La Crosse Area Ice Report 12/16/07

What a difference there can be from one day to the next, yesterday was steady and today was tough. A group of us hit an area which is made up of some sand flats with 8fow that drop off into 12fow. The targets for the day were Pike, Eyes, and Crappies. A spiking barometer had the Crappies hitting on the light side (to say the least) and in spurts. The flags were scattered throughout the day with the first one coming around 9:45. JP Mason was the flag master on this day.

JP Mason iced a snot rocket with the first flag of the day. It was nice to see a tip up standing at attention plus, it was a break from what was a hard jigging bite. There were a total of 5 flags today between JP and a good friend Jim. Jim’s flag however had the drop syndrome today Jp’s second flag produce the Northern pictured above. Sorry about the blood in the pic but trust me, that fish was not harmed. Snow always makes things look worse than they are. JP did an awesome job of handling this fish and releasing it. No time for a scale or measurement but that big girl was in the double digits without a problem. Nice Fish JP

As for the Crappies, Wats, Mike C and the rest of us were catching a few fish through out the morning. A flasher was a must with crappies going through at all different levels in the water column. With such a light hit from the crappies a spring bobber was used to help me detect nibbled bait. The best producers for me today were the 1/16oz Gold/Orange Slender Spoon from Custom Jigs & Spins tipped with 2 waxies, and a Firetiger Mini Mert from B Fish N Tackle with a whole small crappie minnow. We did not stick any of the 12-13 inchers known to be in the area and Mike did save a few pictured here with his new LX-5 I’m sure they tasted just fine during the Packer game.

I had a blast guys, thanks for a great morning with good friend on the ice

Good luck on the ice People

Bret