01-10-2006, 01:27 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Finding them is always the key. I tried them briefly on one trip just after the marina iced over. Didn't fish the whole marina, just around the main docks. We saw fish, but had no bites.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crappies do come into the north marina pretty good during the winter months, and they do hit all year. Sometimes the schools suspend and just hang anywhere out in open water. Other times they stay around and under the docks. Sonar is absolutely necessary.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Until they warm up in the spring and start to get ready for the "spring fling", they are slow biters. You have to fish them just like ice fishing. If you have a long "crappie rod", one of those 12 foot "dip sticks", you can keep your boat back away from the docks and drop your offerings quietly next to the docks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once your sonar tells you how deep the crappies are holding, you should rig a small slip bobber to keep your jigs at the upper end of the range they are holding. They will move slightly up to hit, but will not go down to get the jigs. You also need to watch that bobber closely. Sometimes it will just twitch. Other times it will move only an inch or so across the water, without sinking.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Use TINY jigs or ice flies, tipped with waxies or meal worms. They will hit small bits of crawlers or minnows, but you will usually do better at this time of year with a juicy waxie.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In prospecting, you can start at the inlet to the marina, along the deep cut dredged in the opening and then just keep sonaring in a zig zag pattern until you mark some fish. If you find some, stay back and toss out a marker buoy for reference. Sometimes, if you are anchored and quiet, the fish will move under your boat, but not often.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If the fish are not anywhere in the open, then work along all the edges of the docks. Those silly crappies can be anywhere from as little as two or three feet deep to clear out in 13 feet, off the ends of the docks. If there is bright sunshine, they will usually be on the "shady side", or around the inside corners.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you are anchored up, you might want to use your two pole permit to hang a minnow down near the bottom for any stray wipers or walleyes that come wandering by. Heck, you can even catch chilly kitties in the marina during the winter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crappies do come into the north marina pretty good during the winter months, and they do hit all year. Sometimes the schools suspend and just hang anywhere out in open water. Other times they stay around and under the docks. Sonar is absolutely necessary.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Until they warm up in the spring and start to get ready for the "spring fling", they are slow biters. You have to fish them just like ice fishing. If you have a long "crappie rod", one of those 12 foot "dip sticks", you can keep your boat back away from the docks and drop your offerings quietly next to the docks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Once your sonar tells you how deep the crappies are holding, you should rig a small slip bobber to keep your jigs at the upper end of the range they are holding. They will move slightly up to hit, but will not go down to get the jigs. You also need to watch that bobber closely. Sometimes it will just twitch. Other times it will move only an inch or so across the water, without sinking.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Use TINY jigs or ice flies, tipped with waxies or meal worms. They will hit small bits of crawlers or minnows, but you will usually do better at this time of year with a juicy waxie.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In prospecting, you can start at the inlet to the marina, along the deep cut dredged in the opening and then just keep sonaring in a zig zag pattern until you mark some fish. If you find some, stay back and toss out a marker buoy for reference. Sometimes, if you are anchored and quiet, the fish will move under your boat, but not often.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If the fish are not anywhere in the open, then work along all the edges of the docks. Those silly crappies can be anywhere from as little as two or three feet deep to clear out in 13 feet, off the ends of the docks. If there is bright sunshine, they will usually be on the "shady side", or around the inside corners.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you are anchored up, you might want to use your two pole permit to hang a minnow down near the bottom for any stray wipers or walleyes that come wandering by. Heck, you can even catch chilly kitties in the marina during the winter.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Good luck.[/#0000ff]
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