Seldom do I find myself shying away from a first ice trip, and Thursday and Friday were certainly no different. With limited reports of good ice in the Twin Cities, it seemed only logical to look for a fishing destination with a bit higher latitude. Five inches of new snow, five to six inches of good clear ice, and sub-zero temperatures only served to compliment a great opening to the 2004-2005 hard water season in the Bemidji/Blackduck area.
We made our way up to the frozen north Wednesday night, and were graciously greeted by driving snow with the gentle push of 25 mph winds. We woke Thursday A.M. only to find five fresh inches of light powder, high skies, and a steadily declining mercury. The rumor at the bait shop in Blackduck regarding Upper Red was: no one was getting past a mile out, open water everywhere, and after last night’s northwest blow, most of it broke back open. So small water it was, a 260 acre gem that a good friend Dan Reis’ family has been on for more than 10 years now. We started the day spreading out far and wide with a six tip-up array down a sharp weedline that topped at 5’ and broke to 31’. The defined weed edge is typically at 14’, and the plan was to straddle the break keying on many of the multiple corners and points. Even the most lack-luster weed lines have subtle turns and fingers that hold fish, the spot on the spot, but seldom do we take the time to find them during the open water season. Having had the chance to mark with GPS some of the more unique bottom variations during this past summer, it wasn’t long before the flags were flying and three grown men raced like school kids for a shot at the next fish. We had a total of 17 Pike for the day, most were the three pound variety, but we did have one fish hit the tape a little bit better than 32”. The bite was sporadic, with flurries of doubles commonplace for the day. On more than one occasion fish were brought up spewing young of the year Sunfish, most no bigger than a quarter. More proof to me that the Pike were hunting in loose packs, herding the schools of baitfish up and down the weedline. We switched gears at about 3:30 p.m., now short one guy to archery stand, we opted for two tip-ups right on the break in 15’, and a line apiece in the house. Fully satisfied that our tips would let us know if a solid walleye bite was going on, we hit the 31’ hole just 25 yards away, with #10 glow red Fatboys and spikes. In the past, and in hindsight much later in the season, crappies were abundant and suspended from 3’-15’ off the bottom. We however found no fish deep that night, and skunked for panfish that day.
Temps bottomed out Thursday night at a frosty -7, but then warmed steadily to 24 by 7:00 Friday morning. Finding Bluegills was to be priority of the day, and we ventured off to an expansive 18’ flat in the middle of the lake that had proven itself time and time again for an all day Gil bite. As it turned out we should have stuck with the pike fishing. Once again flags were flying steady all day on the three tip-ups we had set just 50 yards away on a subtle weed edge, we even managed 8 pike on our ultralight gear. The perch were ravenous during daylight hours, and the crappies and bluegills didn’t turn on until right at dusk. Glow-red Fatboys tipped with red spikes were the ticket to get these fish to go. I had to leave Friday night at about 6:00 to get back to work at the Ice Fishing Show Saturday and Sunday so I didn’t get a chance to chase that school of fish again
Just want to say hi to all the people I met and talked to at the Ice Fishing Show, had a great time talking fishing with all of you. Hey Bobber, you looked pretty busy selling all those Otters, hope things went well on Saturday. I’ll be trying to get out this week, I have heard there is walkable ice on Coon, Linwood, and Martin. I also have a few lakes around Isanti that I have been itching to try. Here’s hoping for some cold temps, and good ice.