Happy new year and have a blast tuna!!! Steam or hot water boiler bud?

Hey Tuna
that first day we ended up north of Speculator on some small lake with 7-8 good inches of ice. Caught several smallies, largemouth, perch and only 1 northern. 1 largemouth was rather large! guessing 7lbs. Been out a few times since with mixed results. It looks like we will have good ice everywhere after this weekend! Tight Lines!

[image]C:\Users\Larry\Pictures\Bass.jpg[/image]Attachments are not available: Download requirements not met

Nice bass bud!

Pretty sweet hog :) I got a hog of a lifetime through the ice and they do pull back well .. The shirt is cool too ..
Glad you had success and now the ice is golden everywhere around here. The big lake George should be all good to go next week.
My season has been the worst ever.. Been putting in a lot if time with little results. Not even the perch are liking me:(
Gotta keep trying though because ya never know when that monster fish will be there since now its anybody's game on the hardwater :)
Going perchin' sat and chase some wabbits Sunday then it's all jiggin for trouts after that. Maybe jack will venture out.. Lol

For the first time since napster was born I am without an actual PC ( computer ) so I haven't figured a way to upload any pics .. Soon , I hope..
Keep us up todate on things and thanks for sharing the pic of a Phatty bass
Peace & Tuna

OK Tuna,
being mostly a walleye guy thru the hard water, we are thinking of hitting fingerlakes region for lakers. we catch them from the boat pretty regularly but never targeted in winter before. Would you say they would be in the same areas as early summer? I know you mainly jig them but not sure what you use specifically or if tip ups would also work? Any Laker tips would be greatly appreciated !! 

If you are traveling any distance, be aware that the laker water on some of the finger lakes never freezes (Seneca, Cayuga) , and on many others only freezes in some winters (Kueka Canandaigua, even Hemlock, which is still reported to be iffy except very close to south end and near shore despite the low temps we've had the last few weeks).  I don't know about the eastern Lakes, but the Lakes I mentioned are all big deep energy storage units, and can take a lot longer to freeze than HT's stomping grounds.  Most of my time has been on Canadice, the smallest of the trout lakes, and I have not had a lot of luck, but the guys who do connect are mainly jigging in deep water, but report that the fish can come from anywhere in the water column.  I've had flags fishing dead smelt right on the bottom in the deep parts of the lake, we've also caught some browns in shallower water(20-40fow) 3-6 feet under the ice.  The shallow tip up sets make sense to me also because the guys who jig smelt are often not in deep water, but there are also a lot of pickerel in the lake and they will be keeping you running, and eating good if you like to make patties, these are some of the biggest pickerel in the state with 20" + fish relatively common (also on Hemlock), but if you are after trout and have limited bait, they can be a nuisance.  As to lures, I've always fished pimples, but I will defer to anything that Tuna tells you as Lake Trout are Lake Trout!    
There are threads for all these lakes on IceShanty, and the guys who report on that site seem to be extremely honest about conditions, so I would watch the posts when you want to come up.

L-13 gave good info. I really know nothing about the finger lakes. For the big lakes we fish for them , Otsego , schroon and lake George , we start in areas they frequent in the fall. They usually spawn in November . Generally a bit shallower (45-65) fow near an outlet area. That said , its only a starting point and lakers can be anywhere now as the smelt are moving around and then congregate near inlets closer to spring ( march- April )
I have always been a tip up guy until I got electronics .
For tip ups I would put a 1/2 & 1/2 mix out.
Small- med suckers right on or near bottom. Don't be afraid to step on one or 2 and smush its guts out then drop it down.
The other 1/2 I would set emeralds out 25 ' down. We can't use smelt on LG but if you catch some and can use them by all means do..
As for jigging. Heavy jigs 3/8 to 1 oz. I like buck tails, Swedish pimples , buckshots and the such, even have good luck with 3 & 4" gulp smelt on a jig head.
I generally always tip my spoons and jigs with a fathead or a 2" gulp smelt.
Start by pounding the bottom, stir it up to draw attention.
If using electronics and you mark fish the get them to chase the lure by reeling it up fast away from them.
I have had fish follow from 100' all the way to see them hit just before the hole. Also had them follow and watch through the hole as 4 swam around the lure and just bump it with their nose then swim back down. Exhilarating indeed !!
Good luck and from what L-13 said about the finger lakes , be safe !!

Db ,get your boots ready. My buddy told me to bring a clicker ( counter )

I'm not an ice fishermen but I did read a good article about Otsego Lake last winter.  It seems that the sharpies who ply those waters like to work the shallow waters 12' to 15' deep for lakers.  Suckers were the popular bait. 

Yea TB, that lake has been under hard times and the lakers have taken up feeding on perch in the shallows.
We used to fish 140 fow water there now those areas are barren .