The bite for the big bass below the ice has not left us yet! Today I was joined on the water by Bob Gillispie, of Custom Jigs & Spins, two of my good buddies Andy, and Trevor, and two ice rookie cousins, Tyler and Tim Davin-
Not much has changed as far as the bite goes. These fish are still relating to the main lake structure that holds the roaming masses of shad. Find the shad, and you can find a variety of fish. Today we caught a variety of fish, but we were targeting those big hybrids. We also caught large mouth bass, bluegills, crappies, catfish, and EVEN the elusive lake Macbride walleye! My cousin Tim caught this 18″ eye on a blue/silver foil 1/4 ounce lightning spoon from CJ&S. Tim the newest ice angler addict of my family had landed three nice hybrids on the blue/silver foil before anyone else had even had a bite. Let’s just say that we were all running to Bob’s box of goodies in no time, fighting over the remaining spoons.
A little story about the walleye’s in this lake, there are true 14 lbs bruiser’s in this lake, yet they can be rarely caught because of the gigantic shad population. I was a little jealous to say the least when this rookie popped out of his hunting blind heated by my heater, fishing with my rod, with the biggest grin on his face holding the biggest walleye he has ever caught. Congrats Tim!!! I am glad your biggest eye to date came through the ice, and that I was able to share the memory with you!
We did get into the big hybrids again tonight. And everybody got into the action! We had a couple of times where the school would show up, the flashers would light up like a Christmas tree, and everybody’s drags would sing at the same time. There is no need for setting the hook on these fish, when they hit, they set the hooks into themselves, and immediately head for the bottom of the lake.
These fish are so aggressive that no bait is needed. These hybrids usually don’t even think before crushing a bait. I even had one hit so hard he blew my bait through his gills. They had those spoons completely inhaled. Tonight has definitely been the best night for numbers. The fish had their feed bags on for sure tonight.
For the guys who are out there thinking about targeting these fish- Please remember that catch and release is a must with these fish, they are sterile, and they won’t reproduce. The reason these fish are in the lake is to curb the shad population. Mr. Sleepers plan for this lake is really starting to show it’s face and these hybrids play a big role in that.
Bob, Trevor, Andy, Tyler, and Tim, tonight was definitely one of my best memories on the ice, you can’t beat ice fishing like we had tonight. This is a story I will share with my grandchildren over and over again- if they will believe it!!
Stay safe, good luck, and we’ll see you on the hard water!
That was definitely the best time I’ve had on the ice in a while if not ever!! Fighting a 20″+ hybrid is a blast. Those fish are so strong and they never give up. As far as I can tell, our key to success has just been finding the shad and finding a breakline where you can track the fish from the deep to shallow water as they move. They are definitely always on the move but they’re not moving extremely fast or far. There has got to be many many areas on the lake where this kind of fishing could be had. You just have to get out on some structure in with a transition from around 10ft to around 20ft adjacent to a 20ft + basin and I’d bet you’ll find white bass and hybrids roaming.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to work tomorrow
Another nice report Luke.
Those look like some awesome fish.
Great Report Luke…..Don’t forget to give me a call when you have an extra seat………
Great post and great plug on the catch/release of the hybrids. Hopefully they put a dent on the shad in that lake.
Awesome report fellas, Nice to see a macbride walleye thats about the 5th one ive seen come out of there.
Great follow up Luke.
With the crew you had yesterday those torpedoes never stood a chance,looks like a blast
That is really cool!
I want in on that Hybrid action. How far from the Twin Cities?
Way Cool
I’ve never had the pleasure of getting into stripers in the winter and especially fish of that calibur 
Hats off to you guys 
I’ve gotta get up there 
I think it’s about 4.5 hrs from twin cities. That’d be a tough call. I’m just assuming these fish will roam away from this spot any time but so far they haven’t moved.
Calvin, Luke has an extra seat!
EastIowa- There is an amazing walleye population in this lake, the only time I have done really well, is when they lowered the lake and the majority of the shad population died. We had to use a 4×4 to get the boat down to the water, and it was a trick getting in trailered/un-trailered …but the fishing was well worth it. We had about two weeks straight over by the power lines (normal depth of 25-20) when the rocks were only 5-10 feet deep. Throw any type of crankbait over those rocks, and you literally had a five pound plus walleye or largemouth on every single cast. Which all were released of course, but it was unbelievable.
I think if the shad populations starts to get curbed, the walleyes will be caught all year long, instead of just fluke instances. It was awesome to see a walleye hit a bare spoon last night, that was a great sign!
Luke, it looks like you guys had a blast. Let me know the next time you are back around my area.
Chad
Looks like a good time! I didn’t know you guys had wipers out that way….aren’t they a blast??!?!
Man that would be fun. I was able to get into them one summer late afternoon and had a blast. Nice Report Luke.
Will do Chad- keep me updated on the bite at Big Creek or surrounding areas. I would love to get over and see if we could get a good Iowa walleye report-
Luke,
Sounds like a great time. I just fired off a PM to you about a potential opportunity. Look forward to hearing from you.
What did the bigger ones go Luke, 4 to 5 pounds? Nice fish. I was there this spring and got into the smaller ones, thier built with more length then the regular whitebass.
Great report Luke. Sure are some nice hybrids.
Thanks, Bill