With the forecast calling for colder temps and snow, Ron (RHW) and I decided to take one more trip to the pool 4 backwaters before they start to freeze up. We didn’t get to the water until noon. By then the temps had already started to fall. The fish were not aggressive and seemed to be almost in a negative mood, but we were able to coax quite a few into biting.
The lure of choice was once again a mini-mite jig tipped with a waxie. The jig was set 2-4 ft. under a bobber. We also tried to straight line the jigs to the bottom, trying something like an ice-fishing technique but the fish preferred the suspended jig under a bobber.
The majority of the fish we caught were bluegills, but some nice crappies also showed up. There were lots of small gills and perch in the mix of larger fish. The bite was very light. We would see the bobber slightly twitch and it was impossible to get a hookset without perfect timing. The fish were barely hitting the lure and only holding it for a split second.
By the time we quit around 4:00 it was downright cold, close to 40 degrees and a bit windy. This was likely the last time the boat will see the backwaters this season. I couldn’t help but think that ice-fishing is probably just around the corner. Sure was a fun year chasing those big panfish in open water, but now all I can say is – bring on the ice!
Nice!
Hey Mike? Where is the backwaters? If I were to go down that way…where would I start to look? I remember from years past that you would venture on 1 or 2 inches of ice (in 1 or 2 feet of water) and just slam them gills…but there’s a lot of back water between here and IA!
By the way, Ron? You are looking as adorable as ever.
The backwaters are off the main channel pretty much along most of the river. We were close to Wabasha yesterday. There is a good stretch of backwaters on the WS side of the river between Wabasha and Nelson, but lots of harbors also hold fish at first ice.
Ron is the poster boy for HOF!
Good Fishing,
Mike
It looks like you two had a good day and had some nice fishing to boot. I bet you are getting really antsy at this point for the hard-stuff.
I hope you get out again this weekend. Tomorrow looks like it is supposed to be sunny/32 degrees with 3-6 mph winds
Chris
Hey Mike,
no Mike to be found. I found schools of fish (deep) out in the channel from the bays and all I could muster up were some stripers. I probably should have been fishing shallow under a bobber as well. The wind made boat control out there a challenge but overall a great day on the water. 
I stopped at the shop (HOF) looking for you and was told you’d be on the water in the afternoon so off I went, to Lake Zumbro thinking you’d be out there…but
Thanks for the report and pics. Don’t put the boat away yet as next weekend could be upper 40s and maybe low 50s past the weekend if the long range forcast is correct. What a day can make. Open water fishing yesterday for you guys and we get blasted with a bunch of snow today.
Not ready for this yet. Need to get some more hours in on open water with decent days first. 
Thanks, Bill
He’s sneeky that way! About the time you think you have him patterned….
Wonder if they make a “launch cam”??
Either that or call his cell phone and ask him which body of water he is on…hes a sneaky little fisherman I can tell you that. One minute hes working and the next hes off to a favorite fishing spot. It even gets worse when theres ice on the lake cause he can just up and go without having to tow a boat. And here we thought he quit playing hooky cause hes not school age anymore.
Thanks, Bill
Any color that seems to work better this time of year or just keep changing till you find one they like. Thanks
Purple seems to be a good bet, but I keep trying different colors until the fish tell me what they prefer. White with a pink head worked very well this last trip.
Good Fishing,
Mike
Ditto on the white with pink head in deep water. The stripers just smashed them….but I was looking for crappies
Frank, the gils and crappies like the Mini-Mites tipped with a waxie.
Thanks, Bill
Bill, that all makes sense, I even had them in the boat. I was having enough trouble trying to hover above the schools with my transom mounted trolling motor that plain rubber is all I tried. I just finished adding an adapter to my bow mount from the big Lund and it’now ready on the Rebel. This would have been exactly what I needed out there on Thursday. It was one of those choppy days that needed a troller to pull the boat rather than a transom mount trying to push it. I’m hoping I can get out there one more time although the Ponderosa ramp is really dangerous to props right now with the lake lowered for Winter. I might put in at Fishermans’s and just motor up the lake a couple miles.