The river ice fishing is still going strong! Much of the area around us has received a new blanket of the white stuff. This surely will slow the ice making process in our area. However, the fishing still remains mild to good.
Today we had quite the crew, Yanda, Mitch, Andy, Trevor, the oakley brothers, and new to the crew Brad Teel. Brad had quite the hot ice stick today. He managed to land the above bruiser walleye today. Guess measurement was around 26" and this fish was fat! Brad’s walleye came on a jigging spoon rigged with no bait. Brad contemplated mounting this fish- because he has zero mounted fish on the wall. But, he did decide to release it, and I applaud you for that sir! Get him next year at 27"!!
Andy had the next best hand today, he was catching quite a few walleyes. Well, so was trevor, and yanda….and mitch. Everyone but me. I won’t use the excuse that I was sick, however because of my cold, I have lost my voice, and I wasn’t able to sing my fish song today.
We struck out at our first spot this morning, the amount of slush under the ice from the recent snowfall made fishing impossible. You couldn’t clean out the whole, or even get a camera down the hole. There must have been 5-6 feet of slush under the ice. So with that spot out, we decided to move to plan B- Spot B had the same slush under the ice, yet some areas didn’t have the slush. Ideally, we would have fished in the spots with the slush, but you have to play the hand your dealt most times. We were still able to catch a few fish, and make a day out of it. Most of the fish caught came in 10-15 FOW, close to the current.
I was able to use my marcum 825C today for about five hours in the shack. I normally don’t sit in a shack, but using this camera was well worth being inside the shack. I was able to view walleyes and smallmouth on the camera. Those smallies look AMAZING on the LCD color screen. I wish I could have taken a couple of snapshots of the fish, but my timing wasn’t the best today. Using the color camera was awesome today, I was able to stay warm, keep my cold in check, and I really enjoyed watching what goes on under the ice in color. Even the little things you can pick up on, which way the walleyes will move with just slight shift in the current. How they react to different baits/and presentations. I learned today, that a smallmouth will spook if you drop your bait while he is watching it. They don’t not like a falling bait through the ice. Many times a camera is an invaluable tool!
This definitely was a great day in the books for Brad- a day I am sure he will not soon forget! For the rest of us- it was a slower day. But I enjoyed spending time on the ice with good friends- We’ll be out there again tomorrow!
Good luck- stay safe, and we’ll see you on the hard water!
Hey Mitch- when are we gonna see the “yanda slap” in perfect form. I will have my camera ready-
I’m sure it wont be long.. He’s overdue!
He’s gonna kill us- see ya tomorrow. I am gonna get some rest- I gotta pick up the slack tomorrow…
Nice walleyes Luke.
Congrats on that 26″ Brad,nice looking pic
nice fish guys.
Great Report Luke
Nice eye Brad
Very nice fish dudes
nice fish wish i could get on some like that, but im not that lucky
Nice work Luke and crew. Were there very many smallies pulled out of the ice?
Welcome to IDO Jeramiah, and Jason-
Jason- unfortunately we could not get any smallies to bite. I was watching quite a few on my camera, however they were not interested in biting.
Nice report there Luke!
And WELCOME to the new guys!
Luke- I sent u an email- please let me know if you recieved it.
Thanks
Kelly
Kelly- welcome to IDO!!!
I did receive a private message from you..but I did not receive any e-mails-
Hey Luke
What size Sno Suit do you wear? I am looking at getting the jacket and bibs but am not sure what size to get. Being 6’2″ and like a bean pole what do you recommend?
Kyle, I wear the xxl Jacket, and the xl bibs- I could have worn the xl jacket, but I like a little extra room. I am 6’5 215 lbs. I would recommend the xl jacket, and xl bibs for you, maybe even the large jacket. Almost everybody I have talked to is wearing the xl jacket and bibs.
How close are you to thorne bros? You can try them on there, or at everts resort. Don’t forget there is a member discount for the snosuit here on the site-
Yeah, I’m still a little puzzled as to what size to get. I’m worried that the length in the sleeves won’t be there if I go with to small of a size. Since I am only 6’2″ and 160lbs, 32″ inseam, and long arms it makes me kind of wonder. The Thorne is only about 1.15 from were I live but I don’t think I will be able to make there for couple of weeks. Any more suggestions.
Kyle- The arms are really long in every size. I would get the xl bibs, and the large Jacket.
One of our members, stick boy, is 6’1 and 150 lbs and the XL in jacket and bibs is too big for him. I think the large in both top and bottom would be a better choice.
PM stick boy and see what he thinks since he is basically the same size / frame as you.
Click Here to PM Jay Schuur – Stick Boy
Jay is one cold-blooded guy out on the ice so he’d be a good one to ask to see what he thinks of the product too.
LARGE bibs and LARGE jacket
. I am running around in the xl in both and its a little too big. Leaves pleanty of room for layers but that would be just too many 
. For referance i am 6’1″ and 150lbs.
) freeze baby. I was out with james matt and scott on lotw this last fri. weather he will admit it or not I was not the one who got cold was matt 
. This is a first for me as I am always cold. There was only one of us not wearing a snosuit. Can you guess who that was???
As far as warmth— Hands down the best suit I ever wore in my life. I am one big (skinny
We like the fact that Matt wears the other suit. It means he gets cold and always volunteers to run the auger to warm back up.
Anyone thinking about getting a Snosuit needs to check out this link before they do. Snosuit has a special promotion going on right now that will save you $120 off bibs and a jacket.
Snosuit Promotion – Save $120 off Jacket & Bibs
I have the Xl bibs and Large Jacket. Im 6’2 170 lbs. Both seem to fit well
nice fish mark I have been catching some nice fish above the dam at Anomosa. Have you ever fished there?
Welcome to the site Meyers. Anamosa below the dam is good too, the powerplant discharge and the cut on the west side next to the bank.
Myers no, I personally have not- have you been getting into any good fish up that way?
The wapsi river is such a producer, but i think it’s hard to fish especially if you haven’t been on it with a boat. once again i had to go back and look at the ice reports. Luke, your wapsi river reports are some of my favorites!!