With Pool 8 of the Mississippi river running from Genoa to Dresbach, well….that’s a lot of area to cover!
Mike C and I have not fished the same spot more than twice this year and with good results. Today wasn’t going to be any different walking into an area we had not yet fished this year and, we also had are friend Larry in tow.
The area we wanted to get to looked like it was a mile away in the new fallin’ snow but we were keeping hopes the trudge would be worth it 
It was…..not only a good number of fish but even better quality in size 
Once we arrived the Lazer Mag was lit up burning holes in no time and ready to fish. The set up was in 14-20fow around some snags. This all drops off from a 4 foot flat of lily pads, dormant now of course.
With the LX-5 setup and marking bottom at 14 feet it revealed targets from 3 feet under the ice to 8 feet, bingo….crappies 
I even took a few fish just under the ice 
When fishing with a flasher it makes it easy for some to pass up the first 2 feet under the ice because you want to see that jig……Slowly fish your way down while watching your line for the high flyers 
The Silver/Blue Slender Spoon from Custom Jigs and Spins tipped with a minnow head was way too much for the paper mouths to ignore first thing in the morning. No finesse was needed to get a bite but, you did have to tease them some. If not hit before seeing the bait on the MarCum, it didn’t take long to pull a mark dropping to 8 feet. Keeping the bait just above there nose with a slow rise would stop the spring in it’s tracks on the St. Croix Legend as the speck slurped the offering.
As the morning worn on the attitude in the fish changed, the gills started to drop off the flat showing up on the LX-5 and the crappies got tight lipped, so what do you do………start changing things up 
Let your flasher tell you what the next step should be. 2 lookers and no bite, change up again!
This is when a demo from B Fish N Tackle shinned…Thanks Blue, Thanks Dave. Orange with black dots tipped with 2 waxies had the bite going again but now dropping into 10-12fow was producing some average gills to fill in the gap while there were no marks up high 
The morning was all catch and release for me, knowing I was going to be fishing for the day….no reason to get greedy while schooling some fish.
Just before noon there was a lull in the action. Larry and Mike were both walking off with at least 14 dandy fish for there Holiday fry. After a shake of hands and a Merry Christmas from each I was on my own for a few hours…..now for my fry 
Once again after a few changes in bait the orange Ratfinkee (CJS) with a waxie drew a royal flush, the hammer was put down on a few of the best crappies my tackle played with this year. And bonus gills when dropping deeper.
3:30PM and headed for the truck, the walk back seemed to be shorter while replaying the day in my head. Good friends in the morning, a little solitude at noon, and a few barleys at home with family now 
What better way to waste a day
We at the Clark’s would like too wish you all a Very Merry Christmas 
…and good luck fishing
Hope you enjoy the pictures, the first is the LX-5 revealing the gills, notice the one just coming off bottom while the others are using the water column from 10-12 feet, the marks from 8 feet and up are the specks cruising in and out.
The second and third pictures are the three hot baits for me today.
Dandy fish Bret
Nicely done my good friend. Very nicely done.
Nice job Mr Clark. Sure wish I would have gotten a call to go.
Maybe this weekend we can meet up and chase a few. Merry Christmas.
JP Mason
Nice fish Mr. Clark! What are some of the crappie running?
Nicely done Brett!!!!
I would say that speck is a shade better than respectable!! Very nice fish and congrats!!!
A Christmas gift wrapped up in a Bret Clark report.
Nice job Bret. Keep talking details on that lx5. Exactly how did you have it set up in that 14ft. to start?
I see your sfl was on. When do you decide to use the sfl? Great tip about the high riding fish too, alot of slabs are missed by fishing below the signal.
Merry Christmas to you too
I use the super fine line feature all the time to fine tune separation. I also like too shortin’ up what I’m watching on the screen. While fishing in the 14fow if you look you will see I have my range set to 40.
Another thing I do different than what is in the book, I put my jig at the depth the marks are coming from and then adjust my gain to see the jig.
I was not using the zoom feature this trip. With the feeding fish being suspended there was no need to zoom in on anyone particular point. This makes the SFL feature even more essential for target separation.
When hopping holes looking for bottom huggers before fishing I use the same settings for checking out the bottom. If the transducer is dropped in and there is the slightest flicker of yellow or green tight on bottom the zoom is then used to take a closer look.
If targets come in consistently on bottom or a certain portion of the water column the zoom is always used. This will keep that jig right in the pie hole of your prey. The SFL is automatic when using the Zoom.
Hope this answers some of your questions
What a great Christmas present – spending part of Christmas Eve day on the ice with good friends. Bret, this morning I feel like the area we fished was 2 miles away.
Dangit! We did encounter very good ice though with, I’d say, at least 8″
While Larry and Bret set up in 14 -20 fow I decided to try a spot with 24 fow. I found the slabs working in the 8 – 10′ column of water. I also experienced having to change up quite often with the most productive being a toss up between a silve/green slender spoon tipped with a minnow head and a green Lil’ Cecil tipped with a waxie or two. I tried many other combos with limited success – catch one then they wouldn’t look until something new showed up.
There were fish coming through in the 16-18′ column but they were just window shopping. Occassionally I’d put on a gold Diamond Jig with a waxie and “go deep” (something the Packers can’t seem to do on offense 
but they do allow it on defense 
) and found some gills – mostly small but a couple of keepers. 
The picture is of Bret and Larry before they decided to put up their shacks and keep the snow out of their ears.
Here’s wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and good fishing.
Ok this is enough work for today – I think it’s time for a nap. 
Nice picture Mike. One question tho, is there anything you can think of that Bret DOESN’T pack in that sled?
Toilet paper…..no room, and that’s what shorts are for
Great report Bret! Those are some nice specs!
I bring the TP
Great report guys
? 
Like JP said, where was the phone call
Nice Report Brett! I found some of the same results on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday was a very hot bite in the a.m on the Spec’s, but cooled off significantly in the later morning and early afternoon. I could not find a lure to make them bite hard. Abe brought out the camera and we found out the SOB’s were hitting the spoon up high and not the minnow head. Made for some frustrating times trying to get a hook into them. We will be out all weekend trying to put some hooks into them. Good Luck!
Nice report Bret! I would call that first slab a real dandy and the others respectable.
Overall, that kind of a day on the ice would leave me with one heck of a big smile on my face!
Great report guys!!! Wow Can’t wait to get back on the ice, Until then I’m gettin my fishin fixes through you!!! Keep them coming. Doug
Great Report Brett
Nice Fish
Great report, Thanks for the in-site of your fishing.
I always enjoy reading your reports Bret. I’ll be heading down to #8 for a late X-mas with the family….with the Frabill in the box! I’ll be trying for some specks as well…hopefully I can drag Dad away from the TV for a day.
jason