Jeff (Jethro) and I headed out today to hit Lake Peltier for some panfishing. I’m in the Ultimate Panfish League league this year and our first fishing event is next Sunday on Lake Peltier so this was a great time to get out and do some prefishing. We were a little lazy and didn’t move around much as everything had to be pulled out by hand due to only 6″ of ice on the lake and quite a bit of snow. We got up to the lake, unloaded the truck and walked about 300 yards or so out on the lake. It was a little tiring with the weight we pulled out but we got setup by about one. Fired up the auger for the first time this year and punched some holes in the ice.
We were setup in about 12 feet of water and marked some fish. We also got some tip ups setup with suckers to see if we could get any pike to hit. After sitting for a bit with nothing happening Jeff decided to move around. He hole hopped for a while and on the last pole finally had a fish on, at least I think it was a fish, I couldn’t see it from the 25 feet away I was!! He had a little perch on the line. So he came back over to the sled and had a seat.
I started out using a red diamond jig with a very small chartreuse tail. I would get a few fish to come and check it out but got no takers on it. I switched over to a green jig with a red tail and still couldn’t get any commitment from the fish. So I pulled out an orange and white gill pill and put on one of Bob-o’s red tails. We flipped the shelter over and got a little heat going and were having some good conversations going when I saw my flasher light up. I made some short jigs with my rod and smack! Fish on!! I got the first fish of my season up and through the hole. It was a nice 10″ crappie!!
We continued to mark a lot of fish on the flashers but the fish were extremely tight lipped tonight. Jeff started using a fat boy with a red plastic on it and, after a little time, he iced his first keeper sunfish.
We continued to fish in the shelter and looked out to see Jeff’s flag up! Opened the shelter and he shot out to take a look. Nothing was on the line so it was just a hit and run. He was on his way back to the shelter and told me to take a look at my tip up. The flag had just went up so I got up and ran over to it. Another hit and run but my sucker had a nice bite taken out of the side of it. The shelter was popped back over us and we went back to jigging. Jeff switched over to a glow gill pill with a red tail on it and withing a short time he brought in a sunfish bigger than the last. This one was pushing around ten inches!!
We continued fishing and were able to get the fish to come off the bottom very regularly. The problem wasn’t getting the fish to come in to the lure, the problem was getting them to bite. We had a few light bites and a few that got close to the hole and came up but hadn’t iced any for a while. I switched over to a glow gill pill and put on a glow tail. It was after four now and getting a little dark. I lit up the glow lure and sent it down the hole. Man did the fish come in when that got within a couple of feet of the bottom! I worked it and jigged and and called all kinds of fish in and managed a small sunfish up the whole. Jeff went with the glow tail as well and managed another smaller crappie. We continued to fish until 5:30 when we just couldn’t get the fish to come in and commit anymore. It had been close to an hour since the last bite so we figured it was as good as time as any to head back in.
We packed up and pulled the sled back to the truck. The trek back in seemed longer than it was on the way out but we made it back just fine. It always helps to have two pulling on the sled than just one person. We got the truck all loaded up and had a nice ride home. It was a great outing with Jeff. The action of the day was not fast and furious but we got quality instead of quantity and that’s a plus in my book. Jeff and I had great conversations about family, fishing and school. Anytime you can get out fishing with friends is a great outing, the fish are always a plus to have on the ice. We came home with a half dozen nice fish, enough for a meal.
LOL