? FOR KELLY-P & JON

[scott-z]

After seeing how many fish we caught my daughter wants to try to make a trip up with me later in March or early April. Since I towed my house back home with me I was wondering if you guy's would have houses available to sleep in on shore and go out with portables? I am not sure when you will be pulling your houses, but there is a lot of fishing time left.

[Random guy]

As the peak of Crappie activity comes closer and closer we start to wonder just how long we will be able to have the sleeper houses on the ice this spring. Will the weather chase us off by quickly or will we be out through the entire month of March?

This has always been a tough call to make as nobody knows what the weather will do and the snow cover this year changes many of the normal indicators giving us a rough idea when the end will come. So we have come up with a strategy that just may work out so later March bookings will still be able to get out and chase some crappies if the ice begins thawing prematurely.

As the ice begins to deteriorate over the very shallow sandbars the sleeper houses have to be pulled to land abandoning very fishable ice and some of the best crappie and perch fishing of the year. This year we plan to pull the sleepers to the dry shoreline only to set those sleepers up for anglers to overnight in. During the day groups will be escorted/guided onto the ice by myself to the current crappie or perch bite. Once all of our anglers are on the ice I will most likely go chasing fish for the day and clients are welcome to accompany me. I just can’t get enough running and gunning for March Crappies and Perch.

We will ask that anglers bring ATVs with them. Also bring portables and any fishing gear including lanterns or lighting along during this last chance crappie bite. Normally the weather is very mild during this period although it would be best to be prepared colder conditions or heavy winds.

So feel free to book those March trips knowing I am going to do what ever I can to help ensure you can get into some of the best crappie fishing of the year even if the weather and shoreline ice conditions force us to pull the sleepers to shore before your arrival.