Hard Backwaters Pool 8 12/29/07

By bret_clark 0

The pressure was on, herb made a long haul from SE Iowa to hopefully jig up some bull gills with Blue Fleck, Mike C and myself and we wanted to show him a good time on the ice. Things started off on the iffy side with some dinks willing to play but not what we were looking for, so things were loaded up and a move was made. After punching a new series of holes with the StrikeMaster we all started hopping around and once again fear started to cross my mind, where did the bigger fish head too. Now it was time to get serious about the game!

The Lx-5 was pulling some targets from the bottom and Blue Fleck started seeing bigger fish on his camera but nothing to aggressive going on, that made it time to close up shop and go to work. 3 of us crawled in the one man’s, herb….you are one tough dude and started to search for something that would loosen up some lips. For me the size 14 Diamond Froggy jig produced some nice fish but the best jig ended up being the Clown Gill Pill…..thanks Blue …glad I asked

5fow between two large weed flats waiting for schooling gills to make the rounds was producing action. The bite was very soft and a spring bobber was a must, unless you were Blue and using a camera The gills seemed particular with the way they wanted the bait presented. A steady and easy twitch with the jig hovering at 2.5 – 3 feet pulled fish from the bottom, at which point they committed themselves to bite. With the gills there were even some dandy crappies taken and Mike C convinced a fat perch to eat as well.

I would have to say fun was had by all. The ice condition is in good shape. There was a little slop during the early hours on top of a good 5-6 inches of ice but the surface was getting stiff by late noon. I’m looking forward to the colder temps that are on the way to keep the hard water hard It was great to meet you herb and fish with friends on this fine day Thanks for the entertainment behind me when you showed up bone mover
Good luck fishing people

Bret

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  3. Thanks again Bret. I had a HECK of a lot of fun today.

    Here’s some pics for size of the fish I caught.

    They’re being cooked as I type this.

  4. Here’s an intesting pic I took. If you look hard, you can see a Bluegill sneaking up on my jig.

    The bright spot in the upper part of the screen is my deadstick jig fished in the same hole. Most of the bigger fish I caught today were on that deadstick setup.

    Clown GillPills and glow Diamond Jigs worked best for me.

  6. Thanks for letting us come out and visit!! My dad was in from Seattle area and he had a blast!! Only problem…he thought a 6 – 6 1/2 inch bluegill was a keeper… Had more than a few discussions in the tent trying to talk him out of keeping them. It ended up that I would take his fish off the hook and then accidentally miss the keeper pile and hit the open hole… Yeah, we had a great time out there. The camera was a must for our tent. One of us was using a vexilar. He caught 2 fish. We caught about 30 fishing 2 lines out of the same hole… Fun was had by all…Ted

  7. The laughter coming from you guys had me grinin’ ear to ear. It was nice to meet your dad and I know he was having fun

  10. Great fish guys.

    Blue, when you get one on the deadstick how do you not get a nasty tangle with the other line? The camera really comes in handy when the fish are finicky.

  12. Quote:

    Great fish guys.

    Blue, when you get one on the deadstick how do you not get a nasty tangle with the other line?

    That thought was always in the back of my mind. Honestly, it only happened 3 times. None of them were too bad. I can think of 4 times when I’d have a “double.”

    That Marcum VS560 made fishing today way too much fun, and sometimes, way too easy.

  13. Way to go guys, glad you got in to them!! Wish I could have made it up, next time I know to check with the better half if we have any plans before I decide to go fishing!!

    Ed

  14. Great time on the ice guys. Herb it was nice meeting you and meeting up with Blue again. Bret thinks I dance in my shack once in a while you should hear the dancing going on in Blue’s shack when he doubles up. The bite was tough, lots of fish showing up on the LX-5 but finding what they wanted was challenging. I finally had my best luck with a black Moxie jig tipped with a waxie. Purple and black Rembrandts produced as well and right next to me Blue’s catching them on bright colors. Crazy day but as always a great day to be on the ice.

  15. Bret, Mike C, bone mover, it was a treat meeting and fishing with all of you. Very good company. It was great to get back on the ice with you too Tommy. It just doesn’t happen often enough anymore.
    I went through a lot of jig styles and colors before finding something that would produce consistantly. And I ended up with a size 8 chartuese shrimpo with a chartruese glow tail. Blood mini mert with glow eyes got the 9 1/2″ gill.

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