sight fishing?

[hardwaterfan]

Hey ive been reading about sight fishing and i know it sounds like taking a big step backwards but i am really dying to try this. The shanty i got makes it pitch black and im really looking forward to doing some sight fishing this season.

Any tips or hints besides "drop bait, look"?

How deep of water can you see and sight fish in clear water?

I cant wait to try this. There is a shallow lake nearby where they stock small rainbow trout for fishing through the ice, they bite in like 5' of water so i think ill start there.

[WALLEYEvision]

How deep of water can you see and sight fish in clear water?
That really all depends on the lake and the amount of snow cover on the ice. I've ice fished lakes that were crystal clear and you can see bottom at 15 feet, on other lakes it was difficult to see down 7 or 8 feet at times.

The "drop bait & look" method works well for me. When you see fish in your hole, try different jigging techniques to see which one will get them to bite. Often times anglers use a wooden spearing decoy to attract perch into their holes on Lake St. Clair. Good luck!

[DaveW731]

I grew up fishing in 2'fow for perch on Saginaw Bay...it IS a blast!
A couple of ideas.
In shallow water, I believe it is important to minnimize any scraping, bumping, thumping, tapping or other sources of noise and vibration that can be transmitted through the ice. I have scattered schools of perch by accidentally dropping something on the ice, or by shifting my feet. You may even consider keeping your voice down, but I never noticed that talking caused any problems. I DID notice a problem, if I put a radio on the floor of the shanty, because of the physical contact with the ice.
Along the same line, try to minnimize the amount of walking and shifting of equipment that you do, when you change locations. BY ALL MEANS, USE AN AUGER AND NOT A SPUD!!!! I tend to be a bit more stationary in shallow water and focus more on attracting fish to me, vs. moving to find them, like I do in deeper water. I still move, but less frequently and as quietly as possible (think of still-hunting for deer). Since you may be moving less, consider using two poles: one with an attractor such as a flutter type spoon, that will have a lot of action with little verticle movement to "call" the fish in from a distance and then a second pole with a less aggressive rig (teardrop, jig), in case they need something less intimidating to trigger a strike. Try using barbless hooks. Little need for a barb, when the fish is out of the hole in 2 seconds. Minnimizes the movement needed to unhook the fish. Finally, use the lightest test of flouro line you can get away with.
In short, THINK STEALTH!
Hope this helps...
DaveW

[Ed Michrina]

On those cloudy days try shoveling the snow outside of the shanty infront of your holes. It helps let light in. I'll also shovel a (V) path about 20 foot or so one shovel wide to make it look natural.

[DanM]

Can't stress enough when fishing perch in 3' or less to get the jig back down there asap.....no barbs, no floats and light-line.

Typically I sight fish around 3/4 times I go out, anywhere from 1' to 6' of water for gills, sunnies and perch in the bays around Clair and the marinas.
Try to break away from the pack and you will increase your chances for success.

Nothing like playing keep away with big ole bucketmouth.

Tight-lines...

[hardwaterfan]

wow...i appreciate all the great advice. keep it coming. ;)

one thing that suprises me....being from a different area i guess fishing is different but when i go perch fishing on Lake Erie you got to be in at least 30' of water. i never heard of perch being so shallow. incredible!

[WALLEYE MIKE]

When fishing deeper than I can see, I use my camera. You would be amazed at how many times your bait is taken but feel and see (bobber) nothing. And of course you would be amazed at how many fish swim by and not take your bait.

Sight fishing can also teach you how little you need to move your rod to get some action down below. The slightest twitch is all you need.

[Radar420]

I agree with what Walleye Mike said

One other thing you might want to try is rigging up multiple rods. I personally do a lot of sight fishing for pike in about 12' of water. I like to keep at least two other rods with me already rigged with bait, that way when I see a nice crappie or bluegill come by to check out the pike bait I can reel in the pike lure and drop something a little more presentable down there (shiner or mousie). This method also works when certain fish are finicky if you have the extra rods riggged up with two different style/color jigs that way you can see how the fish react to different presentations

[Capnhook]

Hope you have your absorbent underwear on the first time a 15lb pike or a 20 lb muskie shows up in a flash, out of nowhere!! What a thrill!!!! Capnhook

[DaveW731]

Hope you have your absorbent underwear on the first time a 15lb pike or a 20 lb muskie shows up in a flash, out of nowhere!! What a thrill!!!! Capnhook
Or when a muskrat pops up in your shanty....almost dropped my pole down the hole when that happened last year :yikes:

[jeremy L]

LOL, last year while fishing in about 8 feet of clear/weedy water i was watching my cam. and all of a sudden all i could see on the screen was this huge pike head. Damm near fainted. Of course, it slowly swam by showing all of its 40+ inch body, never to be seen again.

[kbkrause]

One thing that I've tried a few times to get a little better depth perception is to drop a little canned corn down the hole. It makes seeing a fish swim by even easier.

[SEABASS4213]

yes nothing like watching a bass come in and playin with him but my favirote still is watchin all the perch comin in

[MiketheElder]

Start now collecting every eggshell you can get. Wash them out so you don't get a stinky mess. Drop eggshell crumbs down your hole and let them settle to the bottom. Makes a nice contrast, bright bottom below dark fish.

Fished near the beach at metro one year in about four feet of water. Saw either a huge perch or nice walleye stop right under my hole. I almost stuck my hand down there trying to grab it!

Mike

[Connor4501]

wow...i appreciate all the great advice. keep it coming. ;)

one thing that suprises me....being from a different area i guess fishing is different but when i go perch fishing on Lake Erie you got to be in at least 30' of water. i never heard of perch being so shallow. incredible!

I have caught perch out of 8", yes inches of water, on last ice on LSC...As long as there is enough water under ice to swim, they will move into less than a foot of water if the baitfish are doing the same...Quite a sight if there are patches of clear ice. You can literally see the schools of 20-50 perch moving around...Not the biggest mind you, (6-8"), but fun nevertheless...

[EXITPUPIL]

Sometimes on the saginaw bay you are fishing perch in shallow water. I know sound a vibration are the number one concerns but does the color of the parka you are wearing (bright orange for instance ) make a difference when the ice is very clear? Would a white parka spook the perch less through thin ice? Just curious (i have seen bright colors make trout more leary on small streams so I was just wondering).

M

[DaveW731]

Yes.
Even more important than color is movement, IMHO. An orange scarecrow will not scare fish, but a moving human in winter cammo will. A moving human in orange will scare them more than will a moving human in winter cammo.