Alma Area Ice Reports?

Just wondering if anyone
has been out ice fishing in the alma area/pool 4/5a backwaters and if there is enough ice to get out. Any info would be great! Thanks! PM me if you wish.

there is good ice! most landing have people using them so you will be able to see where people are going! we have been taking the wheelers out!

good luck

Was just south of Alma yesterday, bite was slow but managed some nice Crappies and Perch on Tip Downs and some decent Gills jigging. Got a lot of people stopping by to look at the Tip Downs because we were catching fish and they were not.

I have been using tip-downs the past couple of years and have had similar experiences. People always come up and ask how we have been catching them-but laugh when I tell them about the idea. More fish for me I guess! Has anyone been out around the alma high school?

Funny thing, we had a bunch of holes drilled in 3 lines from shore extending out toward the middle and had tip downs in a bunch of them and we were jigging in the others. Around noon 3 kids about 20 years old came up and started setting up Tip Ups, they walked over and put a Tip up in one of our holes closest to shore!!!!

What the heck do they think they are doing? I watched them and they never even looked at us. Well I thought do I walk over and say hey that happens to be one of our holes! I thought no I will have some fun with them.

They had their Tip ups spread out for roughly 400 yards along the shoreline, so I waited until they were way up at the other end and not looking, I walked over and tripped the flag!

Got a kick out of them running back to nothing.

X2 you don’t own a unused hole nothing can be done about it, just the way it is, you could possibly leave something next to it and that may detour someone from usuing it

I would never use a hole that is 30 ft from someone jigging and it is obviously a fresh drilled and cleaned hole that they are using. I care about common curtisy and respect.

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you don’t own a unused hole

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Though I agree with that, I also understand the frustration felt when people jump into your holes. Its one thing if the hole is far away but I get especially frustrated when people come and swipe your holes when you’re only 20 feet away. Personally I think its good to use some ethics in this case… Just use good judgement, if you see an open hole with no ice growth on it, and there is a guy within 30-40 yards, drill your own hole. Or simply ask the guy if its ok if you fish there. Everyone knows you don’t own a hole, but it is courteous to ask and make sure they don’t plan on making the rounds back to that hole. Personally when I fish I’ll drill 20 30 holes over a large area and I fish them all on rotation. I appreciate it when others don’t interfere with my rotation , but rarely would turn someone down if they asked to fish one of the holes I drilled.

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you don’t own a unused hole

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Though I agree with that, I also understand the frustration felt when people jump into your holes. Its one thing if the hole is far away but I get especially frustrated when people come and swipe your holes when you’re only 20 feet away. Personally I think its good to use some ethics in this case… Just use good judgement, if you see an open hole with no ice growth on it, and there is a guy within 30-40 yards, drill your own hole. Or simply ask the guy if its ok if you fish there. Everyone knows you don’t own a hole, but it is courteous to ask and make sure they don’t plan on making the rounds back to that hole. Personally when I fish I’ll drill 20 30 holes over a large area and I fish them all on rotation. I appreciate it when others don’t interfere with my rotation , but rarely would turn someone down if they asked to fish one of the holes I drilled.

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X2 this is exactly what I do. I drll a bunch of holes in a small area that I want to fish, we then spread tip downs around the area and jig the other holes.

Just don’t understand when people have an entire lake they have to come right up on you and use the holes you drilled, cleaned and are obviously using. It’s bad enough when they move right in on you but to then use the holes that you drilled just rubs me the wrong way. If they would of asked I would of said go ahead no problem just don’t get too close to my Tip Downs so that when a Northern grabs your line it doesn’t wrap me up.

X3 I was on the ice Saturday. A guy with his 2 kids were in a large area. I staked out an area adjacent to him and drilled several holes for a buddy and me. Couple hours pass and guy with the kids leaves, then 3 new people show up. No ice auger and no spud. They start in the other holes but next thing I know they are fishing in my holes. They also start complaining that there isn’t enough holes in the right places and maybe they can “rent an auger”.

Had they asked to fish my holes, I would have offered to drill with no charge. It just seemed annoying to me that they would show up with no way to open holes and just start hole hopping without offering simple courtesy.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Epick4

Only on a private lake

Its no different when your anchored in deeper water and throwing up into the shallows only to have people anchor between you and what your actually fishing or constantly drift or motor through the area