Finally starting

Finally starting to get some ice. It’s coming slow but it is happening. Have about 1/4 inch of ice that extents from shore out about 30 to 40 feet with some more ice out farther in the bulrushes. If the wind stays down it should start to fill in the area in between tonight. I don’t think it will be walkable by this weekend though unless it gets colder than what they are predicting. I only need about 3 to 4 inches and I’m out there. I wouldn’t expect it to freeze out past the bulrushes until sometime next week though, depending on the wind.

Ice at 2-1/2 inches about 15 feet out from shore as of 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Couldn’t get out any farther. The ice was having a difficult time supporting my 220 lbs.

I just heard that there’s 7″ on the West side as of this morning.

Depends on where on the west side your at. Found one area today on what would be the northwest corner that was only 3 inches. Most was in the 4 to 6 inch range. After coming across the 3 inch area, the wheeler is still staying on the shore for a few days.

So how is the bite up that way?

I fished it this past week with Joe Scegura and the bite for big gills has been solid despite the tough conditions. 20′ of water seemed to be the right depth. The fish were very scattered so staying on the move was key. We landed gills up to 9.75″ with a solid number in the 8.5″ – 9.5″ range. Ice depths were in the 12″ range with nasty ice ruts everywhere from wheeler and vehicle traffic immediately after the last “slopfall” we had that is now frozen solid.

All in all I was very impressed with the quality of fish available. Pressure is quite high but if you stayed out on the edges of the pressure and fished light line and small jigs… you put fish on the ice.

What kind of lures are guys using with success out there?? Mt experience is always a tough bite, but I love the quality. Any details, guys?? Thanks in advance.