Lake Arthur Help Me!

Hey guys been reading the posts for awhile now but never really registered as a user. I do got a question. I have fished lake arthur twice this year and about three times last year. I usually go to the west side of the bridge where i see people alwas catching fish. I walked up the one time to see a bucket full of crappies. Either i really suck or just unlucky. I caught two bluegills all day at the same spot where that guy was killing the crappies. Is the best bet to go to McDaniel's and follow the crowd?

We fished McDaniels on Saturday 01-24-08........went there to stay out of the wind. Had tip-ups and jigging rods in without a bite in nearly five hours of fishing. We packed it and went to 528 to see if anyone there was doing any better.........the place was deserted. If we fish the dead sea this weekend we will go deep over the old 422 bridge......if not we will go th Wilhelm.

Find the brush piles along the roadbeds and you'll be into some real nice panfish and bass.

If you want walleye and big perch fish the drop offs from 17' to 25 FOW. Get a map of the lake and find these areas. We have been getting some real nice eyes and perch as of late and a few weeks ago caught some real nice panfish. Good Luck, it's not the dead sea if you learn the lake!

Fly Chaser,
 
If it's ok to ask, what is a good technique for catching eyes through the ice. 

I tried to use tip ups with big shiners and fatheads not even a nibble! Dang fish

Sorry guys, I've given all the info I can. I was shown this spot from an older gentleman who has fished Author all his life, I was sworn to secrecy. I couldn't beleive it either. There are some monster walleye and perch in there. Be patient and fish the weather patterns, the worse the weather the better.

hey e man if you are still on here let me know i still have shanty for sale

Fishwithkids...Read the post by eyeball...

http://forums.fishusa.com/Snow_on_Ice/m_160832/tm.htm
 
Arthur is far from being the DEAD SEA. Without spot burning just look at your map again. Structure not cover is the key. Points & humps adjacent to deep water. Your fishing too deep for the conditions we have this year. You WON'T pick this lake a part in 6 hrs. I've been living within a two miles of Arthur for over 15 years & spend 3 or more days week on it through the entire year. I'm still learning. Stay mobile and keep moving. Leave the tip ups until you find them. Shiners are great for bass & crappies....suck for walleyes. We do better with jigging raps, sonars & cicadas with the head of a large fathead or small chub. Enough said...keep at it.
Tom
 

Fishwithkids..I also wonder about this lake.I would not call it the dead sea yet, but i cant seem to get the pattern of these fish!I have logged over 20 hours of ice time (have to work too much) on this lake with little success.Tried different places(528---Mcdaniels areas),different depths, different baits, but have yet to "get on these fish".I obtained a structure map from the PA.fish & boat site, use gps cord. to navigate to these areas, fished the structure, the drop offs on points by deep water (with structure) with limited success.We did ice a few perch (no monsters) & a few blue gills came to hand.There was also a group of fellows fishing the same area, between us & them we had covered almost a 100 sq yard area for 6+ hours and only saw 2 bass pulled Thur the ice.The tip ups were moved from spot to spot, all holes jigged with various baits, a very slow bite that day.On the + side i only have a hand auger & you get a good work out blazing yet another hole.I will keep trying, something has got to give.In the mean time please keep all your posts coming, the info. on here does help us alot.

I alwas wonder about lake Arthur. But i will never forget last year middle of summer going there and wading out towards the church.. Had a big jig head on with some dead shiners just going out having a good time. Caught a striper, three smallies, three largemouth, and about a 14 inch perch, all in about two hours it was the best time i've ever had. It was just something to do to get out of the house but man was it fun.

To all.........the lake is what it is.........hard to fish.....I have fished this lake for twenty years.....best during hard water......worst during summer....aside from striper action. I have fished Shannon when you could see the weeds under you through the ice.........and have set through storms on Nealy's point. The lake is hard to pattern for good fish. The best we have done is a 28.5 lb musky off of Nealy's on the tracks........fluke..... it took a first timers tip up with a shiner and left my 7" chub 20 feet away alone....maybe it's me! This year is the first that I have fished since my kids were born.....a lapse of eight years. On Sunday as I sat soaking up the sun (watching my two bear cubs jig) when we fished (before kids) our party was five. Five strong guys with nothing better to do than drill holes.....figure at least 50 a day minumum.....two guys on an auger. Now it is just me.....and drilling holes is minimal therefore less ice to cover. As I thought about it.....it dawned on me that somewhere in the attic of my shop was a Lowrance Flasher.....I found it! Now I just have to get a battery out of one of my tractors and we will hit the ice again on Saturday.........I will let you know!

Update..........fished the point off of the dam at McDaniels on Saturday......flasher showed no fish at all........fished 8' to 24' of water......guys beside me had a camera.....one dink perch that would not bite. My oldest grabbed my cell and phoned my wife at 11:00 AM.....he left with his sister.....abandoned......I spent the rest of the day watching all the guys whom started early like we did leave. No fish.......no flags......as they would leave I would pull my sleds over and scope their holes.........fifty odd holes later I did not mark a fish with my flasher. Not one. I did find a brush pile and caught a few small sunfish......if that counts.....I left around 4:30 PM. Two good things about that day......I live close and did not waste any fuel....and the ice has started to melt on the Dead Sea.

Not yet I'm still having fun !!!






 
All the fish taken out of the lake on a 6ft. flat. ( Would of been 11ft. of water lastwinter.)

Here's a few more pic's !!!

Creektroll, **** great picts. of great fish. congrats.  sam