I have to believe good friends Jim and Mike C were happy to leave work early and head for the hard water. Looking at the weather from out of a window was too much for us to bear, it was time to shut things down and get outside around 2pm.
After the last couple trips for pan fish I keep saying it doesn’t get any better than this but somehow it keeps getting better. The crappies were on an absolute tear hitting with authority, it was like they haven’t ate in months. The MarCum would show 2 lines coming together once we had things figured out, the jig as it fell and hungry crappies charging to the bait, when the 2 lines met it was fish on 
Things did change some from the last trip. The crappies moved just a tad shallower and they were along a drop in 16-18fow with the strike zone being at 10 feet. I started with plastic which worked well for me Sunday. All it did this night was produce 7-7.5 inch gills, not what we were after.
Mike C was getting action on a dead stick with a minnow once we found were the fish had moved to. A change from plastic to my next favorite, mini mert and minnow head was made but not producing anything of size. Things were starting to look a little iffy at this point until the magic bait was found.
The first drop after snapping on a forage minnow with a minnow head put slack in the line as a crappie raced up to the offering. The hook was set and the bend in the rod with some drag going out was the sure tale of a good fish. As the days get warmer and the ice gets softer the crappies keep getting bigger The average fish slamming tonight was 11 inches. There were a number of 12 inchers caught and some pigs over the 14 inch mark. I’ll say it again, “it doesn’t get any better than this” 
I had a blast playing catch and release while watching Mike C and Jim put one heck of a fish fry (if not two 
) together for themselves. I’m sure if anyone was around and could hear us we sounded like some school boys having a good time playing with fire crackers 
The weather was awesome with temps in the 40’s and an overcast sky. The company was even better with jokes being made every time someone tried to pull a slab out of the hole being to lazy to bend over making the jig fly free from a paper mouth It’s heck getting old, hey Jim and Mike 
Come on weekend, I hope to have more pictures to post here 
Good luck fishing people 
Bret
Pictures of Mike and Jim working on a fish fry!
WOW!! Amazing fish guy’s !!!
It don’t get any better.
Nice job guys, the ice looks to be holding up pretty good!
Great looking specks!! Nice report Bret!!
Bret, Jim, and Mike,
Very nice report and super Crappies..
thanks,
Jack..
Those are some beautiful crappies guys!
Great pics to I might add.
Awesome report Bret! Keep em coming.
Boog
Awesome crappies guys!
Great job.
Nice report…..stay on em!
These past couple of weeks have been awesome. Every time out it just gets better and with good friends and a
or two “it don’t get no better than that”. I’ve never had any fish mounted so the largest crappie (which is the largest I’ve ever caught) is going on the wall in my rec room. 
Enjoy the late ice fishing – it’s awesome. There’s still about 20″ of ice but that will change with the precicted temps so be careful.
Nice slabbers! Looks like LOTS o’ fun!
Great crappies guys.
Awesome fish, Report and pics Bret!
Keep on droppin da
, not much ice time left. 
wow, those are some slabs! Way to find the fish guys!
Nice slabs….one question, it looks like u caught these fish in a main cut or channel? or is it a backwater slough or bay?
The area is a back water bay and deep with some wood around the shorelines. The wood is holding gills but the crappies are still off to the edge of the drops.
I agree with you Bret! It doesn’t get much better than that!
Until the next time you fish… 
nice batch
Does anyone know where I can buy a GPS tracking device? I also need to know what type of vehicle Bret drives.
Great fish guys! Those are some dandy slabs!!!
Matt
CIA
, Green Toyota Tundra 
Nice crappies
Great report Bret!
Good job on the Crappies guys!
I thought Bret drove a white Ford Explorer.
Great job Guys. you just keep putting the
on the fish! I think I am starting to understand why you don’t want the ice to go any where.
BTW, Bret drives a red Strikemaster with a Red LX-5 next to hit. It shouldn’t be hard to spot.
Hopefully I will get out this Sunday. Hope to run into some of you.
FDR
Congrats on the wall hanger Mike!!
Looks like you guys have got the crappies dialed in this spring!!! 
Might have to shoot Bret a PM… 
Here’s to another month of good ice…
Ted
That will be the first one I receive today Ted
The last few reports might have been fish away from community holes but, the community holes will be producing fish now also
Look for deep holes and make sure to take your plastics, some jigging spoons and minnows.
Pay attention to your electronics and don’t be afraid to move around even if only 20 yards or so and you will find fish.
The ice out bite is always hot but keep in mind, it is necessary to keep an eye on your surroundings and ice conditions. Things can change in a hurry.
gorgeous slabs fellas!!! how long do you think the ice hold up? pretty warm weather here to stay. great pictures guys
Nice fish guys.
Nice fish guys!
WOW!!!
We just had a good rain last night, after this weekend I have no idea how much longer the hard stuff is going to be around.
being in florida i didnt now you guy,s could have such fun in the winter. nice fish
Small world…Mom and Dad live in Florida now (the Villages)
Dad tells me the ice fishing is a little slow there
Welcome to IDO jofish, glad to have you here
PS: Dad and Mom might miss ice fishing but, they love catching Red Fish
Today 3/15/08 proved to be another fun late ice bite. Set up close to the same area as the original report produced a few nice crappies and some good sized gills
Good friends JP Mason with son Sean, Paul with his son Steve and, Blue Fleck Joined me later in the noon. The fish were still in the same depths and 10 feet below the ice held the majority of fish.
It was cool to see the boys on a good gill bite. The first 2 pictures are Sean then Steve holding a couple bull gills they iced
I have to believe them 2 young men had themselves some fun.
The next 2 pictures are Blue Fleck with a couple good crappies. The majority of fish biting were short but we did manage some 11 -11.5 inch specks.
The next picture is something I always have to deal with when Blue shows up. After releasing this fish I did my best to get my hands clean but that green just wouldn’t come off
I found the slender spoon to be doing a good job today, my favorite crappie color is pictured here.
Fun was had by all, it was a lot a hoot watching the boys…..JP Mason too
I believe there were more pictures taken that will show up here!
Well there isn’t much more to say than “Thanks Mr. Clark”.
Yesterday afternoon was picture perfect. Paul and I wanted to get out one last time on the hard water and wanted to take the boyes along.
We hit the ice just before 1:00 PM. As soon as Bret knew we were on the ice, you could see him and the Strike Master hard at work. By the time we got to him, he had hole punched all over the place the the four of us.
It didn’t take long before the boyes were all settled in with their dad’s electronics. Now I remember why I have a flasher.
Below are some of the pictures taken. The first picture is of Paul and his son Steve. The next two are of my boy Sean with a couple of his. Here are a couple more of Steve, then one of the boyes, sitting around caughting fish. The last is part of the fish fry we were able to pull together.
This was a perfect day with GREAT friends. Thanks again Bret for the time on the ice this year. As always, I learn a little something everytime I get out with you. As you can see, Paul and I try to pass this information on to our kids.
Blue, it was nice to get out with you again.
JP Mason
Thank for taking us to goose island
JP Mason’s son Sean.
Way to go Sean and Steve,
showing those old guys up. Way to “git r done” boys. 
Thanks for the report guys, you guys have been hammering them! Justin and I just had to try out goose island today ourselves
seems like they had sore mouths
But we caught a few nice ones.