Backwaters Panfish Report (Pics Added)

[Mike Walerak]

Finally winter ice season has arrived. I struck out hit some of my favorite first ice haunts down near wabasha and Alma and found the pannies to quite active. We started out with hopes of some dandy perch but were pleasantly surprised the perch were replaced by big ol bluegills. The bite was streaky as you had to pick through quite a few little ones until a school of big ones rolled through. We found that small moves of only 20-50 feet were the best option rather than jumping in the car and traveling to an entirly different spot. By the end of the day Jr and I had a nice mess of 8.5"-9.5" for our fish fry and let many other keeper caliber fish go for others to enjoy. Here is Jr with one of the first gills of the 2012/2013 ice season.

It seemed the gills preferred the spikes over the waxies but the bigger ones were caught on waxies. The green Lindy Toad jigs seemed to be the ticket over most everything in my box. We fished in depths ranging from 4-20 FOW and had ice thickness ranging from 3-8"

Day 2 found us in another location on the WI side of the river near Alma where we only able to manage small gills. After a popping a number of holes trying to seek out the larger ones we opted to try the dike road on the way home. We were once again greeted with hungry baby bluegills. We didn't leave with out each one of the kids getting a dandy panny though.

Be safe and enjoy the first ice!

mw

[DENVER06]

That's awesome mike way to get the boy out there with ya.

[Mike Walerak]

I love taking the kids fishing except now Jr learned how to use my flasher on Day 2 and decided he will be using it from now on. I happen to have an old FL-8 in the basement he will be using next weekend if we are fishing the deep water.

mw

[MNCPRGUY]

Nice report Mike and great pics! My son laid claim to my flasher this year as well. Ended up grabbing a Showdown troller for a 2nd unit.

[Tanker]

I find it funny. My boy also claims my flasher. I think dad will just have to upgrade.

[Turk]

Really terrific Mike! Great read and pics.

[aaron otto]

Awesome. Nice work Dad.

[Mike Walerak]

Now that the kids got warmed up in week 1 with bluegills I switched gears a little and focussed mainly on crappies in Mississippi River Pools 5A, 6 and 7. Found the crappies to be biting well but the overall size seems to be down. If a guy is patient enough it seems the bigger ones show themselves eventually. For the most part I have been fishing the less crowded fishing spots and if I did find myself in a pressured spot I'd fish just under the ice and was able to pull a few decent fish. I have been hitting multiple spots in a day using a long rod and fishing fast trying to pick off the active fish. This week I am back to my normal work schedule so no mid-week outings for me

Here are some pictures from the week.

Kept 10 for the pan!

The boy is getting the hang of this crappie thing!

Best fish of the week was around 13" sorry I forgot to get a measurement on it.

Now is the time so do it. The ice has been consistantly 6-8 inches and I finally broke down and got the power auger out.

Happy New Year!

[lispeej]

nice! thanks for sharing.

[BartmanMN]

Nice pictures.

[DTro]

Love the pics, thanks for sharing!