Little Bay de Noc Fishing Reports

Steve L · Senior Member

terminal tackle for early ice walleyes and perch

Fin-Addict · Veteran Member

I spool up 20/6 power pro on my reels and add a 3 foot leader of 10# Seagar Leader Line using either a small SPRO hyper swivel or a double uni-knot. I like to change lures somewhat frequently so I use a small snap on the end. I use palomar knots wherever possible. I only fish in a heated shanty and this setup works great but it won't work well outside in the cold because the power pro will freeze up.

Lure selection depends on where I'm fishing. Fishing rock piles in super clear water I prefer jigging spoons (in a variety of colors) over anything else. My favorites are Williams Wablers (for shallow low current areas) and Moonshine Jigging spoons (for deeper areas). I tip the hooks with minnow heads and jig pretty aggressive but will change up the action depending on the mood of the fish. I like to get them to chase the bait upward and a lot of times I lift fish 5 - 15 feet off the bottom before they will bite.

In dirtier water or along the base of steep dropoffs I use swimming baits like jigging raps, shiver minnows, and ice darters. I've probably had my best luck over the years using a #9 jigging rap in glow color modified with black stripes and a red head and tail and that's been my "go to" bait for many years. I usually don't tip these that often and jig them really aggressively but somedays tipping with a minnow head or whole minnow is the way to go.

Good luck-

-- Edited by Fin-Addict on Saturday 4th of December 2010 01:12:41 PM

jbryer10 · Member

I use fireline on my jiggin rods.. I often use 4lb fireline... which is like 20 lb mono if you use the palomar.. Then as above a 3 ft leader (i like flurocarbon) with a barrel swivel and snap for quick changes. During the daylight hours I like to jig shinny spoons with a head (sometimes the tail is the trick) I always jig aggresive with short sharp snaps to get a ton of flash goin.. when a fish comes up you just pull the lure away at the same speed he's chasing the jig and they usually comit. Sometimes you don't even see them on a flasher they come in and smash it right away. If you get them to follow wihtout biting they will usualy come back when you go back to what you were doing... if all else fails very subtle twitches and sometimes doing nothing will get them to go. When that don't work I go to the other rod sitting next to me already set to go with th #9 firetiger.... I always have two rods ready to rock at any givin time, sometimes three... Like fin said it is fun to get them to follow your lure way up but I have had some frustrating times out there when the just will not snap.. have the spare rod ready rigged differently.. Even using the back end of the minnow instead of the head has made the difference for me. At dark I love firetiger raps and just last year I had good results on some nights with glow red spoons.

jbryer10 · Member

I forgot to add... when your line goes slack SET THE HOOK!!! haha
I can't fricken wait

-- Edited by jbryer10 on Saturday 4th of December 2010 07:53:09 PM

Steve L · Senior Member

Okay so sometimes tipping, anyone try tipping with Gulp Alive minnows? The bigger ones or the little 1 inch minnow? How about using using a bare hook/ split shot/ gulp minnow or live minnow? This could be interesting. confuse