Mississippi Pool 8 Ice fishing Report 3/14/09

With the warming weather and a beaming sun it just didn’t feel right being cooped up at work Friday so pre fishing to find a bite for Saturday started off a little earlier than planed. Wanting to find some Perch, the trip was made to an area with deep water that runs along a big mud/weed flat which the Perch use during there spawn. There is also some current that breaks at the flat making the trench holding depths from 15-22 feet a perfect staging area for the tiger striped fish. It has been great seeing the Perch making a good come back on pool 8. They are feeding well and looking top notch healthy in a number of year classes After punching six holes in the ice for a start I’m sure a look of disappointment came over my face. The water was the color of tea and normally when that happens in this spot you can’t buy a bite. Any other day I would have loaded back up and headed elsewhere, but something made me settle down and take a look with the MarCum which revealed fish from the bottom to 2 foot off bottom. Looked like there was great possibility I landed on top of my quarry and maybe it was worth a try

The first 4 holes fished there was not as much as a nibble from these fish. A game plan was already racing through the head wondering what waters should be tested next. Jumping to the fifth hole which was on the way to pick up the auger and head out something miraculous happened …..the spring on the UL St Croix started to take shape of a slow bend Excited to see what was taking the offering of my Gill Pill and waxie the hook was set only to stop things dead in there tracks, oh, oh What ever was on the other end had more of a hold on me than I did it, just a study pressure was kept on the rod and being second nature the free hand instantly double checked the drag. It took a few seconds for this toothy critter to realize it might be in trouble, that’s when it happened…..the UL Pflueger President started screaming and the 2lb Trilene XL was being put to the test. The first 4 long furious runs made it hard to just keep relaxed and focused but soon there was a feeling coming over me that this fish might just make it top side for a picture
First time the eyes seen the gator cruise under the hole, it was obvious this was one big female and it needed to be released if it was to make it top side. After an awesome battle all of 15 minutes, it looked like it was at the end. With the pike just laying under the hole my whole right arm made the journey down the ice water to get a hold of this beauty…holy cow, I grabbed a tiger by the tail and this river wolf was chewing me up while trying to roll, twist and get the heck away That’s when I lost it and made up my mind this toothy was coming through the hole. In my excitement 2 of her gills were tore up good making the release turn into baked fish. She was a solid 34inches without the tail pinch and fatter than a football. It still is not clear which one of us bled the most on the ice though, gotta love battle scares

After a break to take pictures and regain composer the jigging commenced but everything disappeared. Another series of holes where drilled thinking maybe things just got a little shook up in the area after the gator battle. It was a good call and had fish back under my feet. With the targets hugging bottom the zoom feature on the LX-5 was turned so the baits could be placed right in the pie holes of the finned critters. What a surprise, crappies in large numbers where rubbin’ there belly’s on the river floor just like the Perch. They were not suspended and they did not want to come up any higher than 4 feet. There bite was also very soft to say the least, they did not chase but by keeping the bait on there nose with a nervous twitch the paper mouths would sheepishly take the offering. If the hook was set at the first sign of a bite the bait was gone. You actually had to let these fish take the bait and then give them time to commit to it before hook set. The Perch on the other hand, you better make sure you had a good hold on the fishing rod….wham Pre fishing was over and Mike C and I were in for a treat Saturday.

Mike C was the Perch king Saturday, he had the twitch they were looking for and stuck some toads. A couple 12 inch orange fins and some 10’s. The baits that worked best for me both days were, Pink/White Demon Jig tipped with a minnow head, Orange Lil Cecil doubled up on waxies, Clown Gill Pill, and a Glow Brite Pink Ratso no meat. I’m sure Mike will chime in on his favorite baits for the day also.
Like mentioned above it was a finesse type of bite but it was non stop. By 9am Saturday morning there were all the fish I wanted to clean in the bucket. After that, playing catch and release while taking a few snap shots till noon made for one great day on the ice. It was way cool to find the Perch were they were anticipated to be staged up while having crappies in the mix.
We are keeping the fingers crossed hoping to get out one more time before the hard water turns soft, which looks like not to far off
Enjoy the ice out bite you iceheads……it’s on and on strong

Good luck fishing people