Season Winding Down.....

[AlwaysFishing23]

Haven’t posted much last few weeks due to a hectic life but getting back into the swing of things. Got out last night from 6pm and was back home at 8pm. Had a busy day yesterday but mentioned to dad let’s go for a drive. He asked if I had any waxies left and I had a couple. We packed light, otter sled, my strike master, rod case, flasher, two buckets and an ice scoop, And chisel. Got to the lake and it wasn’t to bad. The shoreline was a little soft but we made it to the spot and it took a few minutes but it was almost one after another all big gills 8”, biggest 9 1/4”. Lost one pike and landed a little crappie. 6.5 fow and tubby jigs were the ticket. Ran out of wax worms in no time but trigger x mustache worms worked really well! Dad was surprised, he’s a old timer kind of fisherman and I got him to use a spring bobber ( no float!) and plastics. He Finally learned about all the talk about plastics and “seeing” the bite. Ended with 19 nice gills ( limit for the lake is 10 per person) in less than 1.5 hrs. About 10” of ice but seemed plenty solid yet. Would have been nice to have cleats since the ice is bare and dry and really slick now! Over all a great evening and just a heck of a lot of fun! I’m thinking this will be my last ice outing of the year and my ice gear is getting the way of other things now. Got the long rods out and need to go through them and get them rigged and ready! If anyone has any reports  they’d like to share please feel free to post! 

Edited April 8, 2019 by AlwaysFishing23

[AlwaysFishing23]

Decided yesterday afternoon we had to much fun the day before so we had to get out again. Had about 1.5 hours to fish and kept 17 nice gills for a good meal for my brother and grandma to have. Was more of a tough bite. Plastics and tubby jigs again and marked a lot of fish but the wind was brutal. Being able to see the bite was almost impossible. I know for a fact I missed a lot of bites. But none the less we had a good time again. Shorelines started to melt from shore a couple feet but the main ice sheet was still fine. This was the last trip of the 18-19 season for me. Overall a REALLY good season iced a lot of nice walleyes, crappies and a ton of super nice bluegills. Last night I got try flip over dried and vacuumed out, brought the flipover to the basement, got the otter sleds put in the garage, and got the auger summarized. A couple more things to do and I’ll be pretty much ready for open water. Debated trying to get one last trip but I feel pretty confident with my season at this point. Also the storm heading our way with the predicted snow fall will make things dangerous with all the open holes. 

[AlwaysFishing23]

Looks like its that time of year again! What a crazy last few weeks its been, and who's know whats to come. With all things closings that leaves time to fish! Got out a few times this week and been doing pretty good on crappies and gills. But with the weekends forecast of warm, windy, and rain we could be in trouble ice wise. Landings were still ok but each day there deteriorating more. Been using the wheeler but Lucky for me i have private access's i can use that are still tight to shore. Ice wise I've found 20-22 inches and other old holes that were open with less than 8 inches. Gonna start hanging the ice gear up now and more than likely call it quits. Time to start getting the boat ready! If you do get out make sure you practice social distancing!! 

 

 

 

 

  

Edited March 28, 2020 by AlwaysFishing23

[Austin12345]

You got some nice crappies there kind of suprised you still have that much ice where I'm from the white bear lake area most lakes are done and there is open water on some areas this is one of my favorite times of the year when you can fish hard water and soft water in the same day!!

[papadarv]

Down here in north metro season over. Open water 100 yards off shore on Coon Lake Anoka, expect it fully open by mid next week with today's rain and warmer temps. Time to get the boat out of winter storage.

 

[Rick]

16 minutes ago, papadarv said:

Down here in north metro season over. Open water 100 yards off shore on Coon Lake Anoka, expect it fully open by mid next week with today's rain and warmer temps. Time to get the boat out of winter storage.

 

 

Thanks for the video!

 

AWESOME!

[papadarv]

Coon Lake open this morning thanks to heavy rain.

 

[IceHawk]

Yes finally today I put the winter gear away. Wont let my fishing buds you know who you are temp me to take it out again. Was a great season cant complain cught a lot of fish on a lot of different lakes.  Only complaint was not getting up to panfish paradise Otter Tail County as much as normal. Snow depths made it interesting as some of us found out  Thanks to all the guys I shared the ice with this year the memories will last a lifetime!

[Borch]

For sure!  Mine isn't put away yet but it will be.  That rain did it's damage and it's time to be thinking about turkeys and getting the boat out.  I certainly enjoyed spending time on the ice with old and new friends alike.   Great memories.