What is everyone else experiencing?

[yipups]

So I have been hitting the hard water pretty good in the shieldsville area, lakes I've hit, roberds, french, mazaska and west jeff (Cleaveland) wanted to try shields but jave not yet made it out. I have caught a few fish here and there but overall pretty slow in my opinion, I have fished all sorts of depths of water, different colors, baits etc... I have fished the area for years and never really had this slow of luck. What is everyone else doing? Am I doing something wrong? Not lookin for hot spots just curious what people are trying and depths of water if any in particular people are doing good in. Thanks and keep safe, these 40s in the forecast are a hardwater fisherman's worst nightmare

[skip across]

I have been experiencing the same. Fishedt French canon cedar and hunts and have had minimal success to show for it. What I have found is that the pan fish have yet to school up but the walleye has been slower than I have anticipated. Not really sure but my best guess is that the extremely long ice fishing season last year with so many houses out there for so long has put a dent in the fish population around local lakes. Not to mention that last year fishing on Mille Lacs was slow and other up North Lakes received a lot of snow restricting a lot of people around here from going up there.

[Rubber Ducky]

Good morning all,

Yipups, good topic.. My two cents on this topic is that like any pressured Rice county lakes, a guy has to change it up. Just like hunting, fish become immune to certain pressure.. I have seen a major change since GPS has became so accurate! You can't just go to a spot, without a pile of holes already drilled on it.. What I stared doing is finding places people don't want to fish, like deep trenches, shallow water, places people over look... 90% go to were the structure is, or were the people are....

I have been fishing everyday and have caught eyes in 8' to 31' so far this year, is it slower then last year, no I would have to say it's the same... As far as pan fish, I have seen them bunched up and have done good, but the past two weeks have been some of the highest barometer pressure, that I have seen, with little change...

Just my two cents!!! Good luck, and change it up...

[Gobbles113]

Good morning all,

Yipups, good topic.. My two cents on this topic is that like any pressured Rice county lakes, a guy has to change it up. Just like hunting, fish become immune to certain pressure.. I have seen a major change since GPS has became so accurate! You can't just go to a spot, without a pile of holes already drilled on it.. What I stared doing is finding places people don't want to fish, like deep trenches, shallow water, places people over look... 90% go to were the structure is, or were the people are....

I have been fishing everyday and have caught eyes in 8' to 31' so far this year, is it slower then last year, no I would have to say it's the same... As far as pan fish, I have seen them bunched up and have done good, but the past two weeks have been some of the highest barometer pressure, that I have seen, with little change...

Just my two cents!!! Good luck, and change it up...

Nice insight, Ducky! Not everyone has the luxury of an extra additional tool such as GPS, respectively. However, you are right on the nose where you pointed out where you needed to address with the quote: "What I stared doing is finding places people don't want to fish, like deep trenches, shallow water, places people over look... 90% go to were the structure is, or were the people are...." It is a powerful statement right there.

Oftentimes, we, as human beings, are creatures of habits--we resist to surrender and accept changes. It takes an open mind and willingness to learn. For an example, we all go out in open water and fish for a particular species. We ended up catching different species than what we anticipate. Yes, we know that this particular fish species is there in the area but not buying the bite. We have to change lures in order for that particular species to bite down. Sometimes, they are not there--they may have relocated to a different structure just by 300 feet which we overlooked.

As Rubber Ducky had stated was a powerful statement all in its own. We can try to drill a bunch of holes and do "ice trolling". We can try to be 50-100 yards away from the "community" shacks and still succeed catching fish. Or we can relocate a different spot most "community" folks do not think about. We are more worried about the depths of where fish bites, but we do leave out the information we need the most--what type of structure, the time of the day when fish bite, aggressive or finicky mood, and enjoy the meal we truly want to bring home to share with our loved ones.

Thanks again, Ducky, for making valid point in which we all need to hear and reconsider our train of thoughts.