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CATCHING CRAPPIE IN COLD WEATHER
Ice Fishing
 Editor’s
Note: Bob Jones from Piqua, Ohio, fishes the crappie
circuits and is as addicted to crappie fishing as a
birddog is to finding quail. Unlike most crappie fishermen
who sit next to the fire during the winter months, Jones
goes out and tries to find papermouths even in the worst
weather. Where he lives in Ohio, often the lakes will
freeze up. But luckily for the last few years he's found
open water, even in January. He may not be so lucky
this year with all the ice and snow storms in his part
of the country since the first of the year. This week
Jones will give his tactics for catching crappie through
the ice.
When I go ice fishing, I go to the lakes where I regularly
fish. I know where the structure is in them because
I've marked it with my GPS (global positioning system)
hand-held receiver. I don't use my depth finder, although
many fishermen do, to locate structure and the fish
through the ice. When my fishing buddies and I arrive
at the spot we want to fish, we use the B'n'M Sharp
Shooter poles, a new pole that B'n'M came out with last
year. You can buy this pole in 4-1/2-, 5- or 5-1/2-foot
sizes. When we're fishing through the ice, we like the
4-1/2-foot pole. We vertical jig with either a 1/8-
or a 1/4-ounce weight at the bottom of the line and
two ice jigs tied up further on the line and tipped
with a wax worm.
 If
you're going to ice fish for crappie, before you leave
home, call the lake. Make sure you have safe ice. Generally
most of the bait shops around the lake are more than
happy to tell you where the crappie are biting. Remember
that bait shop owners want you to be successful and
catch fish because if you're catching crappie, then
they'll sell lots of bait. Therefore, usually you can
get reliable information from local bait shops about
where to fish. When you reach the spot where you're
planning on fishing, many times you'll see three or
four other fisherman on the ice at the same spot. Fishermen
usually fish where fish are biting, particularly out
on the ice.
The one thing I've have learned about ice fishing is
rarely do I return to the same spot where I've caught
crappie the day before. I've never been able to duplicate
a catch fishing out of the same hole on a second day.
I usually look for a new spot and drill a new hole to
fish through, if I'm fishing for two consecutive days.
Ice fishing for crappie is a much more iffy deal than
trolling for crappie because you can't move as much
when you ice fish as you can when you have open water
and are fishing out of a boat. Fishing through the ice
we don't catch nearly as many crappie as we do when
we're trolling open water. Eight to 10 crappie is generally
a good day when ice fishing. Of course, our day of fishing
is much shorter when we're ice fishing. We don't fish
as long as we do when we fish out of a boat because
we so much colder ice fishing than we do boat fishing.
My friends and I never have gotten serious enough about
ice fishing to purchase an ice house, although many
fishermen do.
 Another
secret to finding crappie when you're fishing on the
ice is to call the lake patrol or your state's department
of natural resources. Since these folks are out on the
ice every day, they'll often be able to tell you what
part of the lake seems to be producing the most crappie
and at what depth the crappie seem to be biting best.
I want all the information I can get about where the
crappie are and how to catch them before I arrive at
the lake in cold weather. If you're sitting out on the
lake, not getting any bites and the weather is really
cold, you're not going to have much fun and certainly
won't be fishing for very long.
Editor's Note: Another tactic that consistently produces
crappie for many northern ice fishermen is to use the
coordinates you've stored in your hand-held GPS receiver
where you've marked brush, drop-offs, ledges or any
other structure that may hold crappie to return to those
locations once the lake freezes up. Then using an ice
auger, drill a test hole, put a portable depth finder
on the side of the hole, and place your transducer down
in the hole.
To get the most-accurate reading, be certain that the
transducer is sitting level and still down under the
ice. Look at your depth finder to learn if you've located
the structure and the crappie. If you're over the crappie
and have your depth finder on its highest level of sensitivity,
you often you can see your ice jig as it goes down under
the water. Perhaps you'll even spot the crappie taking
the ice jig on the screen of your depth finder. That's
when you set the hook, even though you haven't felt
the bite. Using this technique, ice fishing for crappie
almost becomes a video game.
Many crappie fishermen who fish in the far North where
the lakes freeze so hard that anglers may can drive
vehicles on them, will ride around the lake and drill
several test holes at the waypoints they've stored in
their GPS receivers. Once they find the crappie, they
start fishing for them. When the crappie quit biting
or no longer appear on the depth finder, the crappie
fishermen will move to their other holes and see if
the crappie have moved into those spots and start fishing
in the areas where they find the fish.
 If
the ice isn't hard enough to support a vehicle, you
can use the same tactic but rather have a sleigh to
pull your portable ice house. Go to the section of the
lake where you have the most waypoints close together.
Taking your ice auger out of your sleigh, drill holes
at each of the waypoints where you've located crappie
in the past. You can walk from waypoint to waypoint,
pulling your sleigh behind you. After you've drilled
several holes, check each hole for fish. Once you locate
the crappie, set up your portable ice house to fish
for the crappie. When the fish stop biting, fold up
your portable ice house, and drag your ice house, auger
and sleigh to the next hole and look for fish. This
wintertime crappie-fishing tactic enables you to be
extremely mobile and fish several locations within the
same general area and often catch more fish.
The real secret to success with this ice-fishing method
is to know you have a portable depth finder that is
extremely sensitive and get your transducer level over
the hole. Then you'll get maximum sensitivity to see
the structure and the fish holding on or near the structure.
To learn more about B’n’M poles, go to
www.bnmpoles.com
TOMORROW: MISTAKES CRAPPIE FISHERMEN MAKE IN THE WINTER
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