Early ice

What a way to break the ice, I spent 7 hours on the ice Saturday with only 3 flags but man was it worth it. The first flag I had,I had the fish on but lost it,I could see it under the ice only about 5 lbs. Second flag was a big fish but somehow busted me off above my leader, I’m thinking she took it deep and when I went to pull her in took one head shake and snapped my line. Third flag was my money flag, she just about spooled me before I set the hook and the fight was on. After a ten minute battle I had landed a 45 1/4” hog, not a bad first fish of the year! This size fish is not uncommon for early ice but to start off with one this big is just amazing! I was fishing the first break using tip ups and smelt about a foot off the bottom. The ice is about 3-5 inches everywhere you go, so it still feels a little uneasy walking on it. With a low in the single digits I’m guessing from here on you should be fine to walk wherever, but still take precaution and have your picks as early ice is very unpredictable. Tonight I fished with a friend and we iced 3 walleye, we caught these fish in 8 FoW using glow green demons tipped with a minnow. The early ice pike should only get better from here on, I have not seen any shiners in shallow yet so when they move in look out.