No problem buddy. Being you are so close, where is that Quad Cities? By the time you get here we will probably be fishing a different spot if not a different state. You could surely tell me where to go what to use and how to use it without being here. 
QC is about 60 miles north of me yet. Got some stuff to take care here. Hope to be up a couple weeks. Be on the lookout. 
Made it out again today from 11:30-4:00. The fishing was pretty slow compared to yesterday, but that happens 
. With the bite being as it was, I tried several different colors, patterns, and sizes trying to entice some type of reaction, but it wasn’t working too well 
. I ended the day catching a handful of small gills and bass. I did have a very nice bass break me off right at the hole, and one decent sized gill. Tomorrow is another day and I will be at it again 
Johnl and Matth came out after they got off work, I am sure they will have a report up soon.
hello. I witnessed the LM you caught, I was the guy behind you on Fishermans Road. It was legit, although it appeared bigger than 16″. Ofcourse, they always look bigger when someone else catches it. I think I saw you out there again today, you rescued a lost propane heater? We did OK for about 1/2 hr, it was dead before and after that, though. I switched from a smaller black jig to a larger orange jig and that produced some hits in the same hole. Could have been the color change or just timing, don’t know. My fishing partner produced consistant hits for about 1/2 hr too on a similar jig, but same story as me. I took a couple home (my girlfriends mom wants blue gill fillets for Xmas)but didn’t make a killing by any means. We checked out blackdeer today, there were some holes drilled but the ice (or lack of) looked scarey.
I’m going to try to get out again tomorrow morning at F-man’s road.
I’m new to this forum, and am always looking for people to fish with. You’ll know me on the ice, I wear blk cover alls and blk coat, and carry all my crap in a home made wooden cart. Usually I set up tip-ups too. I’d like to meet some people who like to fish as much as I do, I think the exchange improves everyones skill at fishing.
Welcome aboard 
Yep, I am that guy-Sure is nice to have a witness, I forgot the camera the first day 
. You definitely came to the right place to find the best honest info as well as a great bunch of guys 
. Anytime you need someone to fish with, let us know. There are a bunch of us that are from this area that love to fish.
Just curious, how did you find this site?
I will be out tomorrow again, not sure if I am going to be on Fisherman’s Road, I might check out the other side of the lake to see if it is walkable yet.
That sled you have looks like it works pretty slick, no pun intended 
. Check your PM (little flashing envelope at the top of the page)
A couple of guys at school frequent this site (madhatter). I just got a phone call that changed my plans about F-man’s road, maybe sunday. The sled is version 2.0. The original one is a tank, all oak (no kidding)and bigger. This one’s a recycled pallet + a couple of legs from a bbq gas grill. I like it a lot better. Now I’m looking for a cheap-o (50-100$)riding lawn mower to convert into an ice racing maching to pull the sled. Ive seen it done before, you reach speeds approaching 30mph.
how thick is the ice out on fishermans road?
Solid 2-3″ It doesn’t crack when you walk on it and it is good clear ice
Love it on the ice. Just got back from Fisherman’s Rd. Arrived there at 83o and talked to one guy leaving, said he hadn’t had a bite in 45 minutes and didn’t see a fish caught. The wind had reall gotten strong. I went out about 40 yrds. Two other guys leaving stopped and said they caught one fish in two hours. The first 15 minutes I didn’t get a bite and the wind was brutal. Then I raised my bait about another foot off the bottom which put me at about 4 feet deep and I got steady bites for the next hour. Caught 10 fish all gills and not one a keeper. Saw one other guy catching a few about 10 yrds from me.
There was a tent about 30 yrds from me that took off down the ice and a guy pokes his head out. While he was fighting with his tent his bucket started sliding away. Yes I helped him. After he left there was a tent about 75 yrds away flying down the ice with it’s owner in hot pursuit. It started going out into the channel and looked like the guy was going to give up when it took a turn to shore and hung up long enough for the owner to retriev it. It was an interesting day on the ice.
I’m going to try to show you the jig I was using but don’t hold your breath. I don’t know what it is called but they are made by a friend in Lansing he gave me a half dozen a couple years ago. Orange seems to be the best color I’ve had tons of luck with them.
Oh that is one thing I wanted to say these fishermen up here are just as friendly as those Lansing folks except I miss Windy’s jokes.
Hmmmmm, runaway shacks! Sounds like Slop and Wats was out playing on the ice today. 
No our shack didn’t runaway, but it came close a time or 5 
. Anyway, Slop and I made it to Fisherman’s Road around 1:30. We started off in some weed free water around 6 foot or so, with only a small peck for our efforts. The wind was pretty wicked and wanted to take the shack to places we really didn’t want to go. We then moved to some clear water surrounded by weeds with no luck at all. We then moved to where I had spent the previous 2 outings. This was the place to be 
, as we did finally catch some fish. All but 1 were on the small side, our total was around 10 fish caught.
Now Slop, this guy is a dedicated bass man. Putting some ice over the water doesn’t stop him from trying to catch the elusive 5# bucketmouth Slop ended the day with both big fish of the day. Pictures to follow 
Here is the other big fish of the day 
There were several tip ups out today but didn’t see if they had any flags. I spent the morning in front of Scaeffers today and had really good ice everywhere we went. We ended up with 8 keeper gills there between myself and a guy I met at the baitshop. There were also people fishing Black Deer this afternoon, that is a great place for tip ups. If you head over there, just watch your step as there is open water in there again.
I was over in your neck of the woods today for my old mans x-mas. He brought me out to the airport and on what I’m guessing is fishermans road and we stopped to see the shacks on the ice and the poor guy on the bucket in the middle (it was pretty windy) Sure did make me antsy to see the fishing going on and not being part of it. Oh well, soon. Nice to see what was caught today. We also drove by red sails and noone was out there so I’m guessing the ice isn’t quality? Or maybe noone uses that landing? 
Anyway, congrats on getting out there 
Chris
By Red Sails is where i started my day yesterday. I too was surprised there was nobody fishing but myself and 1 other guy. It is a good 3-4 inches thick there.
Man was it snowin’ on the ice today . Having some things to do this morning, I didn’t get on the ice until 2:30. The lake had a good 3 inches of slippery snow on the smooth ice underneath, making for treacherous walking conditions 
. I made my way out to an area that Slop and myself tried yesterday, and it was a little better today . I drilled 4 holes right away and started to make my way around to all the holes trying to find some active fish. The first 3 holes I didn’t get a hit. Then came the 4th hole. Bingo , the fish were here. I was fishing in 4 fow with weeds near by and a deeper channel a little ways away. I was using a hot orange rocker jig with a black dot tipped with a waxie. There would be a flurry of activity then it would go dead. It did this on and off for the next 2 hours. I ended up with a half dozen eaters. I took a picture of the 3 best fish.
was this at redsails or fishermans railroads?
how thick is ice?
It’s a solid 4″ in most places…and getting thicker by the minute.
Some areas by Schafers that have current are a little thinner, but not too bad. Everything will be fine by the end of the week with single digit high’s coming.
may head up to fishermans road sunday
Went out to Black Deer tonight. Good Ice but the fish were bad. Lots of 3-4 inch gills. There were a couple other people out and the ones I talked to said the same. This was my first time out there so I might be fishing the wrong areas
tie1on-How did you access Black Deer? Did you go from the boat ramp or down by the Boy Scout walk area?]
Black Deer can and does produce some very nice panfish. When BD gets going it is a blast. Keep fishing it and you will see what I mean . I have caught better fish there than anywhere on the main lake, but not as consistent
Down by the Boy scout area.
I did notice a few cars by the boat ramp but was meeting a friend by the boy scout walkin. Im not familiar with the area…is one portion better than the other??
I have much better luck going in from the boat ramp. Once more people know it is fishable, they will be in that area the most. I fished the boy scout area last year for the first time and was not too impressed 
.
Ill have to try that next time
went to the lake again for a few hours, froze my toes 
, and caught very few fish. Actually only 1 keeper size perch and a handful of dink gills. The wind is brutal, but at least there is snow on the ice now so you don’t get blown away .
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