Metro Report

[Guest]

A lot of the smaller fish still were relating to the edges of the mid depth holes. I found a lot of nice gills adjacent to the deeper holes hanging over mud/sand inclines. (Bottom compositions can vary depending on lake)

A lot of water on most of the lakes because of the warm weather but the action is very good if you can locate the fish. Punch a lot of holes and work off of the mid depth basins that are located near shallow water. Start off the edges of deeper water and work your way shallow. Shallow weedlines are starting to produce as well and soon a lot of fish will be coming in water as shallow as 5 feet of water or so. Look for areas where there is run off from shore but keep your distance because ice can be weak in some areas. With the warm weather we've been experiencing the gills and crappies have been eager to repsond to moving water. I also found that the panfish are hanging around the previously punched holes that are creating whurlpools because of the access water draining into them. If you find holes like this, punch a few holes around it and fish those, I can almost guarentee you fish if those holes are off any shallow breaks of adjacent to or on weeds.

Punch a lot of hole and stay active. There are a lot of nice fish to be caught out there right now and the late ice period is soon to be in full swing.

Good Luck!

Good Fishin, Matt.

Fishing Reports from MJ5 and Fishing Minnesota...
http://frida.blc.edu/~mjohnson/mj5.html

[EBass]

MJ5,

I was listening to KFAN outdoors last night and the guy was talking about all the water on top of the ice flowing down into some holes. I guess the current from all the water draining caused this guy's camera to spin and he couldn't get a good picture.

So I take it that the current seeping in spins like a tornado would. Does that mean that spinning current goes to the bottom of the lake? I guess it depends on the depth and the amount of flow. Anyways, it makes sense that the water wants to go down, but still kinda weird looking.

What I did to avoid the sewers I was making was to find a spot on the ice where there was no standing water. Might be pretty tough now. But it worked last Sat. This was on Black Lake on tonka.

Later,
EBass

Seemed that the lantern brought the craps closer than without one.

[Guest]

Yeah, I noticed that my line would take off in a certain direction after it was dropped down the hole. The current under the ice due to the swirling seemed to attract fish though. I don't think that the swirling effect goes all the way to the bottom because I was still picking up my jig on the Vexilar a few feet of the bottom as if it was right under me. The swirling only had an effect on the jig a few feet or so below the ice and then it was just a matter of getting your jig to drop stright. Add a split about a foot up and that will also help with the decline.

I personally think that the fish see your spinning jig (caused by the current) as an active form of forage, aka meal for the fish. The jig is defensless against the current but the fish isn't so its an easy target. When I fished the holes with current I noticed that the fish were more then eager to intercept my jig before it even got half way down the water column in some cases. I'm sure there are more explainations to this phenomenon but thats what I got out of it. Worked in several different holes at a few different depths.

As far as the camera spinning is concerned, I would put it in the same category as the spinning jig. The current causes the camera to spin making it hard to get a accurate picture. Also, since the camera is larger then the jig (more surface area and assuming that the camera had a fin attached) then the camera would be effected just the same.

I tried punching holes on top of spots where there was no water but it didn't take long for the water to find me.

With all or most of the snow cover off lakes, I can understand why the crappies are attracted to the lantern. With water on the ice and easier light penetration, it tranforms the ice into a natural sheet of glass as you will. Crappies see the light and rise to it. I have a few relatives down south that fish crappies using floating lights. They say that on some nights the crappies are so thick surrounding the lights that you could walk on the water.

Good Fishin, Matt.

Fishing Reports from MJ5 and Fishing Minnesota...
http://frida.blc.edu/~mjohnson/mj5.html

[Tonka Boy]

I had a discussion about this very topic just yesterday. We concluded that the water running into the hole carried nutrients into the water which in turn will attract baitfish followed by larger fish. It's just a theory, but it sounds good to me.

------------------
Tonka Boy

[Guest]

Tonka Boy, that sounds like a pretty good theory to me. That would also explain one of the reason why the larger fish would rise higher in the water column. If there is baitfish higher up then the fish will follow.

Good Fishin, Matt.

Fishing Reports from MJ5 and Fishing Minnesota...
http://frida.blc.edu/~mjohnson/mj5.html

[moby1]

Fellas
Haven't talked to ya in a while. Have you been out? Me and Tim L are heading up to red today. Anyways, i had the same thing happen to me last Saturday for the first time. Set up the house and fished for a couple hours. All of a sudden I noticed a river flowing in one side of the house and going into the hole. It even had a decent enough "current" to create a vortex(?) in the hole.It was "eroding" a path in the ice The bobber was spinning pretty fast. MOved 3 feet away. This time I left about 4" of the mound from the auger. Fished the rest of the day with no problem. Keep the tips and info coming.

[EBass]

Thanks for the reply MJ5. And you theroy makes sense Tonka Boy. Moby 1, good luck up there. Im sure there's a 15" with your name on it.

Tonka Boy, tonight, fish on!

[EBass]

Clockwise I would assume.

[eyeballs]

I would have to agree with everyone on the nutrients running into the holes and attracting baitfish, but I would also assume that it would also help to deliver oxygen, (this would help espcially in smaller lakes).

MJ, I hear you fish one of my favorite panfish lakes up around Chisago.Isn't that lake is a little gem? :-)

[CorynTracySellHomes]

I guess the big question is..... If you were ice fishing in Australia....What direction would the water be spinning in the hole?

[Guest]

Hey eyeballs, hows the fishing been? I hear you've been fishing Prior and Phalen? How were the walleyes out there for you this year? Do you have a new e-mail address? Drop me an e-mail.

([email protected])

Good Fishin, Matt.

Fishing Reports from MJ5 and Fishing Minnesota...
http://frida.blc.edu/~mjohnson/mj5.html

[This message has been edited by MJ5 (edited 03-22-2003).]

[Crawlerman]

Phalen? You'd have to be nuts fishing Phalen right now with all the streams and such that feed into the thing; and it's depth means it gets less ice than other lakes too. I don't know about you; but I'd prefer not to be spelunking through in 90' of water... I'm sure there is a lot of open water on that place allready...