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mastertangler: "lundojam: "Crappies go all night in many bodies of water. That's part of the appeal for me; you can fish after work in December. Some lake, you can only catch them after dark. Never tried the lights, don't think it's necessary."
But you have a lantern don't you? Its much more cheery and cozy and fun with a lantern glowing by your side. Not sure I would go without my trusty coleman lantern. " AHHHHH the Ambiance !
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mastertangler
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"Ahhhh the ambiance" ;-)
Your funny. All thats missing is a little classical music and of course a few huge 14" slabs on the ice.
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nofish
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yogi59weedr: "Took my sled an auger and all my gear out of my truck yesterday. Put it all in the basement. Only went out about 6 times this year. Did ok.Mostly gills. Got into crappie a couple times. Bought a light to put into the hole for night fishing. Got the idea from
a old guy who was going out at dark when I was coming in. more on this next year.. I always thought the panfish bite shut down at night.... learn something new everyday.This lake has a reputation for a night bite. But never tried it.Any of you tried crappie after dark..
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I probably catch 90% of my winter crappie after dark. Many lakes they won't even start biting until after dark. One particular lake the bite its pretty much from 9-10pm, fish earlier than that window and you'll be awfully bored. Other lakes the bite seems pretty steady throughout the night as schools of crappie move through.
As for gills I'll catch a stray gill here or there after dark but they seem to be the inverse of the crappie. 90% of my winter gills have been caught before dark.
As for lights I also do most of my winter fish after dark with a coleman lantern sitting next to me. In a small one man portable with reasonable temps the heat from the lantern is all I need to stay warm. Plus you can't beat the ambiance. This was a real cold night, had to fire up the small buddy heater as well. 
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cowdoc
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Back in college, we use to fish at night for crappies all the time. We would drive up from UWRF to Amery and fish Lake Wapogasset, stopping in Star Prairie for minnows at a cool little bait shop. One time, Wahoo McDaniels and Jumpin' Jim Brunzell were buying minnows also. We thought that was pretty cool. We would put a Coleman lantern on a 5 gallon bucket and drill a ring of holes around it. One guy had an old spoon auger and we had a rag-tag collection of fishing poles. We would stick a case of beer in the ice and put charcoal in a hubcap that we found in the car trunk to use as a heater/grill combo. One of the guys from Minnesota had fished this spot as a kid and he recalled fishing 18 feet down (3 full arm lengths) in the 25 foot hole. Some nights we did great, some not. We usually left quite late and we would clean fish the next morning. The next night we would have a huge fish fry. One of the guys in the house was a part time chef at a restaurant and could really fry fish and make home made onion rings. Life was simple but the memories were neat.
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mastertangler
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cowdoc: "Back in college, we use to fish at night for crappies all the time. We would drive up from UWRF to Amery and fish Lake Wapogasset, stopping in Star Prairie for minnows at a cool little bait shop. One time, Wahoo McDaniels and Jumpin' Jim Brunzell were buying minnows also. We thought that was pretty cool. We would put a Coleman lantern on a 5 gallon bucket and drill a ring of holes around it. One guy had an old spoon auger and we had a rag-tag collection of fishing poles. We would stick a case of beer in the ice and put charcoal in a hubcap that we found in the car trunk to use as a heater/grill combo. One of the guys from Minnesota had fished this spot as a kid and he recalled fishing 18 feet down (3 full arm lengths) in the 25 foot hole. Some nights we did great, some not. We usually left quite late and we would clean fish the next morning. The next night we would have a huge fish fry. One of the guys in the house was a part time chef at a restaurant and could really fry fish and make home made onion rings. Life was simple but the memories were neat."
Thanks........your story put a smile on my face.
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carmike
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Is it legal to use artificial lights to attract fish -- or to help catch them after dark (in Minnesota, I mean...I don't know where you live)? I always thought it was illegal, but I could very well be wrong.
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carmike: "Is it legal to use artificial lights to attract fish -- or to help catch them after dark (in Minnesota, I mean...I don't know where you live)? I always thought it was illegal, but I could very well be wrong. " under the water surface it is illegal in minnesota ,
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yogi59weedr
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I'm in Illinois. Actually they had both. Mine floats. Thought the one that went down 20 ft would spook fish.
Little Styrofoam that floats in hole. By all means don't do it if illegal...
Or put your running shoes on....myself I can't run..
Therefore I'm legal.....
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timatkn
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I’ve always caught crappie the best right at sunset or right before sunrise. Before Sunrise has always been better which sucks because I am not a morning person, especially when it is -20 out :)
T
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yogi59weedr
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I know sunset is good. I'm talking 6 to 10 pm... or should I say sunset to 10 pm.
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lundojam
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Crappies go all night in many bodies of water. That's part of the appeal for me; you can fish after work in December. Some lake, you can only catch them after dark. Never tried the lights, don't think it's necessary.
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cowdoc
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I was out on the 17th and we did ok on crappies and gills. Then came the big flood. Lots of water on the ice and water raise loosened the shore. I dont think its going to recover.....especially with temps this week. I got out more this year than most years and did pretty good. I was hoping for at least one more crack at the crappies. It doesn't look good. Time to re-rig the new flasher for the canoe.
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yogi59weedr
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Took my sled an auger and all my gear out of my truck yesterday. Put it all in the basement. Only went out about 6 times this year. Did ok.Mostly gills. Got into crappie a couple times. Bought a light to put into the hole for night fishing. Got the idea from
a old guy who was going out at dark when I was coming in. more on this next year.. I always thought the panfish bite shut down at night.... learn something new everyday.This lake has a reputation for a night bite. But never tried it.Any of you tried crappie after dark..
Time to get jigs and long rods out for walleye. Always get my first eye the 1st week of March where im at on the Mississippi....
I'm always the one going out at dark.
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mastertangler
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lundojam: "Crappies go all night in many bodies of water. That's part of the appeal for me; you can fish after work in December. Some lake, you can only catch them after dark. Never tried the lights, don't think it's necessary."
But you have a lantern don't you? Its much more cheery and cozy and fun with a lantern glowing by your side. Not sure I would go without my trusty coleman lantern.
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mastertangler
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Never caught many gills at night but usually did well on Crappie. I always liked being out on the ice at night fishing by lantern. Usually the wind calms down and it's kinda nice.
Right before dark can be good but then it usually takes an hour or two after dark before they get rolling. Be advised that they can be found throughout the water Column from right on the bottom to a foot below the ice. I liked still fishing a minnow on one rod and jigging the other. I bet a depth finder would be a handy gadget to pinpoint the best depth to fish.
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