FM Metro GTG II...

[DTro]

What about Sun? Still a go?

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: dtro

What about Sun? Still a go?

Ummmm... yeah.

I was just referring to a little scouting mission I was planning tonight. Something came up and I won't get out tonight.

[MuleShack]

Hey Hanson,

If I can make it out on Sunday...do you think i could test drive your nils? (hope this doesn't open a can of worms.. )

[DTro]

Hanson doesn't have a Nils yet, ol' dependable won't go down

I will be out there and I extend an offer of anyone to stop by and punch some holes with mine.

Be warned though, the last guy to do it went out and bought one

[GoggleEye]

Can anyone tell me if Medicine is clear enough to use a camera??

[Icing]

Oh Yeah....Medicine is clear alright. I was out there about 2 weeks ago/away from the crowd. I was out on 15'-20' FOW in my fish house during morning and looking down throught the fishing hold I can see the bottom no problem.

[Jeremy airjer W]

 Originally Posted By: dtro

I will be out there and I extend an offer of anyone to stop by and punch some holes with mine.

I might just take you up on that offer!

[Tripleplay]

Chris,

Not sure how long you all are going to last on Sunday with the cold but I was kind of planning on hitting Medicine this Sunday anyways. My problem is I won't be out until around noon at the earliest. (two indoor soccer games to contend with)

Since I know the lake I should be able to find you if you are around but I was likely to hit Harty's and then access through French unless Joe tells me it is OK to drive across the lake. Probably headed for the area near French for gills and maybe a crappie hole. May have the neighbor boy along as well which would put me outside of the house (assuming son is along) which should be a great test of my new Artic Armor---brr. The boys may wimp out but I'll watch for you and try to pick up how it has been going earlier.

Irv

[rockman]

Seeing as how I grew up on this lake, I should make an attempt to show up on Sunday.If I read this thread right, are you guys saying you do not need pay to use the French park access? What if I park my truck and trailer at the boat launch, and unload my wheeler there? Do I still need to pay, or should I just park on the ice at the shoreline?

[FishingWebGuy]

Bump

 Originally Posted By: hanson

Alrighty... due to somewhat popular opinion, the FM Metro GTG II will happen on Medicine Lake, Sunday January 20, 2008.

We'll bump the meeting time back a little bit to... let's say... 8am. If anyone wants to do Breakfast, we can hit a Perkins again, we just won't call ahead this time! Breakfast will be at 6:30am.

Meeting place will more than likely be French Park on the north side of Medicine Lake. There is a boat launch/lake access in French and you don't need a park permit or to pay to use the park during the winter.

There are a few popular areas within walking distance of French or I suppose we could all drive out as well.

Remember that Harty's Bait & Tackle is on the SE side of the lake if anyone needs bait.

And Perkins is 494 & 55, right?

[MuleShack]

 Originally Posted By: dtro

Hanson doesn't have a Nils yet, ol' dependable won't go down

I will be out there and I extend an offer of anyone to stop by and punch some holes with mine.

Be warned though, the last guy to do it went out and bought one

Dtro,

I might have to take you up on that. my 38 lb Jiffy has given me many a back aches while punching multiple holes. Next year i'm in the market for a lighter auger.

Thanks

[rockman]

Thanks,FWG. That answered it right there.It does help to read the whole post.

[FishingWebGuy]

 Originally Posted By: MuleShack

Dtro,

I might have to take you up on that. my 38 lb Jiffy has given me many a back aches while punching multiple holes. Next year i'm in the market for a lighter auger.

Thanks

I'll have mine there also.

[Sandmannd]

I know the meeting is at 8 at French's. What time are you planning on hitting the bait store?

[Grant]

how late will this be going? I've got some things to take care of in the morning, probably until noon at least.

[hanson]

Quick finalization of plans...

6:30am Perkins for Breakfast

(Perkins is at the NW corner of I-494 and HWY 55)

8:00am Meet at the boat launch in French Park, right at the lake. French has many parking areas throughout the park so we'll meet right at the lake. (There is no access fee in the winter, parking is free, but the park does close at sunset if you park your vehicle there).

I just drove across the lake today so I will have my truck on the ice tomorrow. We can access right from French Park which is what I plan to do. Car travel should be OK as the snow isn't too deep and the ramps on and off the lake aren't that steep or ice covered.

Harty's Bait is on the SE side of the lake, you could pick bait up beforehand or after as well as its a short drive across the lake to his place, just follow the beat down road.

Thats about it for an update. See you guys in the morning sometime. If you want to come late, we'll definitely be fishing past 12:00pm. Just look for my Black GMC Sierra with FishingMinnesota stickers on the doors. We'll probably be on the north half of the lake, or venture down to the SW corner. I'm staying clear of the "art" ice shanty area which is just off the beach on the SE side.

We'll have propane grills on the ice, bring some brats, dogs, burgers, or something to cook and eat if you want.

[aanderud]

I plan to be there about 8 and I will have a portable with me with an extra seat open if anyone's interested. It's a good day to stay out of the cold.

It will be the maiden voyage for my new auger. I ran a tank of gas through tonight so it should be good to go.

[DTro]

see ya @ Perkins

[blacksportsman]

Good luck guys and have fun...I'm gonna whimp out on this one, but not without regret.

STAY WARM OUT THERE!!

[Sandmannd]

Hey guys,

Hope it's goin well out there. I had every intent to make it. Actually was going to pick up kingfisher and bring him. My daughter was up at 3 and pretty sick so I had to say no to the fishing for today. Wish I coulda made it, but family first ya know.

[DTro]

Fun time today!

I tell ya what, there is no shortage of pannies in that lake....yikes.

Typical metro size, but we did get a half dozen real nice gills.

Nice seeing everyone out there.

[hanson]

I had to check out early as well...

#1- Marcum battery [PoorWordUsage] on me. If you read the "Do I need a flasher post" in the Ice Fishing Forum, I said I don't fish without it so that was the end of my day.

#2- Dtro forgot the grill at home so I was getting pretty hungry. Stopped @ Cub 'Airjer' and still couldn't find those darn brats. I found them with Cheddar Cheese but it appeared they didn't have any with Pepperjack.

#3- Aanderud... your rods are still in my truck.

To some it up, fairly non-stop panfish action from the minute we augered holes until we left. If I ever catch another 6" crappie again, it'll be too soon! Yikes! Like Dtro said, we popped some pretty darn impressive gills for the Metro area. I was surprised on the size of a few of them.

Rumor was WWG & Aanderud tangled with 3 pike but only got 1 through the ice. MuleShack got a big green & slimy bass around 3-4 lbs. That was the highlights that I heard anyway.

Had a good turnout, and doubled the Perkins attendance this morning as well! It would definitely have been more fun if it wasn't -15 this morning as we could have all sat outside in that hole and pounded the panfish all day. Was also a sea of Arctic Armor as I know there were at least 6 suits on the ice!

Thanks for coming guys! Hope you had fun and caught some fish! Wish I wasn't restricted to the Otter Lodge all morning which was nice and toasty warm!

[randyfaas]

Yup, we had a great time too. Those FM get-togethers sure do put you on fish!

Caught about 40 sunnies and 1 perch between the two of us. It was kinda slow around the portable shanty town for us, but we moved a little deeper into that Northward pointing bay and found some big schools of fish. 7-8" average with some dinkers thrown in. Saw some bass and a couple of northerns on the camera too, but no takers.

Had to take off to watch some football, but they were still biting pretty aggressively when we left at about 1pm.

When's the next one?

Randy.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Hanson that hole on the other side of the point was fantastic. One crappy after another and heres the kicker I caught them on plastics (NOT A MISSPRINT)!!

Not to bad of a turnout even with the cold morning. A few more names to put to faces (sorry but I'll forget them before morning what can I say I'm really bad with names). Randy it was ggod seeing ya again today, sorry I got us lost!! Just proves that technology is only as smart as the user!!

Who's they guy with the other salsa red tundra x-tra cab? I have met you twice now and for the life of me I cannot remember who you are? Sorry

Thanks Hanson for getting the ball rolling again!!!

The one thing that I'm fast becoming a believer in is the lures with flair for panfish. JB lures charms and maynerds flutterbugs to be specific. If you don't have them there are a must as far as I'm concerned!! I am also a big fan of fireline crystal but today I had P-line spooled up and am liking this stuff as well.

Powerstroke how did that charm work out for you?

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: hanson

#3- Aanderud... your rods are still in my truck.

Still laughing at that one

I may have forgot the grill, but that rod deal had to be the greatest display of short term memory loss I've ever witnessed.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: airjer

Hanson that hole on the other side of the point was fantastic. One crappy after another and heres the kicker I caught them on plastics (NOT A MISSPRINT)!!

Dang... should've moved.

That was about the time my flasher battery went kaput. I've got 3 backups on the shelf but of course I'm using the one that has bad battery life.

While not metro... couple other Get-Togethers I'm organizing (or co-organizing) are-

1- Upper Red Lake Slabfest III in northern MN. This will be my 3rd year rallying the troops for a little crappie fishing and the preliminary turnout is sounding huge! Date for the Slabfest is February 23, 2008

2- Cool Cats 2008 on the Horseshoe Chain near St. Cloud. Fishing Catfish through the ice! This has always, always been a fun event with a bunch of fish caught! Date for Cool Cats is March 1, 2008.

We could probably do another Metro Get-Together in a couple weeks, maybe swing over towards Chisago, Lindstrom, Center or really would be open to ideas.

Other ideas would be Turtle Lake in Shoreview. That is a fun little body of water. Might want to wait until the shacks are pulled off. We'd see lots of bass on that lake and typical metro panfish.

[DTro]

well since you've done South and West, North or East would make sense...even though it's further for me.

[Sandmannd]

That would be cool Hanson. I pretty sure Big Wade and I are going to slabfest. I would be up for a good north or east side get together (pending no sick baby). Shoreview would be interesting, but the others would do as well. Keep us posted.

By the way, where is the post for slabfest?

[ameyers41]

Man, I can't believe I missed out. Never been to a GTG, but will need to get to one soon.

Quick question, as I have tomorrow off and am going to try. I'm overly cautious with driving out, but I think you guys were planning on driving out from French. Is that what you did? Any issues with the ice (I have a GMC Envoy)? I have a suspicion that I'm planning on hitting the same general area that you all were at. I've heard the stories of the springs, and like I said, I get nervous about metro lakes in general. I'll be stopping by Harty's for bait tomorrow morning and will ask him too. Just want to get planning. Congrats again on what sounds like a successful and fun day.

[rockman]

It looks like all had a good time.Sorry I couldn't get there.I stayed up way too late the night before watching movies with the kids.May be a poor excuse to you hardcore metro icefishermen, but what can I say? Maybe I'll show up at the next metro event,and definitely will be at Cool Cats in March.