I took advantage of the lack of snow to drive on roads that aren't usually passable and hike in woods that aren't usually hikable to get to my small river honey-hole last weekend and caught nothing. I had never tried it before, but I figured what the heck. Anyone ever ice fish small rivers? I'm thinking max depth eight feet, throw-a-rock-across-if-you-play-third-type rivers.

quote lundojam: "I took advantage of the lack of snow to drive on roads that aren't usually passable and hike in woods that aren't usually hikable to get to my small river honey-hole last weekend and caught nothing. I had never tried it before, but I figured what the heck. Anyone ever ice fish small rivers? I'm thinking max depth eight feet, throw-a-rock-across-if-you-play-third-type rivers."

The answer is yes, but I have a question, did you fish it late fall this year, I ask this because the water is way down on lakes and rivers and 1 to 2 feet can make all the difference whether river fish will overwinter in a particular hole. I have a spot I fish on the snake and I only fish it when im sure the ice is super set up, this however isnt one of those years. p.s. That hole I fish was completely fishless this fall because of low water.

Would love to do some ice fishin on a river, but would have no idea where to start. Lol

It also seems pretty hazardous considering the winter we have had.

I would suspect that on small river systems the fish would tend to seasonally migrate a lot more than in larger rivers, especially if they have a lake or big river downstream where they can over-winter. I know that trout and sturgeon do this.

The Mighty Miss is wide open. Not a small river but if you go to Elk River. Where the Nuke Plant is a warm water discharge comes out and the fish await you there. I've heard the water stays so warm there that the Sunnys spawn year round.

Of coarse they have one big eye, swim backwards and have the teeth of a Grizzly but they put up a hell of a fight.

JB

I was surprised to find a foot of ice; we were tied off to trees to start with--looked pretty comical.
BP, I've always wanted to icefish that hole near the fur post on the mid-snake in front of that little clearing. It's like 20' at normalish water levels. Have you ever?

I havent.