Report from Riverbend 1/19

[bturck]

Fished 1/2 day on Mon and full day on Tuesday 1/20 and found that the bite was fairly slow in our area. Not just for us but for all of the folks we talked to.<P>There were six of us in 2 houses and we managed 45 keeper walleye and sauger, and 6 bonus perch for the day and a half. Two of the perch were right on 13".<P>We fished out of Riverbends houses in 30-31' of water and found several techniques that would work but not consistently. A Buckshot perch/orange rattele jig bounced in the mud and then lifted 2-3 feet would trigger bites most conistently. A plain gold Mustad #6 hook with a shiner produced the best on the dead sticks. Lots of fish chasing, but a lot of lookers as well. The biggest walleyes, of which the largest was 17 1/2 came in at 24-26' down and hit the jigs hard when chased.<P>Today the lake was pretty much a total whiteout with several inches of snow and 40plus mph winds. The guys in the bombers were having a tough time trying to stay on the stacks marking the way to the houses. With the late start and only a half day scheduled with our group to fish we just decided to head home. Once again the folks at Riverbend did a great job, and Ken in the kitchen deep fryed some great fish for us on Monday night.<P>Thats the best report I can give you at this time, so hope those heading up this weekend have a great trip. Good luck, and hang on. Bill<P>PS Curt, I picked your station up on FM for just a few miles north of Blackduck then I lost you just north of Shooks.

[New Yankee]

BT - Sounds like a good time in any event!<BR>Trust the better half enjoyed the trip.<P>Been trying to get another outing set up from SFs - you know how it goes - everyone wants to fish with you until you ask them! Seems the folks I hang with are gung ho as long as it: 1) is easy/doesn't take ANY effort and/or 2) costs nothing (it isn't that they are destitute...). Never found any thing that I enjoyed that fit those caveats!<P>I can't seem to get a grandma to head North in February (too cold...) to watch the kids, don't know if a 5&6 yr old could make it in a fish house all day or not - or if a sleeper would be the better option and take games, etc. - I might be able to fish even if my wife couldn't...LOL! Thanks for the report! Bob

[BobD]

Bill, <BR> sounds like a great time, sometimes the fish are on and sometimes,,,,,,<BR> glad you had a good time.<P> will be heading up to riverbend in a month

[BobD]

Bill, <BR> sounds like a great time, sometimes the fish are on and sometimes,,,,,,<BR> glad you had a good time.<P> will be heading up to riverbend in a month

[bturck]

New Yankee: Yes the better half had a good time. It was her first time on the ice in about 20 years. She wanted to know when she can come back. She always enjoyed soft water fishing, so I wasn't suprised that she had a good time. Hope you are able to work something out and get back to the Pond. Ya the sleeper might be the answer, bring the kids, some games lots of chips and hot dogs who knows. I don't think Glenn has any sleepers out of Riverbend, not totally sure but have never heard him talk about them. I'm headed back on 2/26 so now its just count the days and watch the calendar, and chase crappies locally.<P>BobD: No matter what the bucket count ended up it was still a great time. I get a real kick out of taking someone up who has never been there before. We had a great fish fry on Monday night thanks to Ken at Riverbend and brought back enough for some nice frys here as well. We introduced one of the new guys to deep fryed and boiled pout, he thought it was great stuff. I've always said a mediocare day on the ice is better than a fantastic day in the office hhheeeee. Good luck and hang on. Bill