Panfish and surprise Walleye

[Bobb-o]

Met up with a buddy this morning in the hunt for some nice panfish. We started at a lake that I had great success at late ice last season. After drilling 75-100 holes around a coupe of key spots, all we had to show for our effort were a few tiny northerns, and a random trumpeter swan that was sitting on the ice keenly interested in what we were doing. Found between 9 and 11" of ice on this lake. I was very surprised at how much there was when I was drilling the first few holes.

Decided to pull the plug and head to a smaller lake closer to town that I had luck on last week. Pulled up and saw a few other fishermen out on the ice. Headed out in a different direction from the majority of the houses which were all in a circle of around 50 yards. Drilled a quick 10 holes and immediately started icing some decent bluegills with a few crappies mixed in. My buddy had 10 keepers on the ice when we decided we should start packing up. Almost immediately, his rod doubled over with the drag screaming. I was convinced it was a bass, as I had caught several of them in the same spot last week. All of a sudden a mouthful of teeth start coming up the hole, and Eric lets out a hug gasp as his line had broken. I shoved my arm down the hole and was able to pull up his personal best walleye out. He was still sort of in shock over the walleye when we departed ways in the parking lot.

Beautiful day to be out fishing!

[Rick G]

As always, great report Bobb-o