bullheads

[trapper2000]

toss  the  heater in the  boat and  a  umbrella  on top  ...i  do a lot of  bullhead fishing in the day too  this  year has been  crazy  but  usually i'm killing them in the  day  by  now .last  year i  don't think  roy or i  fired  up the  gas  lanterns more then a  couple times and  we  both  had  plenty  in the freezer

[62 & Done]

Going after them tonight. I'm loaded up with all kinds of bait and will experiment with chicken liver, fish parts, fresh mussels, and crawlers. we'll see what they like. On the way I'll set a couple leech traps and they'll be for next time. Will keep y'all posted.

[Fabow]

Good luck, tight lines!

[trapper2000]

i want to see  how  62  did last  night  and  which baits  worked good  for him

[62 & Done]

Very strange night. Conditions were great with no bugs, no wind, no rain which was a first for this season.  It was a very fussy bite with several fish just picking up the bait and sitting there with no indication that there was a bite. If they felt any resistance, they just dropped it. I fished till 1 am when the wind came up and quit.
   Results were :   Worms 9 bullheads & 2 perch
                          Chicken liver 5 bullheads but they would not touch one with an egg sack on it
                          Mussels zero
                          Fish scraps zero
    I wonder if the cold snowmelt had anything to do with the slow bite.  This is an area where I usually have a 30 fish night with nice conditions like last night. The water is still very cloudy and it seemed that any baits in front of the lantern light got ignored. Baits off the bow and stern in the dark got the most bites.  I also set a leech trap last night with a tough venison stake an got zero.
         Any ideas  any one ?       got some cleaning to do now and some fryin later

[Mac Attack]

You might be right with the snow melt thing.  Cools the water and shuts down their metabolism, and need for fuel.

Have you tried shrimp for bait?
We used to use cheap canned salad shrimp.  Used to toss the leftover “junk” in as chum.  (Not the can of course)

[stripernut]

Bullhead are very active under the ice, at night I will often have large schools of them swim through and readily hit a jig... I don't think a little cold water will slow them down much, maybe they feed somewhere else when the temp drops?

[Mac Attack]

Fish are cold blooded.
They all experience a slowdown in their metabolism when their environment gets colder.  Read this as a decrease in temp!!
Walleye bite thru the ice really well.
However, we have all been out when a front comes thru changing air pressures, and dropping water temps causing them to go deep and get tight lipped.
Not saying you are not right here.
Just trying to rationalize 62’s situation the other night.
Hell, we could both be wrong.
Maybe he has caught all the bullies in that water!!!
😉

[lowaccord66]

Bullhead are very active under the ice, at night I will often have large schools of them swim through and readily hit a jig... I don't think a little cold water will slow them down much, maybe they feed somewhere else when the temp drops?

Have caught a ton of them under the ice in late March.  Water temps 37-40 about a foot under the ice. 

[trapper2000]

of course  water temp.  plays a  big part of how  active  any fish is ... many things  can turn a  fish bite  on or off including changing water temp., run off, barometric pressure , light ,tides ,and the  list  goes on and on......you  may catch a  few  bullheads  in march threw the  ice  as the  water starts to warm i have  myself  but  i ain't never seen anyone  fill a  bucket   threw the  ice

[fishinjohn]

Have caught a ton of them under the ice in late March.  Water temps 37-40 about a foot under the ice.

How is there ice with a water temp of 37-40?!!?? Pretty sure that's not happening
But hey.. MAYBE IM WRONG 

[jperch]

Well, this is actually possible.  Water has the unusual property that it is most dense at a temperature of 39 degrees F.  (I know, it seems counter intuitive that water at 39 degrees is denser than colder water at 33 degrees.)  So, if undisturbed by current it can easily happen that the warmest water in a shallow body of water is at the bottom.  For this reason ice forms from the top down, a darn good thing else plant life would die.  If current or anything else causes an upwelling this band of water can be pushed to the top.  From my SCUBA diving experience this band of water can occur with a sharp divide.  In Lake O, the divide is shimmering and well defined with the cold, dense water usually crystal clear with great visibility.

[fishinjohn]

Jperch thank you!!!
I do realize that water in lower parts of the water column is warmer than the top..
Just seems like 40° water ONLY a foot under the ice isnt realistic..

 You Definitely have some good information there for sure!!!!

[Mac Attack]

Water has the unusual property that it is most dense at a temperature of 39 degrees F.  (I know, it seems counter intuitive that water at 39 degrees is denser than colder water at 33 degrees.)

True!

This is why ice floats in (unfrozen) water.
Because in its liquid form it is denser than in its frozen form.

[trapper2000]

i don't care  what anyone  says  i  ain't  never seen  anyone  catch a  bucket of bullheads threw the  ice  ......3  or  4  absolutely  a  bucket  then  hell would  be  colder then that  frozen lake