It started with Dean letting me know my rod he had sent in to St.Croix was in. 
A person can really appreciate the customer service relationship Dean has with his customers & St.Croix.A big thanks again Dean! 
With forcasted temps in the mid to upper 20’s along with seeing some of the reports coming in on P4 as well as not being in my boat for a couple weeks 
I couldnt let this prime opportunity to get my string stretched pass me up.On this particular outing I was definately not going to be dissapointed.
I talked to a couple other friends & IDO members whom I had shared open seats with on prior visits to see if they wanted to get out for a few hours.Coming up empty I dropped a late notice open seat post figuring I can either go alone or possibly have someone to converse with also sharing experiences & possibly making friendships for many future outings which I have done here numerous times. 
I arrived at Everts just before 10am to begin reloading the boat with gear as it had almost all been removed to store it for the winter months.A brief visit with Hutch whom was gearing up as well to go out with a couple guests.Those who know him or some of those that dont should know of his works of art he has on display in Everts baitshop.Those lures he paints are simply amazing. Talk about having a golden touch with a airbrush.Although I havent done so before I will be sure to send a few lures off for him to give that special touch to.A visit with Dean to pick up my new rod holding a large box of cookies in hand to kick off the holiday spirit is in order. 
Taking note of anything new on shelves,counter & whats on desk in my book is a must. 
Im never sure what I might see new or add to the never ending supply of tackle one might need for a days outing. 
When does a person ever have too much tackle? After visiting Dean for over an hour & picking up a few misc.items & having him spool a couple reels up with Cortland line which I will say from my brief experience using it on my jig sticks performed flawlessly!
Its time to hit the water as its now past 11am. I backed down the ramps to unload which are in great shape unhook all straps,start motor & begin to try to back off trailer. 
Hmmmmm not moving? Seems the boat is a bit froze to the bunks of trailer from last outing. This is the time of year when a person can be glad its not crazy busy as I sat for nearly 15 mins letting boat release from trailer.I had a couple other people ask if I might need help but this is something that just takes time. 
A person can genuinely appreciate the offer of help from others.Another thanks goes out to those who offer help to others! Finally get unloaded begin to pull up ramp to park & phone is ringing.Wouldnt you know the damn thing is buried under the exterior layer of clothing.A quick return call & a couple guests ,Chaz & Brittany,I had out on a previous trip said they would like to join me & could be at the resort at 1pm & its now 11:40.
My decision was made at that point on what methods & areas I would like to target before & after they arrive.I went out staying within eye range of resort deciding to go primarly verticle-slow dragging trying out the new Cortland line & the Miller rigs Dean had set me up with.Watching electronics I noticed a good sized group of fish,dropped a line down & I was greated almost immediately with a junior whisker fish. 
Not quite what I was looking for but it stretched the line nicely just the same.There was a good group of fish marking in the area I was working but getting them to commit to my offerings along with large chunks of ice floating about,making it tough to present my lures as needed.I spent just over 1hr running jigs knowing fish can be caught in this area but 2 small Saugers & 1 Fiddler Cat isnt enough to keep my interest here.Time to go back to pick up my company Chaz & Brittany for the afternoon.Stopping again at the resort to chat with Dean & Jason H. briefly which seemed to help keying in on colors to use while Chaz & Brittany shared a couple treats Dean had received earlier & noting they were diminishing rather quickly.
We got back on the water around 1:15pm deciding I needed to have more current flow to possibly find more active fish.With trolling rods & 3-way rigs being a very productive method for my boat & wanting guests to hopefully catch fish I found it time to put jig sticks away & give the 3-way rigs with cranks a thorough try.I had 3 rods rigged 2 rods being loaded heavy 4oz.with single rap rigs from another outing figuring we could easily pull 4 without problems.We hardly had 2 lines out & it was game on!Started moving very slow under .5mph sometimes just hovering to stay over fish figuring they wouldnt want to exert alot of energy or chase lures down as the water temps were just over 35 deg.I found that once you found a good group of active fish which seemed to be primarily on a depth break along with a productive current seam or break you could have multiple fish loading up rods moving along very fast at 1+mph upstream & pushing 2mph downstream.This can seem fast but if the fish are feeding aggresively they will commit with authority! 
I actually think our better fish came from the downstream or faster approach.Which can also make you think a smaller sized fish seem much larger when they put the 
on your offering.After figuring lure colors,style,areas & speed out while having 2,3,or possibly 4 fish on at 1 time along with boating over 50 fish I completely lost count on how many were boated in 3.5 hrs.I could say conservatively 75 possibly 100. Bright colors seemed to perform best on this day but I will generally keep a neutral light colored or natural colored lure out to keep the fish honest.Short droppers 8″-12″ with a 36″-40″ leader seemed to work best.The fish we did get were not huge average around 14″ largest pushing 19″ with a mix of eyes & sauger.What they didnt make up for in size they definately made it up in volume.We all came home with a nice limit of a mix of Sauger & eyes ave about 15″-16″.I was glad to share this day on the water with Chaz & Brittany & hope to be able to do it again. Now the boat is temporarily getting put to rest as the ice fishing season has begun. But after seeing a couple other good reports from others & if temps are favorable I will most likely need an open water fix! Open Seat anyone?
If you are just sitting there reading this & are on the fence about going out to P4.Time a wasting as the fish seem to be on THE BIG CHEW! Best of luck fishing all! WHITE TIP
