Broke ice this season on Thanksgiving morning for the 1st time on Pool 9. Felt good to tip toe on 2" of thick clear hard stuff. Shallow haunts (less than 4 FOW)and fist ice usually spell bull gills. The bull gills however had a slightly different agenda than mine this year. Definitely not your typical "green – yellow – red – SLAM" type first ice bite. Numbers of respectable size gills were low. What I did catch had to be to worked like it was January 23rd instead of November 28th.
By the time the calendar flipped December I migrated to deeper waters in search mode. A cool 25+ holes later with roughly 10 hours of searching stretching across a couple days ~ the game of hide and seek came to an end.
I can honestly say the best ice equipment purchase I have made in the last few years has been the Marcum LX6. This machine can be dialed in so tight fish no longer have privacy taking a #2! Perch under the frozen Mississippi are nomadic by nature. Here one day. Gone the next. They travel in packs with their tummy’s rubbing the bottom. The LX6 has no problems picking up a the return echo. Biggest perch I’ve iced so far this season is 14.5". Average size of the schools I’m on are 9" to 10". Along with the Perch I’ve been tagging some nice gills and crappie to boot.
What would an ice season be on Pool 9 without these guys? True money winners in the summer session ~ these guys are just a flat hoot when jigging light ice tackle. They like to hang closer the shorelines. Especially shorelines with some structure. Best be sure to have your drag set loose when you bury the hook. Unless of course you enjoy re-tying.
Was treated this morning with some white tips. Despite the subzero temp at daybreak with a wind chill number close to the number of yards I will ever rush for in the NFL ~ I zipped up the ole ICE ARMOR suite and went to heaven. I’ve been fishing this mid December walleye ice pattern on Pool 9 for six years now. This morning I had one short, a 16", a 19", a 22", and one that broke me off after circling the hole just under the ice several times. He’d a been a new avatar picture had I won the battle. Mississippi river ice walleye are hard to come by. Wintering haunts are just simple not reachable on foot. This pattern lasts about 2 weeks once they come in range.
Once I located and started catching fish of all species I’ve used but two presentations. Lil Cecils and DIamond jigs. Rainbow color pattern on the Cecils and Fire Tiger on the DIamonds. I’ve tried a number of different jigs including colors and sizes. With & without live bait as well as plastics. The rainbow Cecil and Fire Tiger have been the best.