Thin Ice & Big Gills

Thin ice, big gills, and six inches of snow was the theme of the week on pool 9. Shallow back water sloughs with no influx of water from the north are the first every winter to sport a new shiny coat of ice. Actually getting on that ice from shore is usually the first chore a die hard pioneer (aka ~ stupid crazy dude to some) has to overcome. Sometimes we use wood and rocks to build a little bridge to cross the moat from shore to ice. On other occassions we crawl out over a toppled River Birch log or simple bring an extension ladder along. This season would have none of that however. Select areas along the shore line locked up solid enough allowing a person to just walk on. But the ice sheet itself certainly “voiced” displeasure when asked to support the first water walkers of the season. Cracking, popping, or moaning with nearly every other step. I popped a quick hole that revealed nearly 2 inches of solid clear ice! Slowly worked my way to about 15′ from shore and augered “the hole”. The ice was quick to spider in a multitude of directions when I broke through but she held together. Laced up a moon glow jig with a waxie and dropped it all the way to floor ~ bout 2 whoppin feet. Lifted up and had a fish on. A gill the size that would serve as good catfish bait in August. This repeated itself for 10 minutes and nearly every fish was in runt range. Turned to the Lil Cecil and took the meat away. A larger profile with no easy treat. 3rd time down the hole and the spring bobber headed south. This time there was a considerable “tug” coming from the other end! Slide a blue eared freak up on the ice stretching the tape at the 8″ mark. Game on! From here on it was perhaps some of the best blue gill fishing through the ice since the days of Stoddard back in 2005 & 2006.

This area is notorious for producing gills all ice season ~ all though they have a tendency to move down the slough into slightly deeper water as the season progresses. In open water periods the area is heavily laced with variety of vegitation. These gills are up in this shallow dead water where both ample oxygen & a vareity of food can still be found. I practiced selective harvest and kept a meal of 8 inch gills. Bigger fish merely had a story to tell when they got back in the water.

Cappie were aggressive before the storm Dec 3rd, but I couldn’t manage to trigger anything bigger than this little 8″ dude pictured. Found them just under the ice over an 8′ column in a location that sees very little pressure. We’ll catch some respectable size crappie over the course of this ice season, but I certainly do not anticipate putting absurd numbers of thick back slabs on Pool 9 ice this season. Pool 9 supported healthy numbers of 12″ to 15″ crappie, however after the Fall period of 2008 I have not been able to consistantly dial those big guns in. You can pick up a few here and there but nothing like it used to be. These 7″ to 8″ are much more common. We’re in an off cycle for crappie. On the flip side ~ Perch fishing has improved tremendously. While I did not target any Perch through the ice in the first week of the ice season ~ if the late autumn open water period was any indication ~ I envision some river tigers being framed this winter through the ice:)

After the storm the 8″ blue eared freaks were still shallow but sorting was required. Every 8th or 9th fish iced was a true keeper. That aggressive bite got a whole lot softer. Still a positive bite where they were hitting it on the way down versus back up but a lot softer.

LMB were also on the chew after the storm. Some true summer time money winners were falling victim to a jigging stick. Pictured is the reason I keep the long poles in the trunk more often than not. Otherwise, I’d have to take a picture of a baitless line dangling in the wind.