Iowa BULL Gill Report 12.13.07

We are still making ice here in Eastern Iowa! The rain/ice storm that swept across the mid-west has improved our ice conditions and made the ice fishing much better.
Today I was joined on the water by fellow staffer Andy Craig, our good friend Trevor, and rookie ice angler Tim Davin. The big gills really showed their faces today!

The fishing conditions have changed greatly from my last report. The last time on this body of water, snow covered a vast majority of the lake. We were limited to fishing a very small portion of deeper water, where the wind had blown off some of the snow, and the ice was thick enough to fish on. Anywhere else with snow, was just too dangerous to fish. However, with the recent rain/ice storm that we received, ice conditions were better. The rain melted all four inches of snow, and perfectly froze up over the past two days. We were able to cover much more water today.

I was the first to arrive at the spot, and I began fishing the same area that I caught fish previously. I didn’t catch much to say the least. Andy brought up a good point, that the fish that were being caught a couple days prior, were possibly in that deeper water, because there wasn’t much snow on top, and the light was allowing them to see better. Well, now, with no snow on the lake, the fish were able to roam wherever they pleased. After a fair amount of drilling, fish were located on a steep break from 5′ to 13-15′ within a couple of feet. These big gills were stacked along the break. I was using a ratso the whole time. Tim was using a diamond jig tipped with Gulp or a wax worm. I don’t think what type of bait was being tipped mattered as much as the presentation. Some of these fish wanted a dead still jig, others wanted to chase three of four feet up, then they smashed it when you stopped. Others only would hit the bait as you kept raising it. We had to keep adapting to hook the fish. It amazes me that fish in a small area have different attitudes, and how the “same group” of fish will vary in how they will chase bait.

I would like to again, remind all ice anglers to practice selective harvest on these big breeders. It doesn’t take long for our small Iowa lakes to get over-fished, especially if you are taking out the big gills. Those fish are the genetics, so try and release the big ones for the future of our fisheries!

It looks like the weather is going to keep us on ice here in Iowa for a while now! I for one am very thankful.
I am off to Des Moines in the early am to try and find some ice walleyes!

Good luck out there guys, stay safe, and we’ll see you on the hardwater.

All fish were released!