First Ice fishing

[IceHawk]

Well made it out to a local area lake tonight. Was nice to fish some home water been on the ice a few times this year but in the Northwest corner of the state. Was happy to find 4-5 inches of good ice to one of my walleye spots. Managed to ice 13 eyes mostly shorts but managed 2 at 16  and one at 17 for a fresh meal. Caught fish on a slender spoon but the bigger ones came off jigging raps and they slammed it. Nothing on a dead stick to my surprise. Rick G walked over and talked to me he was on another section of the lake. Sounds like Eyeguy, Jeremy Campbell were with also. Sounded like they had some success also. All in all a great night good to see some fellow fmers and enjoy some decent fishing.

[aanderud]

Good to hear that there is fishable ice and the fish are cooperating. Depending on weather, I might try to trek up that way Sunday or Monday or Tuesday (or all 3). Nothing fishable here in south metro yet. Thanks for the report!

[Rick G]

 Cool seeing you again, Chris :-)  good  to hear you got into a few. 

We got into crappies pretty good today. I got all mine on plastics, best were Impulse mayflies and Impulse minnows. Not sure what the other guys were using, but we all were having about the same luck I think. Ended up getting a few small walleyes jigging with spoons and minnow heads in the shallows right before dark, nothing big....but still fun.  Had a little less ice where I was than where Icehawk was, 3-3.5in was about average.

[Weathertite]

Save some for the rest of us Rick.   Glad too see that you were able to get out fishing and catch some fish as a bonus. Have a great holiday season and please keep us informed.  Mike

[Stick in Mud]

God bless you, everyone.  I need to lose some weight before I'll feel comfy on 3-4 inches of ice.   

[Weathertite]

well , that's just smart thinking . I weigh 145 pds and I still wont go out on ice quite that thin. Stay safe and fish well !!!!

[monstermoose78]

7 hours ago, Stick in Mud said:

God bless you, everyone.  I need to lose some weight before I'll feel comfy on 3-4 inches of ice.   

I need at least 5 inches before I head out to fish. Even if I lost 80 pounds I would still need 5 inches.

[IceHawk]

Aniother great day on the water. Decided today to chase some craps midday on a local lake. Know of a little transition spot that usally holds midday pies so I wanted to check it out. The spot is where a mud basin forms off a sand flat the mud area usally has a good insect hatch that draws the craps.   Well started my treck to the area hopeing for gd ice found 3-5 inches norm a little nerve racking now that theres snow on top but I advanced with extreme caution. . Proceeded to punch holes the whole way for safety and fortunately I made it to the spot. Punched about 30 holes across this area and looked with the electronics and as is usally the norm the pies were there. Small schools of say 2-5 fish were scaterred throughout the area.. Finessing these fish was the key. The power noodle defiantely helped out as the bites were real soft. Key lures were Fiska wolframs and plastics. The plastics that performed the best tipped on the Fiskas were powerbait ice wishbones , cutdown  trigger x nymphs and trigger x mustache worms. I stayed with dark browns and blacks as the pies were obviously  feeding on zooplankton in the mud. You defianately had to hole hop a lot but it was nice to topside a nice batch of pies again.Looking forward tom the next outing.

 

 

 

[Borch]

Way to go Chris.  I'm still waiting for a little more ice.  Some to hit a couple gill spots soon.

[bowhuntingboy1]

Right there with you monster moose and I am a kid.Do you know anything about chisago chain of the lakes ice condition?

[IceHawk]

Tonight I was another walleye hunt. Hit a diiferent local lake tonight as it was on my hit list, its usally a good first ice producer and as usual it didn't let me down.   Once I arrived at the lake I  found 4 inches of good ice so I headed out on foot on the hunt. Headed to one of the productive spots I fished in the past, Once I arrived I looked at my navionics to set up a plan of attack.   once a plan was decided on  I punched holes over the area  and searched with my electronics. Scoped out the  area hard and didn't see what I wanted. Perch weren't present and no green weeds. I then made a move to spot 2 with a little more humping and dragging of the fish trap and gear. Realized I'm not a spring chicken anymore.  Once on spot 2 went through the same procedure and quickly I showed weeds on the electronics. I  dropped the camera and wham perch and greenery thought perfect game on. Setup and started fishing,was a little early as the local walleye bites so far have been from about 4-5 pm.  At 4.15 first mark and wham fish on 14 incher. The next hour fish came in and were aggressive. Iced around a dozen eyes in the magic window. Kept a couple for supper and released a bunch more. No biggies tonight but some good year classes of 15 and 16 inch fish. Key depths were 14-16 ft. Key presentations were dead sticks with number 4 red hooks real small golld shiners. For jigging I went old school using a vintage green Jig a whopper tipped with a fathead.  With the late ice up still finding good green weeds and the fish are relateing to them. Hope others are getting out , things will only get better once we get better ice.

[ThePundsack88]

Anyone fishing any kitties yet this year? Its been waaaaayyyyyyy to long sice last winter! Was thinking about heading out this weekend to see if i cant find a big school of em.

[Tom Sawyer]

15 hours ago, IceHawk said:

Tonight I was another walleye hunt. Hit a diiferent local lake tonight as it was on my hit list, its usally a good first ice producer and as usual it didn't let me down.   Once I arrived at the lake I  found 4 inches of good ice so I headed out on foot on the hunt. Headed to one of the productive spots I fished in the past, Once I arrived I looked at my navionics to set up a plan of attack.   once a plan was decided on  I punched holes over the area  and searched with my electronics. Scoped out the  area hard and didn't see what I wanted. Perch weren't present and no green weeds. I then made a move to spot 2 with a little more humping and dragging of the fish trap and gear. Realized I'm not a spring chicken anymore.  Once on spot 2 went through the same procedure and quickly I showed weeds on the electronics. I  dropped the camera and wham perch and greenery thought perfect game on. Setup and started fishing,was a little early as the local walleye bites so far have been from about 4-5 pm.  At 4.15 first mark and wham fish on 14 incher. The next hour fish came in and were aggressive. Iced around a dozen eyes in the magic window. Kept a couple for supper and released a bunch more. No biggies tonight but some good year classes of 15 and 16 inch fish. Key depths were 14-16 ft. Key presentations were dead sticks with number 4 red hooks real small golld shiners. For jigging I went old school using a vintage green Jig a whopper tipped with a fathead.  With the late ice up still finding good green weeds and the fish are relateing to them. Hope others are getting out , things will only get better once we get better ice.

Thanks for another informative post Chris. Keep rippin' lips man.

[IceHawk]

Thanks Tom

Pundsack88 Not a lot if anybody out chaseing the cats really yet this year. Iv'e been seeing a lot of them on my electronics in the deeper basins chaseing craps.  Havent targeted them yet this year but I'm sure if you checked out a few spots you will find some willing to bite. Usally first ice is the best as they seem to slowly shut down as the year goes on.

[eyeguy 54]

I bet a waxie close to bottom would get a kitty or 3.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I targeted those big marks swirling around suspended over deep water already. Just to find out if they weren't 16" crappie, LOL; standard crappie gear with plastic sealed the deal on one about 20"s. Just had to catch one of those big red marks. Not at all a very tough task, keep um chasing they'll bite.

Multi specie day out there with crappie, walleye, and a cat.

[Stick in Mud]

12 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

I bet a waxie close to bottom would get a kitty or 3.

 

People still fish with waxworms?!?

 

[eyeguy 54]

8 hours ago, Stick in Mud said:

People still fish with waxworms?!?

 

just us rookies.

 

[IceHawk]

Put me in the rookie class also you wont see me hit the ice with out a puck of euro larvae  Plastics have there moments but aren't the ticket all the time sometimes it takes a little meat to put some topside.

[Rick G]

Depends on what I'm  fishing for....if I'm after gills, you better believe I have some waxies or euro larve on me. I do use meat less and less now, but there are times when the bigger pannies will touch nothing else.

[Stick in Mud]

Ah, I was just giving eyeguy a hard time.  I *always* have euro larvae with when I head out for panfish (which, admittedly, is not that often).  I can't say that I've used waxworms in a while, though. 

[eyeguy 54]

I am not offended...    lol

[IceHawk]

Another day on the ice in the books. Hit a local lake to do a combo (eyes and Craps) trip this morning. Figured with the front comeing the bite would be fanatsic. It was but not as I expected. Hit the ice early this morning first for eyes and was real disappointed in my success. I marked a few on the electronics but getting them to go was another story. Had some lookers but no takers. Started big on jgging  setup and small gold shiners on dead sticks. A lot of chasers but none of them wanted what I was showing them. I down sized to smaller spoons with crappie heads and small fatheads on deadsticks. These equipment changes usally trigger negative fish but not today.  Still no takers, at 8.30 I gave up and started my search for craps. Started cutting holes in a basin marked a few but wasn't impressed so kept hunting. Worked a  shallower flat (17-24 ft) adjacent to a deepe(25-37ft) underwater point and found a small school. With some further investigateing found a bigger school. Hopeing game on. Started with a small 1/16 th oz slender spoon drew some attention but no bites. Switched to a small fiska and a cutdown fish fry and iced a few  but still not happy. Tried some  other colors combos and plastics and caught a few more.  About a hr after working these fish with diferrent setups the barometer started to fall and boy did they turn on. The action was so fast upsized to a size 5 mm tungsten (to get down to the school faster) chekai jig and a whisbone.. Wow for about a hour and a half I honestly iced over 40 plus craps. Some of the fastest fishing ive experienced this year. At times they were raceing up to meet my jig. A fishermans dream  Just like that they slowly started to shut down and slide off. I'm sure I could of found them again but was happy with what I encountered. What a day! With this cod front things will slow down but by dowwnsizeing you will still be able to ice a few fish be safe and good fishing.

[eyeguy 54]

NIce !

[icepike 1]

One heck of a post. Thanks IceHawk.

[Weathertite]

Icehawk you better get your Fanny North and hit those old stomping grounds. Let me know if you make it up that way as I would be interested in how you do and what you find.

Thanks Mike

[IceHawk]

Icepike 1 Thanks appreciate the compliment!  Mike hopefully soon just to hard to leave local waters when they have been produceing pretty good. Ill get up there soon sometime after this cold spell. Its kind of  like a kid waiting to open presents Christmas day the anticipation is killing me   That area does hold  some quality  fish just hope some of my old spots still are holding some jammers! When I do get that way Ill give you a report and maybe a few waypoints

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks Chris for the report. It's fun when everything lines up and catching gets that good. Sounds like one of those times when you end up saying, "Ya' had to be there".

I know what your talking about. Fun times!!!

[Weathertite]

Where are you headed tomorrow IH ?  I talked with a guide from the leech area and he say 4 guys for 4 hours for $ 80.00 , wondering if you think that is worth it to get some waypoints and fish ? He says we can pick our species of choice . What is your opinion ? Feedback from everyone is Welcome.

Thanks Mike

[IceHawk]

Mike today I'm hopeing to get the permanent house set up out on a local spot for eyes and craps. I'm not the kind of guy that likes to camp out and wait for the fish but with these colder temps might be the best option for a few days..  Have a few family members who aren't as experienced fisherpeople , this gives them a spot to still be on some fish with the comforts they desire.  That Price sounds good. Wondering if gear is included or do you supply your own? If your not familiar with the area a guide is definitely the way to go gives you a few good starting points.