Ice Derby strategy suggestions

[mango307]

Two of my buddies and I are fishing an upcoming ice derby and we're trying to develop the ideal strategy to have the best chance of winning/placing/having fun.

Here are some notes to consider:

• One day tournament
• Lake is 3,500 acre reservoir in a U.S. Rocky Mountain state with average depth of 69 feet and a maximum of 120 feet.
• Six lines per angler are permitted
• Live minnows are allowed, along with most standard live baits (mealies, waxies, crawlers, etc.)
• Winner ($1K prize) is the person who catches the longest fish of four species found in lake:
  • Perch
  • Walleye
  • Trout
  • Kokanee
• No one in my party has ever fished this reservoir before
• One individual in our group has a Garmin Livescope. The other two will be using Garmin Striker 4+ fish finders.
• While there are no teams per se, my buddies and I want to fish together to be able to punch lots of holes and get into the fish to maximize chance of one of us hooking into a winner.

How would you approach this derby format given the info I have provided? Some ideas we have is to punch lots of holes and use the Livescope to find find fish and then work together to find what they're biting on. We could just target one species (e.g. set out tip ups with live minnows to try to catch a big walleye) or run and gun looking for perch.

We're not the most experienced ice fishermen and this being a new lake to us, it's hard to know how to have the most success.

 

[wyoelkfan15]

I'm making a guess at the Lake, since the tournament rules sound identical to one I was looking at this coming weekend. I've had good luck on the south end for trout, walleye and perch tend to hang more on the north side of the lake in some of the shallower bays. Since you can't target the evening bite as the check in is 5 pm? it might be harder to target just the walleye. I'd try tip ups with minnows for the perch / walleye on the north end and then have a jig rod or two for targeting trout. You can find trout all over, but off the dike on the south side there's typically quite a few schools of running trout in 15-20 feet of water, this time of year wax worms on small jigs seem to work good. The kokanee like the deeper water, that live scope will definitely help to locate the schools, I'd scan some of the deeper basins off the north central part of the reservoir to try and target fish, usually they are mid water column. Spoons with worms have worked in the past for me. Wish I could go, I've got other plans. Good luck and be safe! The ice can get some gnarly wind creases in the middle.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Find weed lines that are near structure. Also, anticipate where other will fish. Big fish scare off with too much commotion, so set up where people could “push” fish to you!

 

[mango307]

I'm making a guess at the Lake, since the tournament rules sound identical to one I was looking at this coming weekend. I've had good luck on the south end for trout, walleye and perch tend to hang more on the north side of the lake in some of the shallower bays. Since you can't target the evening bite as the check in is 5 pm? it might be harder to target just the walleye. I'd try tip ups with minnows for the perch / walleye on the north end and then have a jig rod or two for targeting trout. You can find trout all over, but off the dike on the south side there's typically quite a few schools of running trout in 15-20 feet of water, this time of year wax worms on small jigs seem to work good. The kokanee like the deeper water, that live scope will definitely help to locate the schools, I'd scan some of the deeper basins off the north central part of the reservoir to try and target fish, usually they are mid water column. Spoons with worms have worked in the past for me. Wish I could go, I've got other plans. Good luck and be safe! The ice can get some gnarly wind creases in the middle.

Great info. Thanks for sharing! If you make it over to the BHB this season, I'd be happy to return the favor and get you out on the ice somewhere.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

More beer