The recent weather fronts have been doing there best to look like a yo-yo.How is fishing and are the ramps open? Well Gus has been dog-gone tired trying to keep up with the early cold weather challenges of maintaining usable boat ramps.The fishing varies from really good numbers to a struggle of only boating 10 to 15 fish a day.The bite
window seems to be unpredictable at best, as the bite just varies throughout the day.Consistant weather will help with predictability.
Eric shown in Pic 1 with a blade-bait fish pitching. He joined myself and our southern neighboring river-rat, Hutch, for a couple hours of pitching on this Balmy 8 degree day.Our goal was to field test some proto-type bites and evaluate cold weather usability of some of the new ice-lines.8 degrees did just that and we were very appreciative of our Sno-suits! Yes, that was a biased promotional appreciation of a product that actually allows me to fish on days that I never would have considered fishing in the past ! Feel free to try out one of our demo suits to see for yourself.Some of the ice-lines worked better than expected and some were dissapointing.
We fished for less than two hours and were rewarded with a handfull of very healthy looking walleyes. It was very obvious that these fish havent missed to many meals.We were pitching numerous sizes,styles and colors of baits.But the smaller profile plastics were what these mid-day lethargic fish seemed to prefer on this extremely cold day. Chapstick and Pinky-purple 225 paddletails seemed to be the prefered profile size & colors for our brief outing.These fish were extremely soft biters on this day. Jig weight is a crucial piece of the puzzle when pursuing in-active fish. For us, 1/8th and 3/16 jigs were used depending on the bulkiness of the plastic being used.
The bite in general for numbers of fish, has been dominant with the verticle presentation.Boat control,light jigs,smaller profile plastics like paddletails,super-doos,or shortened full size have been getting the best results overall. When the going gets real tough and if you dont mind wet hands,the fathead minnow on a lindy rig or plain shad shiner jig can be your best producer .Multiple locations,including areas distant from the community damn areas have been holding fish with reasonable consistantcy.
In closing,wether we like it or not,winter is here! Boat pressure is very limited due to many of you walking on water! Wether you ice fish or open water fish,please dont forget the safety factors involved with both!Good fishing to everyone!
PS…Gus says,Thanks for letting your boat trailers drain!
1 Some of the Go-to plastics this past 10 days.
2 New everts 225 Paddletails
3 Size comparison.
4 Some of the new Rapala colors the 3-way and handline guys have been using.
If you could only get BK to work as hard as Gus!
Hey Dean…those paddle tail packs you got would make great stocking suffers!
Thanks for the report Dean. If we get a nice day over christmas I might have to head up.
Great report Dean…thanks for posting. Nice to see Hutch make the trip up and get into some action too. I’ll take you up on trying that SnowSuit next trip up…I’ve been meaning to get a new “warmer than Cabelas Guidewear” suit and this might be the ticket. Do we still get 20% or maybe it was 25% thru IDO? Picx look like some nice fryers, especially out of this super cold water.
Looks like you have some sheet ice floating (bergs is what I call ’em). I suspect there will be more after this front moves on. Maybe I should rig up a bow mount bracket for the new Strike Lite auger and grind myself some pathways through that stuff
See you in a few days…cookies in hand and a biscuit for Gus. 
Thanks for the report Dean!
Nice report gentlemen It’s always a pleasure to read your posts.
Thanks for the update Dean. I always enjoy your commentary. I am not one to walk on water much so we will hope for some fishable days throughout the winter from the boat.
I see you finally nameed a bait after Tuck! Fitting too!
As for draining the trailer and the trailer/boat before pulling out…I’ve started putting whatever I have in the back seat of my truck on the dash…in front of the steering wheel..to help remind me to stop and wait.
It seems once I have the boat loaded, I’m ready to go and it’s easy to just drive out. A jacket, gloves or hat reminds me to stop and drain.
Speaking of draining…is Gus “draining” on the ramp?
Great report Eric, I was down there on saturday shooting the breeze when I should have been fishing. You got lucky and didn’t have to put up with my harrassment..
BK how did you teach Gus that trick?
Jami
Eight degrees?
Brrrr…..Thats some cold, open water fishing there!
Some real good info in that report.
Thanks Dean.
He does drink alot of water!
Actually ,he was a little tuckered out after sanding the ramps. 
I sure needed that Gus picture, I haven’t seen the little guy in weeks.
Let me get this straight–Dean, Eric and Hutch in the same boat—now that is some pitching experience there
So which line got the most favorable marks?
The one with the BK Semi Pro Blue on the end.
hi dean,was nice meeting you last week when we fished with hutch. i want to order the mini paddle tails i believe it’s 8 colors not sure how to go about it. send me a e-mail so i can order them. thanks pat sheehan
Hi Pat!
Glad you signed on to IDO ! It was great to meet you guys as well.I sent you a PM…look for a flshing flag in the upper right side of the web page when you log in.
Otherwise, feel free to shoot us an e-mail at [email protected]
We had a good first experience with the new Cortland mono and two different superline ice formulas,6 # suffix in hi-vis orange and 8# power-pro in blue.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! I don’t care how many layers you’re wearing, 8 degrees on the open water has got to be cold. We need a shivering smiley for that one.
So I wonder who will be the first one to install a cab and a heater in their boats and make it look like a floating fish house? There has to be a way to put holes in the bottom of the boat with out it sinking? Maybe like… a pontoon?
You would then just use your ice fishing rods and not the normal gear? And no netting. You don’t use a net ice fishing, do you? Could be a whole new line of boats?? And maybe instead of a hole you cut out a 18″x 4′ slot(s) in the floor? You could have a tv in there?? Music? And make the cover clear so you could see? And bumpers in case you hit another boat you’d just bounce off them? WOW!! This could be cool (and warm)!! 
Not so far-fetched! Last time I was out, I saw a boat in the WI corner that was completely enclosed in one of those cheap blue tarps. They had built a nice box frame to support the tarp, making the boat look just like a floating Otter house. There were slots cut in the tarp so guys could vertical jig out the sides while remaining inside the contraption.
I think if you give Big G a week or so, we will see pictures.
You could always cut 10″ holes in the bottom of an old aluminum hull then weld 10″ pipe to the holes. Beings water seeks its own level the boat wouldn’t sink, it would just come up inside the pipe to the water level on the sides of the gunnels. Put a tarp over a good frame, put in a heater and cooler and you could fish all day at 70 dgrees right through the bottom of the boat. Put in 3 vertical pipes with lids maybe and hit the water at zero, no ice on the line and right to the frying pan. It would be easy to do this and could be done in a day. Youd have to go slow so the water didn’t come up inside of the pipes, if you did it probably would come out the top of the pipes. I can’t see any problem trolling slow all day and when moving around.
I just rethought this and you could use square or retangle pipes. Tilt them slightly twards the front of the boat at the top of the pipe, 10 to 15 degrees and when you excellerate they would empty and when slowing down they would fill up with the water level on the outside of the boat. If they were straight up and down they might force water up the pipe and into the boat, if they were tilted twards the front they would empty and fill at the water level on the outside of the boat, the pipes would have to be the height of the gunnels of the boat, be careful if you build one but I think it would work. Just put a plywood cover on it and use it as a seat when not in use, what a way to fish in winter.
We’re starting to think now!!
Keep it going !!
I much prefer dragging to fishing vertically, and the only way to do it when there’s ice and frozen foam floating is to keep your rod tip below the surface. It keeps the tip-top from icing up and keeps the frozen foam and ice chunks from grabbing your line. Works well for me.
I remember when I was a kid my family visited lake of the Ozarks. On the lake they had a boat with a covered top to keep the sun at bay when it got hot. The center of the boat had an area about 8′ by 14′ or close to that with seats all around the opening. You could fish through the bottom of the boat to keep out of the sun. The sides of the opening came up about the height of the sides and you could watch the fish swimming around, pretty cool when your 10 years old. Theres no reason why you can’t do the same with an aluminum jonboat or V-bottom. I’ve got a visual of what I would build mine like and I know it would work. If I were going to build one Id make mine about 4′ wide and 2′ deep and the sides about as high as the gunnels or sides of the boat. Id tilt the top of the back and the forward plate, the one twards the stern and the front, facing the bow and tilt them twards the front so it looked like they leaned twards the front. Then make the sides of this opening box and weld eveything together. Where the rear and front plates attached to the bottom of the boat Id make a curve so when you excelerated the water would empty and would slide out of the boxed opening. These two curved pieces would act like planes, the sides pieces or plates wouldn’t have to be curved, just welded to the bottom of the boat. When you decided to slow down after running on the river just dethrottle and when the boat started to drop into the water the water would come back up into the hole or opening. The reason Id curve the back and front plates is so when you decelerated the water wouldn’t come up into the opening like straight walls that went straight up and down would. Plus the rear curved plate would make it easier to bring fish up into the opening because it would be rounded. I know this would work with no problem. In the summer all you’d have to do is make a screen with a rim that ran all the way around it to put in the bottom of the opening and use it as a livewell. Throw on a piece of plywood and a pad over the top of the opening and use it for a seat. This is my idea and im sure it would work, I might have to build one this spring. I used to heli-arc and I know It would work. With the front and back pieces curved at the bottom no water would come up into the opening when taking off and de-excelerating until the boat droped into the water at the normal depth. Anybody want to get intouch with me and build one, Message me.
WOW!! Both those ideas could really work?
And you know we have more cold water than we have ice so they could be used longer than a fish house could? And could you pull it out on the ice?? 
And lower it?? 
Why not an enclosed pontoon? No tubes, and a heater and bar on board. Have openings that can be opened or closed like a fish house.
That would work too Tuck, both would be a way to get a line into the water and make it comfortable, two diffrent ways to do it. It would be a new way to fish rivers where theres no ice and at zero or below. All you’d have to do is get an ice motor setup like I heard Herb came up with and it would push you all over the ice too, in the water and out, it wouldn’t make any diffrence. I know that if I had a boat that I could jig open water in and stay warm Id be fishing all winter and Everts is the perfect place. Theres lots of places below dams, around here too that are open no matter how cold its gets. If you wanted a boat that slid over the ice from open water to open water you’d have to put skid plates or ice rails on the bottom so it would’nt dent the bottom of the boat and tear it up, all this could be done. Youd be able to drive it like the air boats the commercial fishing guys use in winter but it would be warm and comfy.
So who’s going to be the first to make this rig? And pics are needed.
It doesn’t necesarily need to go on ice…first make it float and be warm and catch fish!! 
I’ll add this to Matt’s list of must haves when we get the pontoon!!
I’m starting a search for a used 14 foot aluminum boat to modify…..this could be fun !!
I know it would work! Make the frame for the top out of pvc pipe or electrical conduit and make the cover out of whatever. A nice setup would be canvas cut to fit with heavy duty snaps along side the boat and on the edges of the canvas so it could be snapped on when you get to the boatramp. You could take the boat with the frame on it down the road and when you get to the ramp just put the top on and back it in the water, it would probably take 10 minutes, turn the heater on and it would be shirtsleeves in 15 minutes. Get to your spot, lift the cover off the houseing and just start jigging, or drifting and dragging etc, it would be fun and comfortable too.
Don’t you need to be able to see out of it? Especially when you’re drifting?
Why?
Who the ‘ell would be crazy enough to fish if we had to resort to fishing outta the thing? 
‘Bout the only thing you would have to worry ’bout is wingies 1,2 and 3. 
And you WILL know when that happens! 
Besides, Brian K will be driving.
Have the canvas shop sew in some plastic windows like the ones that are in a jeep, they last.
How about this for a pontoon?
Pontoon Enclosure
OOHH!! Check this out!
Pontoon Top
You better hope the wind is light. I think boat control would be a bugger.
Yes but you’d be warm!
I like the pontoon fishhouse with small doors to fish out of.
Someday when I get bored I might make one. Summer would be the better time to build it.