Today started of with a bang…well it was actually more of a snap!
After the last three days with the rela-tic’s I was very happy to be invited to fish with Mike (HOF) from Hooked on Fishing www.hofbaitandtackle.com and his friend Ron (RHW) for some gills, crappies and maybe a chance at a catfish. As I was getting my gear ready this morning, I reached into my portable grabbed my ice stick and heard a little snap. My favorite gill rod was now in a permanent L shape! Since I was meeting the guys at the Hooked on Fishing store, I shot off a Private Message to HOF asking him to put a rod together for me. Less than a hour and a half later I was shaking hands with Ron and Mike, then headed out the door to the infamous Lake Zumbro with my new bait caster style rod/reel combo that included a spring bobber and a “secret” lure. Today’s “secret” lure turned out to be a Purple Ratzo. I’m not sure what Mike and Ron were using, but with the consistency I was having with the Purple Ratzo they switched over pretty quickly!
Pictured to the right is a purple Ratzo.
We had 6 inches of ice on Lake Zumbro. There were a couple ATV’s, snowmobiles and one conservation officer on the lake today. I wanted to keep him in a good mood so I didn’t ask him if he knew Jake. With the above normal temps…as always be careful and always go with someone that knows the lake. As a safety tip, I’ve been wearing my boating PFD under my fishing jacket. This offers floatation if I should ever need it and the insulation keeps me warmer.
Here was the ticket of the day. We were fishing 26 feet of water, about 6 inches off the bottom with a few crappies being nailed about 3 feet off the bottom. Purple Ratzo was THE hook to be using today along with tipping it with a wax worm. HOF had a minnow swimming the whole time we were out with not even a nervous twitch. Ron and I zoomed in on the last 5 feet of water with our MarCum Lx-3’s and watched as the green turned to yellow turned to red turned to a bite! And they were light bitters today! Many times the spring bobber didn’t move, just a little jigging and then there was weight on the end of the line. If it wouldn’t have been for our electroics to tell use when to pay attention, we would have a lot less fish at the end of the day.
Pictured above left is Mike (HOF) and a mess of panfish and big grin.
We had very few small fish, there were a few but most gills were dandy’s. I believe the largest was 9.5 inches. HOF seemed to be the Crappie King today. We ended up with 4 nice crappies and 32 very nice gills. OH! Almost forgot! Although I wasn’t wearing my In-DepthAngling.com Cat fishing hat…I did manage one whiskered fella today.
Thanks again Mike and Ron! I’m already looking forward to the next time!
Pictured to the right is my eater size channel cat.
In case you happen to stop in for the secret lure.
Mike has the largest selection of ice flies in the area!
Ron with his new MarCum LX-3.
Ron see’s a fish on his new MarCum!
FISH ON!!!!
And another dandy ‘gill gets iced!
’tis the season. I been giving serious thought that the hefty break offs I been getting near my winning 2005 lake contest catfish hole aren’t cats. They feel heavy and pull like a train. Still got 7 in ice in Illinois with the warm up.
Hey Brian,
Sure was a fun day to ice those gills, crappies, and the catfish!
Thanks for coming down to share the day with us, and come back soon! 
Good Fishing,
Mike
Well Brian when are you coming down next to ice some gills and or trout? I’ll try not to be tied up for the weekend with family. Well Mike, do you have plenty of ratzos in stock? And to think I got a phone call from Brian on his way home telling me not to let the cat out of the bag on color and then he lets the kittie out.
Nice to see he caught his kittie though as I’m sure he was hoping to catch one. 
How did the Marcums work guys. Thanks for the report and pics Brian [I think, lol].
Thanks, Bill
At this point…the only thing I’m saying about MarCum’s…is that they worked fantastic!!!!
Anything you care to add Mike?
I tried Brian’s Marcum yesterday for a little bit. It was certainly a great unit, and of course a real advance over my FL8. I may need to do an upgrade on my ice fishing electronics?
Yes Bill, we have Ratso’s in stock.
Good Fishing,
Mike
Great to see a report from down that way!
Nice fish! Looks like fun was had by all!
Tuck
Nice fish. The purple Ratzo and Shrimpo put some nice fish on the ice for me this year also.
Shhh! Bret that’s a secret lure. I won’t even let Bill talk about it.
Thanks, Bill
Sunday I’ll be at the VFW for their annual chili eating contest! My favorite wife wishes I would be fishing!
I think Ron [RHW] will be with us so he will have his Marcum LX3. We would be there in the afternoon so maybe you could sneak away after eating? The Mrs. is welcome too.
Thanks, Bill
Bill. Brian is going to a chili eating contest.
And you still want him to come down and go fishing?
I suppose if you were fishing outside… he would have his methane heater going in his suit. In a fish house,
could be dangerous. I think his favorite wife would have a couple of handprints on his back, aiming him towards the door if she knew he had a fishing invite instead! 
Nice report and pcitures guys! You have got to love this big gills!!
But that has nothing to do with eating chili….
I’m keeping next years cut bait “fresh”!
Geeze…..There was a trip to the Zumbro and I wasn’t even invited?…..I’m crushed
……..and by the pictures, I can tell you guys were fishing my secret spot too 
Anywho…..I got word of this great bite straight from the man on Tuesday, so three of us headed out to try our own luck…….Yeah…..talk about a bust……3 of us fished for three hours and only pulled up one stinkin sunny
Then again, we didn’t have none of those new fandangled Marcum’s or any purple ratzo’s, so that was probably the problem
We were the only ones out there tuesday…..for some reason I have a feeling there may be an influx of fishing pressure to the Zumbro by this weekend
Jake, you were thought of…a couple times…once went I was walking out on the ice…I said self? “Without the Official Lake Zumbro Guide…do you really expect to catch anything?”
Being that we were at your secret spot…I figure you must have taught Mike and Ron how and where to fish…so I felt better.
The MarCum’s helped….but the Secret Lure DID do the trick…Really!
Ron, did yours taste as good as mine?