Cattin the Chain '11

[Brad B]

Pushbutton or Icehawk,

any updates on how the ice is on horseshoe and the rest of the chain.

[pushbutton]

brad, do not live on the chain anymore and have not been by recently, would think with the temps the bays are getting close to walkable and the rest of the water is capping off and making ice...except for the main channel areas. people will probably be out this weekend or or early next week. unless you know the lake well, i would not advise this and give it a little more time.

[Rick G]

Pushbutton is right on the money here. The chain can be tricky. Not enough ice to just go wandering around on thats for sure 1-3.5in as of yesterday. There were places on the lake that appeared to have just frozen over on fri or early sat morning.

[Brad B]

any thickness to the ice at the area of the winter access or has this rain opened it back up. I would like to get out to the 30 foot hole just north of the winter access but I am not going to push my lucky. no fish is worth me losing my life from falling through. I know it varies from year to year but when is it normally safe enough to drive out to the point by the meth hole. I would hope by mid january, am I in the ball park. I drive a chevy blazer.

[The Chemist]

Ther first time every year I get out on the chain, I scout out where the hole is just to get a reference. On the map if you follow the red line "ice road" and continue the line through the words meth hole to the shoreline, it is typically ~ 1/2 the distance between the "M" and shore. As for marking it I believe it has been 10+ yrs since it was last marked.

[Rick G]

Out from the winter access is kinda thin yet. You have good ice a hundred or so yards out (3or so in.) then there is a huge area that froze later than the rest of that part of the lake. I would wait till we get a bit more ice for that area but there are lots of other places on the chain with ice thats ready to go right now. Just please be carefull and check ice thickness often when venturing to new areas.

[daddyducker]

would love to fish some winter cats as I never have. Can you catch them like you were jigging up an eye, or with a bottom rig with chicken hearts?

Never fished them before, have eaten them from a summer catch and they weren't very good. Have to think that cold water would make them taste good. Are they as common as hooking a sunfish or more elusive like a walleye?

Do they shut off in January like everything else or carry right through for us that want to fish something until the spring panfish bite?

Any info would help.

[Boxcar Wllie]

Bottom feeders. No thank you. More for you guys.

[Borch]

would love to fish some winter cats as I never have. Can you catch them like you were jigging up an eye, or with a bottom rig with chicken hearts?

Never fished them before, have eaten them from a summer catch and they weren't very good. Have to think that cold water would make them taste good. Are they as common as hooking a sunfish or more elusive like a walleye?

Do they shut off in January like everything else or carry right through for us that want to fish something until the spring panfish bite?

Any info would help.

They can be anywhere in the water column. Most will be near the bottom but it's not unusual to see them in the upper half of the water column. They can come up and smack a spoon and minnow head like and eye or barely touch the bait like a very finicky sunfish. There are times a springbobber or trimmed bobber are required.

Stayed tune. Much more info will roll in.

[daddyducker]

Minners...seems to me I put you on the spot that you caught the fish in your picture. Seems to me you robbed it out from under me as well.

Speaking of which, how do I get a picture in my avitar box?

[DTro]

Maybe even some reports of fish soon

[Brad B]

heck Dtro I thought you would be the one posting the reports from there since you where up there almost every weekend last winter. Can't wait to get out there. bring on the kitties.

[Rick G]

I find it hard to go after the cats right now cause the walleys have been going pretty good out there since sat. Soon though very soon

[osok]

Hard to imagine anyone catting over eyes, but I'm willing to give it a go.

[harvey lee]

Yes, those channels can be a blast through the ice. Cannot wait to get back up to the Chain.

[Gordie]

Hard to imagine anyone catting over eyes, but I'm willing to give it a go.

some of us think the oppisite I know one guy for sure maybe two

[pushbutton]

Hard to imagine anyone catting over eyes, but I'm willing to give it a go.

[DTro]

Yeah, because those walleyes are never “bottom feeders” are they? LOL

Hey, each to his own. I prefer a fish that fights harder and I can catch 10x as many in an outing. Plus, in a blind taste test it would be hard to tell the difference in taste for when you keep a couple.

You guys keep chasing those eyeballs though. Fine with me.

Hey Brad, who says I haven’t been up there several times already?

[aanderud]

I'm stoked to get up there. Haven't been fishing in 2 months now, and I'm itchin a bit. I need to go get my ice fishin gear ready, could be any day now, one would think.

[Rick G]

Still hasnt been anyone on the meth hole yet this year. There is now almost six in of ice on most parts of the lake 3in of hard clear ice and 3in of white hard pack frozen snow that turned to ice on top of it all. There were a couple people off 22 when I went past this afternoon and a few other people on the same part of the lake I have been fishing. I would expect there will be alot more people hitting the ice this weekend that is if we dont get dumped on too darn hard by this next round of snow.

[TrapMan13]

Hey dtro,

Once the ice thickens up a bit (week or so) I got a real good little catfish hole over on the chain that was producing 30+ cats every trip for us last year (even when holes like the meth hole were only producing 5 or so fish a night). Sometimes we would catch close to 100 between 3,4 guys. Put the camera down and it would be a "shoal" of them as far as you coud see... If you ever wanna give it a shot.. Let me know. Its prob. not to secret of a spot in all reality but I never once seen another person targeting catfish there last year....

[DTro]

TrapMan, that's like offering free storage space to a Hoarder.

I have several spots I like to hit up there, especially as the year progresses. Maybe we could share some notes. Decent chance I've fished that spot before.

Thanks

[email protected]

[Brad B]

Dtro,

if you have been up there, where is the reports and videos. Hey have you ever thought about doing a video of the cool cats event.

[Brad B]

Still hasnt been anyone on the meth hole yet this year. There is now almost six in of ice on most parts of the lake 3in of hard clear ice and 3in of white hard pack frozen snow that turned to ice on top of it all. There were a couple people off 22 when I went past this afternoon and a few other people on the same part of the lake I have been fishing. I would expect there will be alot more people hitting the ice this weekend that is if we dont get dumped on too darn hard by this next round of snow.

.

so it would be safe to park at the winter access and walk out to the 30ft hole that is just out from the winter access and to the one that is between the island and that point to the north. I may just have to make a trip up there this monday morning and try it. I don't feel like trying to walk to the meth hole from the winter acces just wish there was away to park close enough to it with out having to make a major walk since i don't have a atv or snowmobile.

[Rick G]

Walking any where right now is kind of a pain with the six in of fluffy snow on the lake. Today there was close to 8in of ice where I was. The cats are biting great. I took the evening off from the walleyes and set my sights on the cats. From 4pm till it was pitch dark the bite was hard and fast. The float was flying all the way down and out of the hole almost as fast as I could set the hook. Then the action got light to where the ice buster would just twitch or move to the other side of the hole and only about half the time I would hook the light biters. It took me a while to get used to fishing the winter kittys again but I think I got the hang of it and will be fully ready for tomorow. Found 25ft to be best with a real muddy bottom and some shallow structure close by. The smashed head of a fathead was what I had for bait and it was working better when I kept fresh meat on the hook. Blue/white frostee spoon in 1/8 oz with a up size hook was hot. I didnt keep track of how many I got but it was quite a few and the overall size was good too so for my first cat hunt of the winter it was a success.

[Fishing Buddy 6]

I am just wondering if a snowmobile is safe on the horseshoe right now (I know to stay away from the current). I did see that there was a four wheeler on the lake today driving around but I don't know if he was very brave or if he new it was safe to drive on. I have not been on the lake yet and want to get out there and be mobile.

[DTro]

We had about the same action as you rfm, but our walk was not much fun at all through that fresh powder

Be careful out there, we found some open water near 22.

The bite was very good though tonight.

I'll probably bring a sled with next time. We had a solid 6" of good ice and 1" of the crusty white stuff on top.

Also I lost my Otter cover on the way home on 23 between Rockville and 94.

We backtracked a bit, but no luck It's a longshot, but maybe someone will come across it.

[Gordie]

I may be on the way up in the morning so I'll keep an eye for it Dtro

[Rick G]

Dtro were you guys just out from the 22 bridge by the small island with the Blue clam? or were you one of the few by the winter access. There wasnt a lot of people out yesterday you may have seen me across the lake green otter and a purple otter. Ya that powder snow sure sucks to pull the otters to the spot thats for sure.

[DTro]

Yeah we had a small Clam and a Purple Lodge. We seen only 2 other houses south of us, so that must have been you.