These weights aren’t exact, but they should be close for Sunday.

1st 20
2nd 16.35
3rd 16.00
4th 14
5th 12.87

You cannot shoot rough fish until May 1st.

Jarrad is going to make the cut and move on too day 4. He should be sitting in 9th or 10th place going into day 4 with just under 10 lbs on day 3.

Travel on the lake is very good right now. The cold spell froze up most of the slush and water holes. On many areas of the lake, two wheel drive vehicles can make it away from the beaten path. There is some drifting with the fresh snow and strong winds, but it is very limited.

As of yesterday, the Birches public access is not usable. There was a big water hole in front of the access last weekend. It did not freeze up completely before the snow, it drifted over the old banks, and now the snow is keeping it insulated. There is a foot or so of drifting, a few inches of ice, then almost a foot of water.

Richardson townsite public access is in real good condition on the south end of the lake. With the strong south winds, there is hardly any snow on the south side.

Fishing has been good, but the hotspot one day may not be the hot spot the next. Be prepared to move with the fish if you are not getting any. This will be my last ice fishing report. I leave this weekend for the MWC and the RCL on the Illinois River. Hopefully my tournament season will start out on a good note.

Thanks for the update Kevin. Plans might be scratched for this year. We’re dealing with the same ice conditions over here. Good luck with your family situation.

Kevin,

How is ice travel over in your neck of the woods? Snowdepth, water on ice, snowmobile or ATV needed to get off the roads?

The construction company I work for during the summer is bringing myself and a group of guys over your way on the 15th and 16th. I’m wondering what conditions to expect. Thanks

They were running this setup on two rod each in the MWC Tournament on the Illinois River. In IL you can run 3 rods with two lures per rod while trolling. The MWC in IL allows for two rods with two lures per rod.

Thanks for the info. I figured l’d have to do some drilling.

Jeff so when will you be able to spill any beens???

I just read it yesterday. Wow a true celebrity. Nice picture. His picture should be on the front cover instead of Ted’s.

Sculpin…..They can be mistaken for the Round Goby also. I sent one to the DNR a few years ago to make sure it was a Sculpin and not a Goby.

Paul, try some 8lb downrigger balls until you get your arm strength worked up.

I have Scott get mine from Bruce. Good Luck

We have an extremely strong 2002 year class. The data isn’t out on it yet, but with the 2003 perch we are seeing, the 2003 walleye class should be pretty good also.

I was thinking along the same lines as you Sean prior to entering the meeting. I figured this would let the small fish in the lake get bigger before they are harvested. DNR biologists are not in favor of a minimum size limit for a couple of reasons. The 2002 year class has an extremely large population. These fish are the 9-11” fish we are seeing this winter and their numbers are in the millions. They are worried about growth problems if they start stacking fish below the 14” mark. These small fish are aggressive feeders. They don’t necessarily want anglers keeping the dinks, but they want to allow a small fish to be kept if it’s not going to survive. They also feel a minimum size will result in harvest of more young females. The females grow faster, would be the first ones over the minimum size, and would be the first ones harvested.

Uh-Oh, better not ruin a thread with a debate …I thought the Marcum LX3 would do the trick.

If you are using a heavy enough lure you can drop it to the bottom and count how many turns you are coming up from the bottom. When you catch a fish you can reel back to the same spot.

My garage isn’t big enough to fit my boat and the vehicles. My boat gets the garage in the spring, summer, and fall. The vehicles and ice fishing gear use the garage in the winter.

That’s OK though, I don’t think I could walk by my boat everyday during the winter. Scott, it’s a good thing your boat can keep mine company during these lonely months. Make sure you say hi the next time you go by her.

I’d rather make a route through rough ice than get stuck in drifts. We need the snow to keep the spring water levels near normal. Wait until Feb 16 and then let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. (We will have our houses off then)

There aren’t many walleyes in the 12-19″ range. The walleye numbers get better as you get bigger than 19″. A 17-21″ slot is targeting the same year classes that were targeted in the under 17″ slot this year, the 14-16″ slot last year or so, and the 14-18″ slot the year before that.

One good thing this slot would do is let the 9-11″ 2002 year class get bigger. With people wanting to take fish home, I can see people starting to harvest these fish once they hit 12″. With people harvesting 12 and 13″ fish, the situation won’t get any better.

They almost have to allow one or two fish over 20″ to help balance the lake out over the next few years. They are talkng about stricter limits until the night ban comes off. If there is another good spawn this spring, the fishing would be slower after the hatch and an overharvest isn’t too much of an issue. There would be three good year classes coming up as well.

If there is a bad spawn this spring …………?????? It’s complicated any way you look at it.

“I figure watching it 2 or 3 time with intermissions, should do it while the servers down.” LOL

It looks like James needs to make more videos.

Depends on how you look at it……my fishing opened on January 1, 2004. There is always some type of fish to target throughout the year.

Hopefully things go well.

Nobody told me I had to prepare an acceptance speech…..thanks for having me on board.

Thanks for the update….

I’ve been driving more comfortably to other spots on the lake as well. I’ve measured 15″-19″ of ice from spot to spot. Even with the ice getting thick you still need to use caution around the pressure ridges. The warmer weather today moved things around a little. Good luck on the water.

We drive to some areas, but we take ATVs to others. Many resorts are letting vehicles out, but other resorts are dealing with cracks and shifting ice.

Technically I would consider us outside the “pig pen” , but I guess I don’t know the areas you concentrate on.

Nice fish guys

As of the 19th I made it out to the mud with safe ice everywhere I traveled by ATV. There are many ridges and cracks out there to meander around. Bring the planks and a chisel with and you will be able to get anywhere you want to go. Make sure to look for safe spots to cross ridges and check you path as you go. The ice is shifting around with warm and cold temps and changing wind directions.

Bob hit the nail on the head. I saw open areas on Saturday that were’t open on last Wed and areas that were open on last Wednesday that had 3″ of ice on Saturday. I tried to get out further yesterday to only be greeted with an area of open water. The ice is still shifting a little. Wherever you end up going, check your path unless you see it has been previously traveled.

Wow it worked. The picture doesn’t do the open water justice….you can’t even see the white caps.

Just trying to post a picture before I call it a night. Scott can give an ice update tomorrow.

I was thinking along the same lines of what Steve posted. Yes, the internet is promoting pool 4 and other bodies of water, but it is also promoting C&R. C&R promotion is better than ever and needs to be.

I’m not pointing any fingers, but I know some guys that complain about the pressure and say fishing was much better 20 years ago. They then go out and take home the biggest fish they catch. One guy complains about all the fish being taken out of a particular lake and also blames bad fishing on all the Muskies in the lake. Yet, every time he goes out he’ll keep what he catches. He’ll keep walleyes 12″ to 30″………the little ones are just like a perch and the big ones have a lot of meat on them……..There is no convincing him to let some go.

One other thing to note in that cold of weather is your water lines. On Sunday we saw many motors without water coming out the pisser. I’m not a mechanic and I don’t know how ice blocking the lines in different places can affect your engine or water pump, but it can’t be good.

After leaving the water I lower the motor to get the water out and if it is going to be below freezing I will run the engine for a second or two to clear the lines. My question for everyone is can this do more harm than good? Everyone is aware of ruining a water pump impeller running it out of the water, but ice in the lines isn’t good either. Where does a person draw the line?