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.
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.
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.
Great report and pictures Dan! I gotta get going and get my gear ready….we are about 2 weeks away, we just haven’t had enough really cold weather.
Yes…….we were doing pretty well selling the Otter Product! You should have said hi being so close. Did you see Dave Dahl from KSTP 5…..he did the weather with the show and Otter in the background ( including yours truly )
WHATS THE DEAL WITH THE BLAZE ORANGE GET-UP????
ARE YOU DEER HUNTING OR ICE FISHING OR PERHAPS YOU NEED TO COLOR CORDINATE AND MATCH YOUR FRABIL TIP UPS… I THINK I KNOW WHAT SANTA SHOULD BRING YOU THIS YEAR PAL! I HAVE TO RIB YA MAN- GOOD LOOKING PIKE, WISH I COULD HAVE MADE IT- NEXT TIME