish process can take up to 72 hours....so if that's the case then a guy should be planning 3-4 days in advance.

[pikeman06]

Exactly what ecat says. March brings long daylight hours but sometimes the same short feeding periods. With this winter weather forget about water temperature. Weather has been horrible for consistent fishing as far as high-low pressure is concerned. The season will be over before it settles to what I would consider "steady high pressure". Forget the crowds, find a chunk of water that hasn't been fished all winter this time of year. Or go park in the middle of the community hole and wonder why anyone is fishing there and what you are doing wrong. Cameras are a good tool right now. I saw a pile of fish today but wouldn't have caught a dang thing if I couldn't have worked them. They were acting like low pressure, stubborn fish that like to sit and stare unless you get them riled up a bit. But they were moving all day. Just my observations. Running out of days to fish gotta work with what we have.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by mlee

Lake trout its a bit different I think. I read an article about lake trout where they say it's more of a delayed chain reaction. Rising and sustained high pressure causes all the micro organisms and zoolankton and bugs etc to go dormant. Once they all go dormant the bait fish now have nothing to feed on so they go dormant.....now the baitfish are all dormant and the trout have a tough time feeding so they slow down until the lake turns over and then the chain reaction needs to reverse. I guess this whole start to finish process can take up to 72 hours....so if that's the case then a guy should be planning 3-4 days in advance.

I use the same tactic for walleye too then again any species I chase just depends what I want in an outing, numbers I am moving until happy, not concerned about numbers I am content just to kick back and enjoy the day.

As mentioned the underwater camera can tell what species is coming in and the live imaging or 2d helps in locating them.

Good luck to the OP.