The fog was thick with mist as we headed out at first light to a familiar backwater on pool 10.
I met TJ91 and JD Welder for a day of big gill searching in an area that,with a small amount of current,has been producing some nice fish.
The weather for the past few days had been pretty wet and warm so we made sure the ice was solid with our spud bar on the way out.Reading about Blues cold water mud bath the day before was enough to keep us on high alert.As it turned out, the ice was not affected by the mild temps so everything was good to go.
With the Marcum LX5 and TJs vex 18 it didn’t take long to figure out that the fish were still there.We knew that we had a short window before the crowds started to show up so we knuckled in and went to work.I first dropped my reel weeds in an area a short distance away from the community hole making sure I was still in the ditch that these gills have been using.The Marcum was lit up constantly but the fish just slid on by with out so much as a look.Hmmmm.
Packed up the gear and went on a search mission for the next few hours but as time wore on it was becoming obvious that I would have to join the pack to get in on some action.
For me,it’s better to get on a few nice fish by yourself than to catch a limit in a crowd but fishing with a mob can be fun if you are mixed in with friends and family.Paying very close attention to the hot sticks in the group is always a good idea.This day,JD Welder had it going on.It was fun watching Dan hole hop between the group while icing alot of gills on a consistant basis.Dan was getting “that look” from alot of guys,including myself,who no doubt were wondering what he was doing right or what we were doing wrong.After watching Dan for awhile I started to imitate the exact motion he was putting on his jig and the bite slowly but surely got better.It wasn’t so much as a jigging motion or a bounce he was putting to his spring bobber but a very tight quiver that was triggering bites.
Small fiskas,diamond jigs and purests were the best producers of the day with bait being an option but not needed. Red,pink or natural gulp grubs produced the most bites.
Later in the day Dan dropped the camera down inside my circle of weeds only to quickly discover that the shad were drawn to the weeds.
Moving away from the weeds we also so that the gills were laying tight to the botom with their noses pointed up stream. For the rest of the day we concentrated on that small strike zone with even better results.The camera did it’s job proving how effective they really are.
Fishing areas with a little bit of current can be effective at times.The gills and crappies that are holding in these areas,I believe, are there for a reason,and thats to lay low and wait for those easy meals to come drifting to them instead of having to roam the slow backwaters searching for food.
A great day to be out and when you are stuck in the crowd make sure to keep your eyes open for that hot stick in the group.Humbling?-Yes. Effective?-Oh yeah!
Great report and nice gills Jeff
Yep, that’s a crowd
If your weather is anything like it is here in Sparta I bet you are happy that you found a bite yesterday
nice report slick! it was alot of fun out there yesterday. the picture of that crowd doesnt do it justice. at one time i counted 68 guys on the ice with guys coming and goig all day.we saw all of them since we were the first out and last to go.i was lucky , it seemed i had the hot bait, gold fiskas with red gulp waxie. the key was to hook the skinny end first and threading it on half way. it gave the bait a teeter totter type action. some times i would really jig it then stop. other times i would go really slow.it was hoot hole hopping and pulling fish up when no one else was
that jig was so small nobody could see what it was. i was like a ninja in my black outfit 
thanks for picking my scoop up jeff. i cant belive that , thats the second time ive done that this year. 
the first one isnt coming back though.thanks jeff and jay for a good day on the ice.
Great report! Man, that looks like a war zone out there!
Great Report
Nice Fish guys 
Nice job..
Looks like quite the party
i knew you would like that jeff
wax on wax off, im the invisible warrior 
just glad you were there to bring her home.
Nice report Jeff, we got a few more nice ones after u guys left, how big is that gill u caught in your first picture?
Yesterday was a blast!
I’m also proud to say that Bull Jeff is holding, was also released by him!!
Can’t wait til the next outing!
Dans gill was also released
Awesome! I wasn’t paying attention on that one.
Dan had a VERY HOT stick yesterday 
Way to go you guys!!! That sounds awesome. Hope to get down to do that with y’all… Down in the Madison area with family and taking care of boredom by checking you guys out.
Mark
Nice report, did you see many crappies caught besides the gills? I bet the crowds a little bit sparser today with the high winds and snow.
looks like a nice day of fishing!!!!! one of the days that i could not make it out with bucketmouth!!!!
plan on trying some different spots tommorow!!!!! 
Nice fish.Got to make river trip this winter looks like you had good fishing and company
Brian,I started out with that no.2 Remmie for the first half hr.Nada! Saw very few slabs caught.
I had one small one. Dan had a pretty decent one
Great reports on this site . hopefuly I can get over that way in the next couple of day love to fish the mississippi. My be going to cassville and stay at brother- in-laws for a couple of days.
Way to go Jeff!
Welcome to IDA Matt
It looks like I my be over in cassvile thursday and friday. Hope they are still bitting.
Hey Jeff, Have you fished the MN backwaters much like around the LaCresent or Wabasha? I was wondering if fishing over that way was any good? Thanks