Northern WI Gills & Slabs

This past week ice fishing inland lakes here in northern most Wisconsin. Did a little pre scouting on one of our go to lakes that we frequent through out the summer. Along for the trip was my good friend and fellow guide Tom. Mission objective was to do a little recon work to locate the big bulls from where we had last left them in the open water season. With the MarCum and StrikeMaster in one hand and a few rods in a bucket in the other with in 30 holes we were on them fishing 6 to 14 feet of water on a neck down weed line that connects to the basin 40 ft hole. Armed with Northland Tackle mud bugs and Lindy micro slick jigs and a hand full of CJ&S diamond jigs and pockets full of J and S custom plastics of every color one could think. First drop I sent down a twisted combo of a natural looking jig rigged with bright bubble gum pepper flake J & S Ice mite. With a great response I was hammered 3 ft down on my drop in 10ft of water with my first 10” bull of the year. Soon after a series of 8’s and 9’s fell to the same color twist and were invited to the ice for some CPR.

The action was just a furious for my fishing partner who was also rigging a Christmas tree combo emerald green mooska with a blood red Ice Mite plastic. And after his tornado of 8’s and 9’s slowed he packed up and moved shallow to 7 feet of water and drops the ace in the hole and pulls his first 11” for the season CPR. What a great way to start the season “gin clear water, off the wall color combos, ringing bull gills bells”!

Day two and three we visit a few more lakes pre scouting for the up coming trips with the Geneva & J & S crew. Today the gill bite started off with a bang we pulled many 8’s and a hand full of 9’s up working the edge of the basin on a rather short but deep bay “classic transition area where we also found some nice slabs. Great green weeds all the way into the shallows yet. Fishing 7 to 25 feet of water. We found very few fish today suspended off the bottom from day light to dark. However we found willing biters in most of the holes we drilled. Today we even tangled into a few bucket mouths and a few small Pike looking for an easy meal that found the bubble gum bro bug and my glitter flake matching plastic hard to pass by.

Day’s four and five, the rest of the crew arrived and are ready to rock. We scoot to a near by lake Otters and atv’s on the trailer. One of my most favorite lakes to fish its not a #’s lake by no means but it does hold some, nice hog bull gill’s and slab crappies in it. Over the course of the next two days several hundred fish hit the ice some of the smaller ones made there way to the bucket for the fry pan all other’s were released back to there cold home. As the near by storm front was pushing its way onto us we moved out a little deeper 20 to 26 and landed into many nice slabs all nothing over the 14” mark. All fell for the off the match hatch of several odd ball color combos. Some fish met your jig on the drop and others you had to work over for a quick minute. The Otter’s were great Inside the new Pro Lodge was jacket off temps, nice and quiet in the wind was great to.