It's been cold all week here in NE, OH. With over 8" of ice, we are going to try ice fishing on the pond tomorrow and was looking for some tips for catching both BG and YP.

My plan is to use a small tungsten jig tipped with a maggot. I might also try tipping with a gulp waxie.

The hard part in previous years of ice fishing this pond has been finding the fish. I've punched holes until i'm blue in face and rarely gotten a bite. I know the fish are in there because they bite all summer.

The pond has a deep hole that is about 12-13' deep.. I often start here but never catch anything here... my best luck has been in about 5-6' of water near the inlet..not sure if this inlet area has more oxygen in the water but that's where I've had the best luck.

Any tips on where the fish might be hiding this time of year? At what depth etc.?

I don't have any real answer other than doing what you've been doing - keep moving till you find them. Last year I bought an adapter to fit a cordless drill to my 5" ice auger. Best thing ever; no gas, always runs, light weight, drills fast. That and a flasher if you have or can borrow one lets you punch lots of holes and cover water fast. Last Saturday i found fish in one of the deepest parts of our pond, about 20'. Action was fast on small jigs and wax worms. BG with one decent BCP and one small LMB. Fish fry was great. Good Luck!

I've been using a 6" manual ice auger... it works very well and gets through in short order.. it was a big upgrade from using a chainsaw for a few years lol

I have read that in a smaller pond you need to drill all your holes before you start to fish. Fish will move away from the noise when you are making your holes. Also a good fish finder or flasher will tell if their are fish there or what depth they are at. They do not move much in cold water. When I was a kid you could take a quart jar and use it like a spy glass and see the fish if you had clear water. I would watch a fish come within a 1/2 inch of my bait and then just back away and leave.

Chainsaw - LOL... nehunter you might be right. I typically put a bunch of holes in right off the bat, then work my way around them with the flasher to find fish. Last week it took a few minutes of hole hopping. Giving them time to settle down might be part of it.

For BG, I find slowly lifting the bait away from them often triggers a bite.

Makes sense that they might get spooked in smaller water. I'll punch the holes before dropping a line and see what happens.

Yes, the chainsaw method was downright awful lol. By the time the first hole was cut both pant legs were soaked in freezing cold water. Makes for a very short day.

If the inlet has any water flowing into the pond then it could be an attractant especially if the deepest water is loosing its oxygen. When I can't get a bite in the deepest area of the pond, I first suspect low DO when snow cover has been on all the ice for 3-5 weeks. Pond winter DO is lost first from the bottom up. In clearish water light line as in 2-4 lb test makes a difference. Sometimes the smaller the hook is (#12) and color will make a difference.

If you have submerged structure I'd start there - I typically start on the north side of structure when ice fishing. Based on our sunlight patterning in our hemisphere the fish seem to generally congregate in a northerly fashion, or at least it's always seemed so to me.

Like Bill said if you have any inlet areas just down from that is always good....food flowing in is food flowing in, frozen surface or not.

The inlet and structure that i have is all on the South side of the pond. I suppose I can try to aim for the northern most part of the structure

Drill all your holes right when you get there so that the disturbance quiets down before you move on to the next one.

Two local guys fell through the ice on ATVs and one did not make it out alive. Everyone please be careful as we get these wild temperature swings along with rising and falling water that can leave air pockets under the ice.

Well, I should have reviewed this thread “before” I went yesterday. Fished through six different holes in the ice. Tried different jigs with different attractors. I think I may have had one bite. Ha!
I would drill with a manual 6” auger. Very fast. I was concerned I was going through the ice too quickly. It was 5” thick. It’s a brand new auger, never used and sharp. I would fish right away after drilling. It got up into the 40s yesterday. Today and tomorrow in the 60s. Not sure I’ll go back out on the ice. Have to admit, it was very peaceful (as no fish were caught) I enjoyed getting out, now that’s it out of the single digits.

SetterGuy, some ice fishing outings go just like that.
Yesterday, 4 of us fished a public BOW of about 200 acres that is loaded with YP.

I, too, had a brand new, never been used auger, so I set out merrily spinning holes through the 18" of ice. The other 3 guys followed behind me with a Vexilar flasher and assorted baits on their ice rods.

I was the only one having fun, so it seems. I Swiss-cheesed the lake while they tried hole after hole, marking No fish, catching 1 7.5" YP and 1 12" slimey (RNBT).

After several hours, we gave it up and went to town for lunch. At least we didn't get cold as it was above freezing. We didn't even need to wear gloves. The only action we witnessed was our 4 dogs rolling, tumbling, and running on the snow.

We tried on Saturday.. Using all of the above tips and as usual we got nothing. The ice was about 12-14" thick and very layered. About 1" of snow cover on top. We were thinking that it might be too dark down there for fish to see... Nevertheless it was peaceful

Ha! Ok, I don’t feel so bad. I was thinking maybe I needed a worm or two, but the ground is frozen, and bait shops are closed.

That is why they call it fishing and not catching.

Agreed, but it’s a little more fun when you do a little catching.. Ha!

We went Saturday here on my big pond and a neighbors....ice was around 6" - ended up cleaning around 35 BG and BCP, some real pigs in both species. Good few hours of fishing. Then we went up into the 60's on Sunday and Monday so there'll be no more walking on water for a while.