# Another 1/11 Wingfoot Report



## cheezemm2 (Apr 7, 2004)

I went straight out from the boat ramp towards the islands...black shappel 2 man shanty.

9ft of water, with waxies or maggots, didn't matter...

15-20 gills and one perch in about 4 hours, nothing special in terms of size. Fish were sporadic and showed up on the flasher every 15-25 minutes, but when they did they were not shy about biting.

Something odd though, everytime 3 or 4 fish would show up on the flasher and I'd nail one, I couldn't get the bait back down fast enough before the fish would bug out. They were hanging around while I reeled in and released, but then would be gone. I almost thought they might be too aggressive and just hunting all over for food. I should've had a second rod to deadstick.


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## Erieangler51 (Sep 24, 2012)

Try keeping fish you are going to throw back in a bucket of water or on ice if they will live. They dart back down and sometimes will spook the school. I did it today and schools stuck around. Once school moves on then release them


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## James F (Jul 2, 2005)

Try fishing just above them, pulling one out of the school can spook them.A good flasher helps.pulling one from above the school is better.


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## FISHAHOLIC85 (Apr 22, 2011)

drill a 'release hole' that's a bit away from your fishin holes. that should do the trick...


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## village idiot (Nov 11, 2009)

I was out yesturday also and Im sure it helps to not release them right away but the fish just seemed to be cuising yesturday.
I noticed that the schools of fish were segregated by species also.
They were either gills, perch or crappie. Never got a mixed bag from the same school.
Did best with small jigging rap tipped with single maggot on trebble.
I didnt release my fish until the school disapeared from the vex and still only managed 3 or 4 fish each time they showed up.


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## cheezemm2 (Apr 7, 2004)

I've never heard of waiting until the school is gone to put fish back down the hole. Cool stuff! At least it's one variable I can take out of the equation. It would've been nice to catch the other 2 or 3 fish that were on the vex instead of seeing the ghost screen appear every time I released a fish!


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

There are so many small schools(and of smaller fish), that are constantly on the move(little wolf packs if you will) constantly roaming the lake in search of food(which I think is actually quite sparse!) I think these "younger" fish are skittish and once they loose a school mate, the small food source is gone, and they haul it out of there. I was out Sunday and noticed the same phenomenon. Older, bigger fish are more secure and not so inclined to move on. 
Taking more fish out of the mix at Wft.can only help the overall sizes of all the panfish species down the road. Bag em up and feed them to the cats, bury them in the garden-get the huge numbers down! Don't throw them back down the hole. This is one reason(as far as I know), why the State has excluded Wingfoot so far from the size and quantity limits-too many smallish, perhaps "stunted", fish. There are larger panfish in the lake but they are extremely hard to locate thru the ice since they are the minority.


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## ballast (Sep 15, 2011)

I've ice fished Wingfoot since they open the lake to the pubic, the schools get a little smaller every year. It's just a speed thing, pull um out drop it down. If you're not on structure or a weed edge the fish are just cruising. Eating little white water bugs and whatnot. Talking crappie. The perch school just moves real fast. I've never had um stick around underneath me long at all. Odds are you're more than likely fishing the two main basin's of the lake, and they're just cruising. I've found crappie in 5-7 fow at wing and sight fished for them pulling them out one after another. 2nd have u ever watched ppl pulling fish on a camera? YouTube it, fish aren't that smart.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

ballast said:


> I've found crappie in 5-7 fow at wing and sight fished for them pulling them out one after another. 2nd have u ever watched ppl pulling fish on a camera? YouTube it, fish aren't that smart.



Absolutely. Those vids are typically shot on larger, northern lakes w/a huge population of predators-small&largemouth bass, pike, walleye (which Wft doesn't have-we are essentially their only predator). Those predators eat enough of the small, younger fish to keep the panfish healthy(and larger) overall. Young fish roaming in a school are not smart at all-just spooky and concerned abt their survival! That's why they are constantly roaming. Just my opinion based on observations(and 40 or so years of fishing Wingfoot).


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## ballast (Sep 15, 2011)

I didn't fish wing for crappie last year,I think I went once for the morning perch bite. Have the crappie there gotten any bigger?? Do they have shoulder yet? The ones at Springfield sure don't a bunch of skinny whites. I keep hoping I'll catch one that looks like a frying pan.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

I "once" caught a 16.5 in. Black crappie(never caught a "newspaper thin" white crappie there) at Wingfoot. That was maybe 20+ years ago when Goodyear had a fish biologist managing the lake for the benefit of(lots)of employee fishermen. Goodyear and the Goodyear Hunting&Fishing Club were putting lots of walleye fingerlings in the lake yearly. These walleye did a good job of keeping smaller panfish numbers under control so I know what the lake "can"produce.(I have caught lots of walleye at Wft to 5#-they're pretty much all gone now!) After that era, they closed the park, stopped managing, and the fish populations exploded to what it is today. The State's efforts to control the explosion is to stock "channel cats". This will eventually work but it's going to take some time(have heard of 14" channels currently being taken thru the ice-from Mogadore B&T.) Last Spring, I caught lots of fat 8" crappie(and many fat, 7+" gills!)from traditional spawning areas at Wft. The size is getting better but these nicer fish are in the minority and as stated before, hard to locate thru the ice.


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## ballast (Sep 15, 2011)

The skinny whites were at Springfield...


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