Just got back today and can report the bite was fantastic. We found 6-10″ of ice on the main lake when we arrived Sunday but by today it had added 2-3″ to that. No trucks, cars or wheel houses allowed on the lake yet at this resort. Every morning the pressure crack near shore would be either newly open or heaved. But the ice is smooth this year, that’s unusual to have a bump free ride on the 4-wheeler ATV. There is just enough snow to bank your house and wet your snowmobile track.
Lots of sauger this year with some as big as 15″. Most were too small to keep but it was usually possible to sort out a limit over 13″. Our group also caught a lot of walleyes 14-19″. We did not get very many big ones on this trip, I believe we only caught 4 in the protected 19.5-28″ slot. A 27″ was the biggest. Usually the jigging rigs outfish the set lines but not on this trip. I had the best luck with a minnow on a plain hook under a slip bobber. With the jigs the smaller sizes were working best, and they definitely preferred just the minnow head on the jig over an entire minnow. Gold has always been our “go to” color selection for the jigs but silver was working better. I did best on a silver Do-Jigger with a green stripe, but any number of colors did produce fish. It was a twice a day bite in the 17-21fow we fished. It was almost like someone threw a switch at 8:00 am each day and the fun started, then again at about 3:45 pm. We ate fish every day and every one took home a limit of nice walleyes and sauger. I cleaned so many fish my hands are chapped. It’s well worth the drive.
