# Help with ice fishing at night.



## THEFISHHUNTER (Jan 26, 2008)

We are trying to figure out some night fishing tactics for crappie. We usually head in at dark but the local inland lake we fish for perch and bluegills aparently has some crappie. 

How do you fish with a coleman lantern on the ice? What depth are the crappie typically at? What bait do we use? Should I buy a sonar flasher? 

We fish inside a homemade 6 person shanty. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.


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## wildcoy73 (Mar 2, 2004)

Keep the lantern on low.
Each lake is a bit diffrent on bait, but for most a small glow jig and minnows.
Depth can be any where from the botom to the surface when fishing crappie.
Yes a fish finder will help out alot.
With out the fishfinder you often will pass up alot of fish just under the ice. and than you are in the constant search of where did they go. This happened last night the crappie started 12 feet off the bottom, than moved to 4 feet below the surface, and than would go to the bottom in 30 feet of water. And than start moving around again. With the fasher I was able to get the three of us a limit each in two hours. Without the flasher he would of been in for a long night.


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

Most of the time, I fish crappie the bite turns on about 7 p.m. and goes until the wee hours of the morning, if you want to be serious about crappie fishing a flasher or sonar is a MUST. Crappie are typicall suspended in the water column. 

I fish typicall 15-20 FOW for them and catch them between 10 and 16 FOW. 

I have never had a problem with the lantern on high or low, mine is always on high and usually have two running.

Bait: minnows, spikes, waxies and mousies they all work it depends on their mood and feeding habits at the moment.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

Set up over deep holes with a soft bottom. Use slip bobbers that are just big enough to stay afloat when your hook is baited.

Keep the lantern on it lowest setting. Start fishing with one rod two to three feet off the bottom, and the other halfway between the bottom and the ice. Then adjust accordingly.

Use some sort of sonar to help you see what's going on under the ice. 

Too clear up a bit of confusion that I'm seeing posted lately. All flashers are sonar, but not all sonars units are flashers. Flasher just referrs to a way of displaying sonar. Then new, better, and less expensive sonar units will display both chart/graph and flasher modes. This is the type of unit you want to get, and use it in chart mode.


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## chuckwagon157 (May 17, 2008)

ih772 said:


> Then new, better, and less expensive sonar units will display both chart/graph and flasher modes. This is the type of unit you want to get, and use it in chart mode.


Just curious. what is chart mode and what makes it better?


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## Quack Wacker (Dec 20, 2006)

chuckwagon157 said:


> Just curious. what is chart mode and what makes it better?


 
Chart mode is just like what you use in the summer. For ice fishing you just turn off the automatic settings and turn the ping speed to 100% so it is real time. It is like watching an EKG maching on your heart rate. You can see how agressive the fish are by how fast the come to your lure and at what angle. Stepper the better. Fish will show as solid lines and the thickness and color will show you how big the fish is or can give you an estimate. It is more fun to watch and can add some excitment to the ice. It also can allow you to distinguish between bait fish and actual fish that you are targeting so you aren't wasting your time.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

Chart mode/graph mode are the same thing. In this mode you don't have to keep staring at the screen to see whats happening. It allows you to look back in time several seconds to see what's going on.

Here are some examples of chart or graph mode.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

I'm going to head out somewhere tonight. I'll take some video and show what aggressive fish and neutral fish look like, and I'll show you what fish outside of the sonar cone look like too. I'll also show how I like to set my sensivity in the weeds so that fish signals look different from weeds.


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## sea nympho (Aug 7, 2006)

It's very important to balance SENSITIVITY *&* COLORLINE.

And make sure to use *"ICEVIEW".*

The bottom should be RED to yellow, weeds should be Black to blue, the bait should be black/blue or/green. Fish should be green on the outside of your sonar cone and change to yellow and red when near your bait at the center of that cone. 

All this so you can distinguish targets from bait, big fish from small, hard bottom from soft, weeds from fish, etc... 

If you know what your cone width is per depth (see chart in the owners manual), you can even figure out the slope of the drop-off your sitting on!! :coolgleam

This is where modern dsp tft graph sonar units shine over antiquated flahsers. It takes patience and practice to master, like anything else.


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## wildcoy73 (Mar 2, 2004)

ih722:
Looks like you need to move to another hole. the one your fishing is bare.
Plus it will help to put a bait in the water.

The unit does not matter as much as being able to read what is down below ya. flashers are a great tool and are still in use on alot of the current bass boat. Must be a reason for that.
I was scared of flashers the first time i used one, but after usinfg them for a bit I have become good at reading them and can use this to my advantage to catch fish.


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## sea nympho (Aug 7, 2006)

wildcoy73 said:


> ...are still in use on alot of the current bass boat. Must be a reason for that.


Yeah, they sponsor pro's!! :evil:

I really don't "Grass-Fish" that much. :lol: 

And if I do, I'll be just fine w/ my 502.


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## trapper_max (Jul 23, 2007)

thefishhunter said:


> should i buy a sonar flasher?


  yes


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## buck-killer08 (Jan 1, 2009)

The best way i catch crappie is with minnow. Doesnt really matter what you keep the lantern on as long as you are warm. The depth i usually catch crappie at is a foot or two off the bottom, just keep jiggin it, they will usually take it as soon as you lower the bait to the bottom. Good luck


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## wmu1989 (Jul 6, 2008)

crappie suspend up and down the entire water colum. A unit such as a vexilar is a must otherwise you'll be fishing blind. It does not matter if your lantern is on high!! I use a submersible light to attract them. I like to use a slip bobber with a minnow on one pole and jig with minnow on another.


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## Mike sands (Mar 19, 2001)

My best crappies spots at night typically are at the base of the deepest drop on a given lake. Most of them I fish this is typically 30-40 feet deep. Depth on water column could be anywhere, I have caught them 2' under the ice over 40' of water. Usually big ones up there. Hands down Minnows with glow jigs or plane very small treble are best for me. Generally do not jig them much, just adjust the minnow so it is 1 or 2' above where the crappie sits on the vexilar and they will come up and inhale it.


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## THEFISHHUNTER (Jan 26, 2008)

Thank you all for your help. Everyone had very useful information. I'm gonna give it a try this week. My next project is to mount my fisheasy 320c to a box, mount the transducer to that and see if i can start marking some fish. I know a vex is the way to go but my owners manual stated it would work for ice fishing or stationary fishing. I just have a few adjustments to make on it is all.

Thanks again.


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## sea nympho (Aug 7, 2006)

THEFISHHUNTER said:


> I know a vex is the way to go


*NOT!!!*

I bought a VEX, tired it, has great user interface, that's all I can say for it - it works.

Get your 320 rigged-up for ice and take it out a few times, *you'll see*!


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