All right fellas….
Should be a report or two after today. The number of bucketeers on the Bay “easily” out numbered the local residence in town. 3 quick pics on the way by. Nevermind the 30+ additional vehicles parked immediately along the road or the other two areas of the ice NOT pictured.
WASN’T ME 
Me either. 
Bret and I had a spot all to ourselves today 
and it was awesome. 
What in the heck is going on down there. Last year there didn’t seem to be as many “duckhunters” on the bay. Even a busy day was way less than half of the vehicles today, by the looks of it.
I have been driving by there for the last week and I have yet to see a fish being pulled out.
I fished there today. Pretty slow, fished from 6:30 to 3:00 for 3 perch and 4 crappies, non big enough to brag about. Also lost 3 jigs. If I’m going to fish with minnows I guess I need more than 2 lb test. In fact rerigged 2 poles tonite with 4 lb. Even the bass on tip ups were slow today. Only saw 1 caught.
I know a guy who fished there both Fri and Sat. He got about 20 crappies each day and a 6-8 perch. Most of the perch on minnows, most of the crappies on green glitter jig.
Going back early Monday, as the biggest fish bit then. Lots of ice yet too. Good hard ice. Very little slush on top.
Just my 2 cents. I’ve been fishing the Bay pretty hard for several years running now. The Bay is a vast body of water for any critter with 2 or 4 feet. But it lacks deep drops and steep ledges which most hard water anglers target. Pretty much a 10 to 12 foot column of water extending from the south entrance tappering up to the shallow flats at the northend. Over time a person learns submerged cover is in real short supply as well but is the key to the loosely defined word of “success”. Find cover and you will find fish. Fish in “open” water and you’ll find an “open” column with an occassional passer-by. Fish aren’t stupid. They occupy prime niches in the Bay under the hard water and seldom venture any great distance. It’s not all that diffucult to pattern active periods or best bait selections if you put in the time (or even read up on IDO). Chance is heavily stacked in favor of fish if anyone thinks they can meander under the tunnel out on to the ice, pop a random hole and call up 25 big ones before the truck tires cool. I think the fair share of guys on Saturday learned this lesson the hard way.
I heard there were still guys on De Soto Bay yestersday, Sat. 3/21. How safe was it and did they catch anything? Were they still out there yet Sunday?
Several walked “the plank” to access 4 to 5 inches of spongy & badly honeycombed ice on Saturday AM. They were catching some perch in talking with a few from the safety of shore. Nobody had taken a bath as of roughly 11:30am on Saturday but conditions were deteriorating rapidly.
Nobody on Sunday. Saturday AM supportive ice was replaced by open water. The southern edge of what’s left of the ice has retreated up past the Great River Roadhouse. The northern edge is down by the slips with one huge chunk of open water dividing the two in half. There were a few flat bottoms touring between the shore line and what’s left of the ice.
Monday, March 23rd…..Ice completely GONE!
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