With ice fishing gear in the hold pattern for better than two weeks, the day finally came for the first trip out, it’s been a long time waiting! Dave Koonce shot 
“Sparta Boy” a PM wanting to know what the ice conditions were like in the La Crosse area havin’ an itch to get his feet chilled off too. After a call to my buddy Dave Kloet and hearing the area we wanted to target for gills was iced over, the decision to meet up Sunday with high hopes of catching some first ice Pool 8 wide backed gills was made.
Once we arrived the conditions were not what was imagined, the wind had the ice blown clean for the most part making creepers a must. Not a problem though, the clean surface made for a good 4-5 inches of hard clear ice. There was one soft spot we came over however so you still need to keep on your toes if you are taking the walk away from the crowd.
The first area fished (which we were joined shortly by good friend Blue) was very much so a community hole in 4-6fow. At first there was a fair bite but as the crowd kept getting heavier and the noise level picked up the MarCum’s revealed immediately, the fish below did not care for the commotion. Biters turned to sniffers and you could not pull a mark off the bottom. This is when doing your home work through the years pays off……it was time for a move. Knowing an area makes picking up and moving an easy decision. Some community holes the move might only be 30 yards to get out of the crowd, other areas the move might be a bit of a walk. The move we needed to make on this day falls somewhere in between 
After arriving to spot #2 it didn’t take long to find the weed edge we were looking for thanks to a good clear ice. It wasn’t long and we all knew plan B was a good thing. My LX-5 was not only bringing marks off the bottom, them marks were turning into a St. Croix spring bobber doubled over 
After some commotion coming from Mr. Koonce’s buttoned up Otter it was obvious he landed on fish too. None of us could say it was an overly aggressive bite but the fish that we landed on were quality sized gills with back straps!
Away from the crowd, 5-6fow and some green stuff close by produced action with some cruising blue ears on the feed.
Best set up for myself was a #8 Purple Glitter Ratso with a #8 Catalpa Shrimpo pulling off a close second. The 2lb Trilene was also catching 3 to 1 over the 4# Trilene. Small gills 7 ½ and under would chase a bait but the bigger gills wanted a slower action. Sometimes with a nice solid red mark pulled a dead stick was the answer or a slow drop…..and right now I’m speaking for myself, Koonce was having luck with other colors and different presentations of which I’m sure he will be sharing.
Walking off the ice before 2pm, we all had a nice mess of gill filets in tow. The average finned critter in my bucket was 8 inches with three 7 ½ fish as fillers and a couple 9 inch fish. Koonce was da man with his front page gill just short on 10 inches…nice Bull Dave 
What a blast, first ice trip in a high pressure situation with great friends and a fare bite, now that is a great start to the 2009 – 2010 ice season. I had a blast friends Can’t wait to see what the target might be next week 
Good luck fishing people 
Bonus fish and picks.
Atta boy Bret. Nice mess of gills.
Nice batch of gills!
Sully
I’d like to say thanks, but yer driving me nuts!
Great report guys, love seeing the great pictures of those beautiful fish. Lots of colors and variations in the mix, and I really liked the pictures with the bump board. Fish approaching 10″es are very difficult to find, and most folks call those sumo 8-9″ fish a 10’er. Staying honest AND slaying the fish is a difficult thing to do, but you guys pulled off both with flying colors!
How’d you find ice w/o a foot of snow on it?
Joel
What? No air guitar from Koonce? Great report! Thanks for the update. Those are some fantastic lookin bruisers. It wouldn’t take too many of them for a fish fry.
Thanks Again,
Erik Osberg
218-251-8306
[email protected]
good start to the season guys
Very nice! Way to go guys!
Nice report Bret, glad to hear things are shaping up nicely down that way for you guys
See ya soon 
Yup, that definitely looks like fun to me.
Nice job guys!
Nicely done! We lost all of our ice down here, due to the rain Saturday and Sunday.
nice report Bret, I talked to Dave on saturday, said he was fishing with you on Sunday. Looks like a good start to the season–John
Nice fish guys
Glad to see you back in your element Bret, a ton of guys were looking forward to that first Clark report 
Thanks for the great day Bret & Dave. I was happy to lend my bump board & camera skills….again….
I look forward to doing it again.
Great fish guys!!!
Way to go Bret!
When are you comin’ to Menomin to visit your daughter… and go icefishing
Nice work guys
I got out on the ice for a few hours on Sunday, it sure felt GREAT
Nice gills Brett
Some gillzillas there boyz!!
Good work Mr. Clark. The fishing in Hayward area was slow. Punched a ton of holes and it was a lot of work to catch enough keeper perch for a fry. 1 bonus 6lb walleye was the highlight. I hope to get out on pool 8 soon. I gotta find some good ice.
Great looking “Gills” Brett looks like alot of fun for sure!! I envy you guys.
Brett !!!
If your were a guide to hire…I would recomend you in a heart beat !!!
Everytime we hit the ice together i learn something new from you !!!
And then there is always that killer Sparta Boy Smile !!!
I think that Wanna Be A 10″ Gill only hit because of the tecnique i used to hook up that waxie on that Zebra Gill Pill !!!
As Blue put it so well…. Dork Hooked
see ya soon buddy !!!
and I will bring more deer sticks !!!
Nice report Bret and some great pics nice to be on the ice again
nICE look’n fish Bret! Almost feel sorry for the hapless fish roaming beneath a layer of ice when your tap dancing in the same area code.
One of many fine reports to come I do hope
Clear ice is awesome. So nice to walk along the weed line and completely see it. Great fish!