Pool 8 Ice Fishing Report 12/18/09 and 12/20/09

Friday morning 12/18/09 was kind of filled with up and down moments. The first upper was stepping outside into a great weather pattern, with a good cloud cover and steady warm temps the last a couple days after a well needed cold snap, there just had to be a good bite in the works for this day.

The first and biggest downer, Drew H. was invited to hit the ice with Mike and I but couldn’t make the walk out do to some hip problems That was a big bummer Drew, Mike and I walked out onto the ice in the missing man formation with are heads hung low wishing you were along Mr. H.

Second upper, the ice for the most part after the cold spell in the area is wheeler safe, so next trip should be easier on them hips Drew

Of course the other upper was….the gills are still on the feed and with a little work a guy can keep a good bend in the ice fishing tackle

It has been said by a lot of successful ice fisherman ( and myself almost every report), and it’s only a number of times because it is so true….. Back out of the crowd and you will find more active fish.

Walking on the ice a little after 7:30am, the crowds had already formed there pockets. Willing to take the left overs, are set up was 40 yards off the crowd along the same weed line in 5fow. After one adjustment of 20 yards or so the words rang out from Mike’s shack, I got a bruiser. Now dem der words will put a smile on any ice junkies face

The first morning bite had fish willing to take just about anything as long as the jig was a dark or natural color. Bright colors and glow jigs had the marks showing up on the MarCum LX-5 only to turn and head for cover after a quick look at the brite offering. The gills at this time were hugging bottom, but they could be pulled up a foot at which time the St. Croix Spring bobber would just take a bit of a bend indicating a nice size gill. Watch fobs too the 71/2 inch gill hit with a littler more aggression keeping things fun.

As the morning wore on the lips started to tighten up on the bigger blue ears. After changing jigs several times Mike hit jack pot with the Blood Red Nuclear Ant. At this point my offering was down sized to a Red Ratfinkee in the Gold precious metal series. The game was on once again and the big guys could not resist the Custom Jigs and Spins parallel jig tipped with a white chubby treat wavin’ them in off the back of the hook

Another change that became evident while watching the LX-5….. the big boys moved up in the water column and they started feeding 2 feet below the ice. It is tough to do for all flasher users but, it is important at times to concentrate on that first couple of feet below the ice before the jig gets into your cone angle.

A limit could have walked of the ice in two buckets on this day but being conservative and selective we each kept enough for a fish fry. With the numbers of ice fisherman growing it is important to not over harvest, especially these local community holes that get pounded day in a day out. Enjoy your outing and take just what you need and play catch and release with the rest, Nothing wrong with schooling some fish and slippin’ them back into the water

After 2 great outings for gills it was time to change things up and target a different species and some different water. Are hopes were to find an active group of perch in a little area that does not see much in the way of foot traffic. Sunday 12/20/09 Tom Donaldson and I met up at a little after 7am and made a walk out looking for 14-24fow. Also excited on this trip was the Lazer Mag by StrikeMaster, it was finally going to get some work other than idling in the shop every now, it was time to pour the coals to her To make a long story short, it took a good number of holes to finally find some fish. Blue warmed up on a couple of the small little tigers before sticking a nice perch. A few decent crappies were also taking his offering, this is when the sleds got buttoned up and things became serious…. for us any how

Blue was seeing nice fish on the camera but they had no interest in eating. After listen to the laughter and the ohs and ahs coming from Blue, it was getting temping to just sit with him and watch the under water world Instead, it was time to pack up and head out for plan B.

Still fishing an area in 16-24fow, the hopes were to find some crappies. The LX-5’s revealed a lot of high flyers willing to chase baits 6 feet under the hard surface, but again we could not buy a bite. Noticing bottom dwellers the baits were drop into the deep and held right near bottom. Gills were found in 22fow just yards off a flat. Seems a little early in the season but that is where the majority of fish were found. It took a lot of sortin’ but Blue did keep a few to go along with some perch and a crappie.

The high light of plan B…..Bass

Tom iced 2 beauty green fish on his gill tackle and I was able to nail one my self. Nothing better than pushing your tackle to it’s limits and having a picture of the results!

Results were totally different for two outings other than, they both were spent with great company

Got my toes on the ice, my butt in a sled, good friends at my side, a cold brew in my hand, life’s been good these few days

Good luck fishing people