I posted this on the old message board, but here it is again until I write up a better article with more detailed information. I'm going to test out some new ideas this season, including proper bait (nightcrawlers).

LOCATION:

I fish for suckers on a lake that is fed by a small to medium sized river. At late ice, when temperatures rise above freezing, run-off from the hills begins, and the river starts pumping some current into the lake. That brings the suckers up, and they begin to congregate near the mouth. The river carves out a 20' channel into the lake (which is otherwise relatively shallow at this end), but the ice really thins out from the current, so I stay away and fish in about 10' - 15' of water a little ways off from the main current entering the lake. There is enough current to sweep the bait away from the hole where I am fishing anyway.

RIGGING:

I've used slip-sinker rigs, split shot rigs, jig/dropper rigs, and bead head nymphs tipped with bait. They have all worked.

Using a jig/dropper rig has probably been my most successful rigging. The ice jig provides some weight and color, while the dropper with a single hook is easy for the fish to suck in. The water becomes very cloudy with the increased current, and the suckers definitely are drawn in by movement, which is why I prefer to use a jig rather than just a sinker on the line.

BAIT:

I'm sure that a piece of nightcrawler or garden worm would be deadly, but I have yet to try either as they are difficult to come across at that time of year. I've caught the majority of my fish so far using mealworms, but I have even had success using a small piece of minnow/smelt.

TECHNIQUE / STRATEGY:

I use electronics and jig until I see a fish move in along the bottom. Then I generally just leave the bait sit and let the fish find it on its own. If after a little while the fish has not bit, I will gently twitch the bait a bit to get its attention again.

White suckers will often rise up for the bait, but the shorthead redhorse that I have caught so far have all been caught directly on the bottom. The bite is very subtle, and often there is no indication until you lift the rod and find that a fish is on (especially if your bait is directly on the bottom).

Excellent article! I will try using this information sometime in the near future.

A couple of questions to help guide you in your future detailed writeup of this article...

How heavy is the jig/rig that you use? Is it just enough to BARELY stay on the bottom or heavy enough that you need to lift your pole to move it?

How far out do you let your line go before you reel it in/move to a different spot?

What size hook do you generally use? I know it has to be relatively small (#8?) for Shortheads to chow down on the bait.

When you use mealworms, what size are they? Are they the "El Monstro" ones to feed large reptiles or the smaller ones for...say...Bluegills?

How long do you usually wait for the Suckers/Redhorse to bite?

Do you have to be quiet when you approach the ice?

Sorry if this is a bit like 20 questions, but I am FASCINATED with catching Suckers and Redhorse through the ice. I truly want to try this.

Thank you.

Awesome job, Justin. This hasn't been written about before. I'll put it on the tactics page, along with some of your photos. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the repost Justin. Looks like I'll have some basic info to use until you final report is in, lol.

Any advice for catching suckers/redhorse during mid season? Any idea of where these fish are located this time of year?

thanks man

saltydog wrote:

QUOTE:
How heavy is the jig/rig that you use? Is it just enough to BARELY stay on the bottom or heavy enough that you need to lift your pole to move it?

The jig is about 1/16 ounce, which is heavy enough to stay on the bottom and below the hole as long as I'm in a spot with light or no current. I try to avoid heavy current, but when I've fished it, I've used different rigging (split shot or slip-sinker rigs). Bite detection becomes more difficult if the rig drifts (and the sonar becomes useless).

QUOTE:
How far out do you let your line go before you reel it in/move to a different spot?

I just let my line straight down to the bottom. I don't want it to drift at all if possible. If I don't mark fish within approximately five to ten minutes, I will move onto another hole. Usually once I am on a hole with fish, they keep on moving through fairly regularly, and I don't have to move again for a while.

QUOTE:
What size hook do you generally use? I know it has to be relatively small (#8?) for Shortheads to chow down on the bait.

I use a #8 hook.

QUOTE:
When you use mealworms, what size are they? Are they the "El Monstro" ones to feed large reptiles or the smaller ones for...say...Bluegills?

They are approximately 1.5" long.

Sometimes I use just half of a mealworm on the ice jig and the other half on the dropper hook. I've caught fish both on the jig and on the single hook. I usually keep the jig just off bottom, and the single dropper hook on the bottom.

QUOTE:
How long do you usually wait for the Suckers/Redhorse to bite?

Once they move in on the electronics, they'll usually take the bait within a minute if they are going to. I haven't found it to be much different than trying to work any other fish into biting. The only real difference is that I don't use any "attracting" maneuvers once a fish is on the screen... maybe a little twitch or jiggle if they haven't taken it (or if I want to feel if a fish is on that I haven't detected), but otherwise I leave it still and watch the line like a hawk. On occasion I have worked some fish (white suckers) up a couple of feet in the water column before they hit.

QUOTE:
Do you have to be quiet when you approach the ice?

Not really.

The ice is usually a couple of feet thick still, and I'm fishing in around 12 ft. of water on average. At the same time as I'm "jigging" for suckers, we also have tip-ups set for pike in the area which we're frequently running to as well. I haven't found any noise caused by moving around to be an issue.

9weight wrote:

QUOTE:
Any advice for catching suckers/redhorse during mid season? Any idea of where these fish are located this time of year?

Nope! I haven't figured that out yet.

I've watched them come in to investigate my lures while jigging on shallow flats. Of course they usually aren't too interested in hitting a jig/minnow or whatever other hardware I'm usually using. I did catch one on a little white tube jig once - that was cool to watch it cruise in and suck the jig back. I've also seen them caught in 20 - 30 ft. of water, usually on a small jigging spoon tipped with a mealworm. But no, I haven't found any predictable mid-season pattern.

Corey wrote:

QUOTE:
Awesome job, Justin. This hasn't been written about before. I'll put it on the tactics page, along with some of your photos. Thanks a lot.

Sounds good, but I will write up something better. I'll get some more pictures (including the rigging) and draw up a map to better describe the type of area I'm fishing.

Thanks for the repost. Looking forward to more information from you SK.

My Dad found a spot last year that produced numbers of white suckers through the ice. Your description of late ice and current fit in to what he was doing to a tee.

I have some locations near where I live that I will be trying too.

thanks for answering my question Justin, I appreciate it.