Milw. Harbor

Main Harbor – Ice-Packed

Spent the entire day out yesterday at McKinley and moving periodically to try and find more active fish. Fish were quite negative to put it mildly. Had the LX-9 going and got about 7 hrs recorded of fish passing by. Strange day that typical areas that normally do well shown very few fish cruising while other “non-productive” areas had a lot of fish cruising. Went 4 of 5 – 1 small bow & 3 browns. Not much consistency on what they wanted. Bow = spawn, Browns = 3″ gulp, Gold B3 blade bait, & Copper Slender Spoon. Recorded about 25-30 browns passing within 3′ of a spawn sac – not even a look. Over a dozen came in and looked at various baits, most common was the gold blade bait and the slendor spoon. Fish would do a 180 and take a second or third look then cruise off.

USE CAUTION around all the docks that have aerators – Especially if your not familiar with the harbor. This wind has blown a heck of a lot of snow into the open water and a lot more “crust” has developed on the edges. I noticed a couple we nearly closed up and it could have fatal results.

Hopefully a more active day for guys down there today!

Here’s a few of the Browns swimming around I captured with the LX-9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ZX0706Ip0&feature=share&list=UUgS08rTWqufmjdY1_wo7RQQ

Hey Randy, sounds interesting. What is a spawn sac? That species of fishing is something I have never done,
I do know about the crusted over open water however. The lake I fish primarily has what some call “springs”. The springs are a gas of some sort coming out in a continual series of bubbles. Some years the ice does not form over these areas and some years it does, but at a nice crusty thin layer.
If you are fishing close to these areas and there is a crust, it will build up pressure and eventually it finds your open hole, Scares the heck out of ya.

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Hey Randy, sounds interesting. What is a spawn sac? That species of fishing is something I have never done,

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Salmon or trout eggs wrapped into a “ball” with nylon mesh.

Nice underwater shots, Randy. So what’s it gonna take to turn those browns on?

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Nice underwater shots, Randy. So what’s it gonna take to turn those browns on?

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Better weather! Moody – Especially in shallow water. Normally, they are bit more cooperative in deeper water (gaps – main harbor) when we have fronts passing through. Though trout biting and Alberta Clipper or “Frozen Air Mass” in the same sentence usually doesn’t happen. Waiting to hear how Jake did. They didn’t get in until very late afternoon on Friday. By the time they were setting up, I had already been down there for almost 7 hrs. I go 4 and that was a LOT of work and moving around. Only found two spots with fish cruising. Tough day!

If I remember correctly, last year you and I were out on open water jigging up browns and lakers at about this time, going thru some skim ice here and there. Looks like it’ll be quite a while till we can do that again.

I didn’t drive under the bridge to look, but as far as I could see – ICE PACK. Between that and salty roads, I won’t be taking my boat anytime soon