Guys, I was out on Monday evening at CW and when not dodging the squalls I was battling the fish.. I caught and released about a dozen crappies and a few largmouth bass. The crappies I caught were on fatheads and were big! I saw some folks with a great stringer of sunnies. None were small!

For as sucky as the fishing was there this past winter it seems to have totally turned on!!

Don’t everbody go running out there though, o.k.!!!! IF you do practice catch and release when you can…

Thanks!

Ken

I like Chester allot!!, but would love to see them stock some Smallmouth in there. The Crappies there are getting big. Haven’t tied into channel cat yet but saw a picture of a 17 pounder taken there last summer.

Ken

Hmmmmmmm. Lets see here. We all need to buy licenses to continue to fish which means we will be heading to the bait shops to renew. Minnows are nowhere to be found. Could it be that there is a hefty supply of ice fishing artificals available that need to be sold off to make room for the open water stuff?

Sounds kinda like the gasoline distributors right before Memorial Day…. You know……”We are expecting heavy demand for gas Memorial Weekend this year but ever since that California refinary fire in ’89 we have had trouble catching up on the supply side.” Yah…Right!!!!!!

Just Joshing….. I’ll be in for my license before the end of the week.

Ken

I would imagine that the brutal walking conditions are keeping the folks off of CW. It is beyond aerobic trying to get out to some spots right now! It’s been a funny winter out there. For the first half of the season you were flying [censored] over tea kettle every 20 feet because of the polished ice then all of a sudden you needed snow shoes so you wouldn’t sink up to you thighs in the snow. Lately it’s like trudging through 2 feet of wet cement. Also the lakes water color currently is dark rust.. C’MON SPRING!!!!!

Ken

CrappieTom: Your advice lead to some success for me at CW on Sunday. Thanks! It was interesting that there was never more than 3 people(including me) on the lake at one time all afternoon and evening up to 7pm.

A Ratso tipped with a waxie and a teardrop tipped with a minnow did some damage.

Ken

Thanks Crappie Tom. I guess I’m not to far off directionally at this point as yesterday I was in 15-24 feet of water staying to the outside edges of the timber which is similar in depth and structure to the area by the dam that I actually managed to land a fish this winter. However, are you thinking even deeper than that?

Has the time of day been a factor? Is anybody catching fish after dark?

Sorry for the 20 questions……

Ken

Thank you for the crappie ice fishing advice fellas. I have no problem admitting that I have had on hell of a tough time ice fishing the local waters from crappies. I’ve been out to Chester 4 or 5 times including yesterday late afternoon and have had minimal results. In fact, my only highlight yesterday afternoon was setting the hook on my only strike, feeling the fish pull for a couple seconds, watching my rod snap in half, then finding my line and pulling up my teardrop only to find the hook completely straightened out. It must have been a bass.

Anyway, I’ve have had some measure of success in the open water at CW since I started fishing there last year but I have absolutely struggled this winter!!

Is it time yet where you think I can start patroling the ice near where I had killed them last spring in the open water?

Although I have fished all over the lake on the ice and open water the only winter crappie victories have been just around the corner from the left side of the dam. Where I had success in the open water is along the west bank startingfrom the opposite side of the first pier on the eastside. That’s where I was yesterday in the late afternoon when my equiptment was trashed. The water looked really rusty colored and dirty at least on that portion of the lake. I don’t recall seeing that on other areas of the lake and maybe it’s because of the leaves from fall and more timber in the water and also maybe because I’ve been at Foster Arends the last couple of weeks where the water is crystal clear. By the way, I suck over there too and couldn’t catch a trout if my life depended on it.

I don’t think I’m retarded when it comes to ice fishing CW but my confidence couldn’t be any lower that it is right now. I will take your previous advice and try to incorporate it however if you have any more bones to throw me it would be much appreciated! All I can offer in return is helping you golfers with your swings.

I’m going out to CW again Sunday afternoon so I guess if there anyway someone could point my pathetic rear to a spot on the lake it would be great.

Thanks,

Ken

Went to FA Thursday afternoon. People were icing some very nice Brook Trout!! I saw at least two19 inchers come up. People were fishing very shallow(around 5 feet). It was bizarre because while you were fishing you could see brookies swiming below the ice.

They were hitting minnows on a teardrop, etc. jigged. I of course sat there with my waxies and powerbait catching the occasional small sunfish!

Ken

Nate.. Thanks man! I’ll give it a whirl!

Ken

Help Mike!!!

Do you have any hook setting suggestions for the FA trout when ice fishing that might be different that regular water conditions? I ice fished this week for a couple of hours and had multiple strikes but got nothing but air when I tried to set the hook.

I was using both waxies and crappie minnows. I hooked the minnows parallel to their backbone as I had done thanks to advice this fall for the open water. They slammed the baits really hard as my bobber would race down and away from the hole.

Do you hit them as soon as the bobber goes down or is it a waiting game?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!!

Ken

Congratulations Mike! There are allot of us in the South and East part of town that will be visiting you on a regular basis.

Ken

Yah Baby!!!! The alternative fathead rigging method works! Thanks. I snuck out Tuesday late afternoon(don’t tell anybody) and landed 2 nice size Rainbows on 2 huge fatheads. I might be able to try again late this week.

Thanks Again.

Ken

Thanks for the advice Mike. I shall try the alternative hooking method. It looks like I might be trying it for the first time through the ice, however. YIKES

Ken

Thank you for the update! I tried Foster Arends for the first time Sunday. Used fatheads as suggested ,however, I apparently need to go to a “How to set the hook on a rainbow trout” seminar. Had allot of good strikes but it didn’t matter whether I tried to set right away or wait a longer period I came up with air except for a small crappie and a tiny bass. I also changed hook sizes.

I’ll give it another try before it freezes over, but if someone wants to share local knowledge I would appreciate it!

Ken

Thank you for the info on the Zumbro River! I’ll give it try just to the North of Essex Park very soon and let you know how it goes.

Ken

Hi Guys,

I have been to busy to register and post, but when I can I sneek out to Chester. I fished 2 Sundays ago and did pretty well. I’ve tried all sorts of artificials but I keep coming back to fatheads and a slip bobber. Not only have the bass been hitting but a few big crappies have come on board as well. The biggest bass I’ve caught on Chester was 4 1/2lbs right before the lake iced up late last fall right off one of the fishing piers. I now have a boat and have done allot of exploring over the summer when I get the time.

Throwing the fatheads right up to shore in a couple of feet of water has really been effective.

By the way, how do you catch those channel cats in the summer? Are they stump lovers in deep water? When I’ve tried a couple of times I haven’t fared well at all!

Thanks for any help with the cats.

Ken