First day on the ice - Birch Lake!

[Steve Foss]

Ten FOW, temp at or above freezing, cloudy, light east wind. Rain started after noon.

Fished from 9 to 4 p.m., with tip-ups from 9 to 2:30 and for 'eyes after that. Rain got me nervous, so I left before the walleyes started hitting. Four or five inches of great ice until the rain and warm hit.

Had 28 flags, all on dead cisco suspended a couple feet above bottom. Landed 15 pike, from 21 to 32 inches. Four at 30 inches or better. Only four fish were below the slot limit. Brought home three for pike fingers. Mmmmmm.

Great way to start the seaoson, and as I was coming off the ice towing the Trap, with visibility down from the rain, I happened to look up and saw a wolf about 500 yards off working over an area where four or five guys had been using tip-ups all day. I worked my way toward it and spent about half an hour from 200 yards away watching it forage around for cisco or pike scraps.

[northernnels]

STF Catfish! Did you have a camera? That would have been fun to see.

[Steve Foss]

Yeah I did, but it was too dark.