Pool 8 Ice report-Jumbos and Slabs

fished a secret pool 8 backwater bay today with Nick Davis and Justin P. I was in this area yesterday- see my report “boating to pool 8 panfish” but I left the boat home today. We took out the shanty and enjoyed a day on the ice- 5″ for that matter. First thing we did, was set out the tip ups at all different locations. We had 6 out, thats 2 for each. Finally, we were able to get started jigging. The first set of holes were not producing fish, So we scattered and found a couple seperate groups of fish. They were relating to structure, but most fish were small. Finally, We had a flag. It was nick’s flag and the fish turned out to be a nice perch. The fish took the minnow deep,and this was the start of my fish bag for the day. We did some moving around and ended up setting up near the tip up where nick got his first flag, for the night. We stayed put and had a fairly consistant bite. Most fish were smaller gills and crappies in the 6″ range for gills, and the 7-8″ range for crappies. But we did put several more keeper gills and crappies in the bag, with an occasional perch. I dind’t get any perch myself, but I did catch a decent white crappie as well as a keeper black crappie and several keeper gills. Justin got his share of fun right on the brink of darkness. he was frustrated after missing a fish several times, before finally connecting. We didn’t think the fish was real big but Then justin said he thought it was a bass…Upon further examination through the clear ice, we realized it was a Crappie! a big one at that! The nice fish turned out to be 13-1/4″ with a pinched tail and open mouth. For the IDA ice tournament, the measurement will be 13″ because of the rule regarding the mouth being closed. It was a fun day, and a brand new area.we are pumped and can’t wait to do some more exploring in this spot. I was able to keep 5 perch, 4 crappies, and 4 bluegills for a total of 13 fish between the 3 of us. It wasn’t a great day for huge numbers of big fish, but there are some fish around that are worth the trip. and with 5″ of ice, its worth the trip! Definitely wasn’t a bad time for our first full trip to this new spot.

gotta love perch….

I’ve never seen justin as excited as he was today when he caught this slab crappie. Its one thing to catch 14-15″ers in open water on bass tackle, its another thing to catch them thru the ice on ultralight tackle!
waytogo justin, I’m still jealous

Nice going guys
Justin-Very nice crappie

Hey Cade any chance of giving me a hint on where to fish All this open water is killing me. I think I am going to go crazy if I dont find a place to fish tomorrow

Hey Nice fish Cade. your going to have to take me fishing there isnt any ice down here in the wisconsin river or at least no ice i wanna be on.

We went back today..Not much going on…It was CCCCCOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD out! that wind surew as brutal. caught several small crappies, several small gills and only a couple crappies that were even borderline keepable. The cold took its toll on the aggressiveness of the fish, but the ice is looking great!

Another thing that will turn them off Cade is the water clarity. Did you notice any difference? With the amount of open water yet and the winds we have been getting the last few days it might have had the area you are fishing churned up.

And stop your complaining, you were still on ice

I didn’t think about that..There may have been a difference, I’m not sure. There was some duck weed that kept coming thru our holes..That could have blown in off the channel…I have a feeling that this spot holds a lot of really nice fish. But we just have to be there on the right day. I mean, a guy going down to stoddard right now would never know that it is one of the best first ice places around…A little more poking around will hopefully reveal something a little more impressive
I’m not complaining, But a shanty would have been nice!

FYI most of the ice along fishermans road is usable now…if you dont mind a little crackin

Sweet. I checked a backwater bay tonight that had 1.5″ of ice on it. I was open water fishing here on Saturday, so this is a good sign. We should be able to be on solid 3+” at this spot I figure by Saturday. If not, I got options very close by
Good luck to everyone.

Fishermans road has a little ice bunt no fish

Fished the Sailboat Club last night for a couple of hours. Fishing was slow but there was a good 3″-4″ of ice. Mainly wanted to see how the ice was shaping and we should be good to go in most places by the weekend. I did see a guy at Camp 22 in the afternoon, couldn’t have been a lot of ice there yet.

Thanks for the update. I think I’m going to hit 22 on my way home tomorrow night after work. This should help me make up my mind where I want to start Saturday morning!

I think I’m going to drag my “permenant” out there somewhere this weekend…

Went out to camp 22 pretty slow caught about 20 crappies all day, not agressive at all. was picking up about 1:30 but then some noisy people showed up and shut em down. Ice was getting very soft when I left. I had my shack up with a heater going most of the day to offset the chill from the wind. There was probably only about an inch of ice under me when I left. I had this feeling that a lil cecil would have made a difference today but I didn’t have any But to my surprise in the mail when I got home was 7 lil cecils all in a neat little package from B Fish N Tackle Co. Gonna try em there tomorrow

mccrty_rn……Look for me
tan buick……..The crowd can be a pain sometimes eh

I was mad at how warm it got to be today oh well, thats all about to change Theres no crowds at 2/3 of the places we are going to fish this weekend… In fact I think I may have been the first to ice fish these 2 areas this year…

Fished at Camp 22 tonight for a couple hours and things were pretty slow. Caught a few small ‘gills. About 3″ of ice with plenty of pops and other noises that make your back side pucker when one of those pops happens right under you . Definitely using the shack tomorrow

I had the same results. There was a couple times I puckered up when the ice popped

Starting off there in the morning to see what happens. Might run into each other
If it stays the same as tonight I’m making a move!

I’m heading out early tomorrow. I CANNOT WAIT…I’m hyped up so much on mt. dew I think i’ll be awake until this time tomorrow night continuously I have a few spots within walking distance of the first spot, so it should be an interesting day. I got chena bait, 4 cans of waxies, a full bucket of crappie minnows, and a heavy aersonal of plastics and jigs. I’m ready.

That must have been your Chevy with the IDA sticker I saw? I may try it for a couple hours in the AM also before my sons BB game and try something different in the afternoon.