ICE !!!!!!!!

[Royal Dutchman]

Widetrack,

So far just a theory, might have to set up a double blind study this season.

Maybe it is just a product of too many hours to think in the fish house or too many adult beverages while thinking for too many hours in the fish house...? The wife says "just shut up and fish".

I do fish mostly out from Pine Island in the area where there is little significant bottom structure and find some of my best bites around surface structure. The "why" could be a. O2 level, b. light refraction, c. food (possibly related to a. & b.).

That pretty much exhausts my findings but I do plan to put in 50 or 60 days researching my theory again this season.

Now if I could just get a research grant......

[ret swabby]

Doug, Glad to see up and posting. I think your theory of being 100 yds from folks as merit myself. But LOW is such a small lake one must understand if you get crowded

Will be giving you a call soon.

Swabby

[widetrack]

"Maybe it is just a product of too many hours to think in the fish house or too many adult beverages while thinking for too many hours in the fish house...? "

I think maybe you are on to it here...

I get some crazy ideas when out in the bush too long myself...

[snoozebutton]

Quote:

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Widetrack,

The wife says "just shut up and fish".

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I think our wives must be related.

[widetrack]

Hopefully someone is out there cutting holes soon...

Tell us its not a muddy mess down there...!

I'm getting too old to be the first one out there.

[northerndave]

Quote:

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Widetrack,

So far just a theory, might have to set up a double blind study this season.

Maybe it is just a product of too many hours to think in the fish house or too many adult beverages while thinking for too many hours in the fish house...? The wife says "just shut up and fish".

I do fish mostly out from Pine Island in the area where there is little significant bottom structure and find some of my best bites around surface structure. The "why" could be a. O2 level, b. light refraction, c. food (possibly related to a. & b.).

That pretty much exhausts my findings but I do plan to put in 50 or 60 days researching my theory again this season.

Now if I could just get a research grant......

---

I'm with ya on this one.

if you really want surface structure set up by gull rock, it always busts up bad around the rock & you end up with jagged wicked "surface structure"

many years ago we had caught on to this kind of by accident, used to set up close to the rock with portables & always did very well setting up in the most god awfull busted ice shards & ice walls standing straght up & down.

we'd get that "what the heck are those dummies doing?" look all the time, but we were too busy catching fish to let it bother us.

[CEDES]

OK, I am like the rest of you and have contemplated the reasons for such things, while either in the shack or waiting to be in the shack. I am no stranger to LOTW, although my home water would be Mille Lacs. I found the strangest things while on the hard water last year. I have been fishing for some time, but haven't hit it as hard the last few years (raising children). Last year I spent a significant amount of time on the water to find a few (very interesting) patterns (or maybe not)

Kinda like fishing soft water WIND creates current, fish relate to windward and down windward sides of structure depending on moods. Last year under better than 18 "s of ice there was an apperent current and good bite related to the windy side of the structure. May sound funny, but this held true on most occations last winter and I even let it factor into my game plan. There is something to it !!! If the Ice heaves in the same areas year after year you have found some sort of current break there is a lot to unlocking the code to the great unknown, but there has to be more to it than dumb luck.....Water and Mother nature are powerfull beasts, when LOTW water starts to move not much can stop it, frozen water is easier to break than solid ground, thus forcing it up and creating a heave.

Just my $.02 I need fishable ice SOON !! Good luck, be safe, Have a great season.