Crappie Ice Fishing

[skanpercher32]

Im a little new at ice fishing and I really want to get into iceing for crappies. I want to know what equipment is best suited for the sport, such as tip ups, rods, lures, ect. Any techniques or tips I should keep in mind. Thanks for your time! 8)

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

tip ups or a light rod and reel. Use small minnows or eurolarvae for bait.

What is eurolarvae

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

The first thing you are going to want to get is a marcum or a vexilar flasher. Crappies tend to be suspended and the flasher is the best way to show true time throughout the entire water column. Aquaview came out with a pretty good unit this year called a VPG which goes for around 220 dollars. I got a marcum LX5 this year and it is truly awsome. I can actually see if my eurolarvae or wax worm falls off the hook.

Tip ups are mainly for larger preditor fish. I use an ultra light weight reel and a small ice fishing pole. Best baits are jigging rapala, a forage minnow and a small jigs.

How many lines can you fish in New York?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

How many lines can you fish in New York?

5 Tip-Ups,+ 2 Handlines..........

Or,....

2 Lines per Angler in Open Water.......

 

[Bass-A-Holic]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

Like everyone else said, jig a eurolarva with a small dart jig head, but i think you can get away without vexlar if you have a good map or know the lake. Talk to other fisherman to see where the fishing is good.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

How many lines can you fish in New York?

5 Tip-Ups,+ 2 Handlines..........

Or,....

2 Lines per Angler in Open Water.......

In Minnesota we have more lakes then anyone else and tighter fishing regs. We can only fish two lines in the winter and one in the summer. I envy you. A vex may not be necessary but with one you can test through ice water depth without drilling holes and outfish a person without a vex at least 10 to 1

 

[Bass-A-Holic]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

[/quote]
A vex may not be necessary but with one you can test through ice water depth without drilling holes and outfish a person without a vex at least 10 to 1
[/quote]

 

[Bass-A-Holic]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

[/quote]
A vex may not be necessary but with one you can test through ice water depth without drilling holes and outfish a person without a vex at least 10 to 1
[/quote]

Im didnt mean that i dont like vexlar, i love it, use it all the time. I was just thinking how when i started ice fishing i didnt have the money for that stuff, so i was just talking about nessesities.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

I fished many years without a flasher. I took my eagle graph off my boat and used it with a gell cell vex battery in the winter. Crappie are tough because they can be suspended and they can be anywhere in the water column. I agree with you bass a holic that ice fishing can be done without a vex however it is tough when fishing for fish that will become aggressive when they are suspended.

 

[Barlow]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

Just a little FYI -

The old original Lowrance "Green Box" flasher units dating back to the 1950's work terrific if you're tight on $$ and you want to become a little more savy on the ice. You can pick em up for @ $30 complete and in great condition on ebay.. finding them anywhere else will be near impossible.

I'd suggest getting the unit I found a picture of above.. they're a bit more friendly to use than the single depth dial than this one:

notice 25' mark is at 3 o'clock compared to @ 5 o'clock on the model I posted first.


Note: you can rig a rechargeable solid cell/gell battery like what the Vexilar unit uses for @ $20 .. - a good justifiable investment since they use 2 of the old disposable 6 volt lantern batteries.

good luck

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

I agree with the cheap flasher idea. Them 6 volt throw away batteries are terrible. They loose their charge if you dont use them and even when you do use them they never seem to have enough power. For about 1/2 the weight a vex or aquaview battery can be had at gander mountain. The first 5 years of my ice fishing I used the graph off my boat with a gell cell and put it in a collapsable cooler with hand warmers to keep the display warm. Any way to see suspended fish is the way to go. I typically fish the bottom but when crappie show up on the flasher or graph it is time to find that depth and fish there.

 

[koolerb]

Re: Crappie Ice Fishing

skanpercher32 - Let me know where you went and how you did. I'm moving up to Syracuse in about three weeks and I'd like to give ice fishing a try.