New Ice fisher man

[Iceman_03]

Hello I am new to this great thing called Ice fishing and I was wondering if any one could give me any pointers on walleye. I have used rapalas with minows on the Saginaw river but that was it is there any other types of bait that I could use to catch them. I went out the other day and I didnt catch a thing. My father in law caught a 20 incher and I was pretty bummed. Any thing at all would be greatly appriciated

[Rat City Hooker]

Welcome to the site.I am a newbe myself.Theres an outing going on today at the z brdge. Go to post saginaw river 2-24-03 by slammer00 for info.

[east bay ed]

fishing for walleye through the ice is no different then in open water. thousands of lures to choose from. the big ones are
buckshot rattle spoon
jigging rap
swedish pimple
do jigger
slender spoon
crippled herring
loco spoon
nils mastern jigger
the best bet is to find one you like and stick to it. i know a number of guys who fish lead head jigs on the river through the ice.
just find one you like and fish like mad.

[jigworm]

If you fish with jigs use a stinger hook. You'll increase your hookups when they are biting short.

[MichiganMike5]

Start with a good quality Rod 'N Reel combo. I use 24-30" Graphite or a good Med/Heavy action Fiberglass with plenty of Backbone for Shanty fishin. I like the Walleye Ice rods from St.Croix. Spool up with one of the new superlines available today, they offer smaller diameter, greater tensile strength, low memory, virtually no stretch and Great abrasion resistance. I go with 6 or 8 pound Berkley Fireline, It's expensive but in my opinion, also the most important as it is the link to your lure and the fish. Bear in mind that I am typically jigging 1/2 to 1 oz. spoons in 30 - 70 fow. Guys fishin in shallower or stained water may have a completely different suggestion.
This year the 1/2 and 3/4 oz. hammered Nickle Hopkins spoons have been real good to me, my next choice would be a toss up between a Crippled Hearing or a Swedish Pimple, All with single treble hooks tipped with a blue shiner head. If I'm not marking anything on the Vex, I'll snatch the spoons fast and high off bottom allowing the spoon to settle back on a slack line to draw in fish, then when they begin to move in I'll switch to a shorter jigging action of maybe a foot or two off bottom, hits typically are on the drop, watch your line, if lure stops before expected on the drop...set the hook!
I hope this helps, Good luck and tight lines to ya.

Mike

[jeremy L]

welcome to the site, you will be hooked in no time.

East Bay Ed, I see your list and that covers alot of the walleye tackle, but you didn't montion cleos. I have caught most of my eyes, even if they have been small, on cleos. Best for me has been 1/4 ounce blue/silver cleo tipped with a whole minnow. just jig it up and down slowly. Also, perch love them tipped with minnow heads. Doesn't anyone else use cleos for eyes/perch,oh they are also great brown/steelie lure too?

[walleyeman]

Boy are you at the right place. This is the spot for good info. I am new here myself and I wished I had found it alot sooner. Just the info I have read in the reply to your post is good stuff. My advice is see if you can go with someone who knows your lake or river. They know where to go, what works best, and when it works.
By the way Jeremy L, I use cleo's. Have about 10 of them in my ice tackle box.