Alright, let's see if the fish want to bite...

[Matt Johnson]

I'm heading out somewhere in the area in about 20 minutes to see if I can't land a few fishies. Got a few hours to spare and I can't sit still. Might have to hop around a few different lakes before I find something I like. If you see a guy in a red vest with a blue coat stop by and say hi.

I think there are a few pannies with my name on them!

Tomorrow I plan on hitting the ice early, like 6am in search of pannies. Hopefully I can get an idea of where those little rascals are today so tomorrow will be more "catching" instead of searching...

[minnowhead]

Any luck? How was the ice? I want to venture out, but don't want to fall in. Saw quit a few people out at washinton, Saying the ice is between 3 and 4 inches.

[redrocketangler]

matt id like to get out and fish with ya maybe next weekend if your gonna be out around here i wanna ask your opinions on the structure on a string thing.

[Matt Johnson]

I won't be around next weekend, I'll be in Wisconsin, then I'll be heading back up to the cities for xmas. But possibly sometime in January?

[Matt Johnson]

Fishing was pretty good. Me and a buddy chased down pannies on a few different lakes. Caught quite a few sunfish, about a dozen crappies, some nice perch, and 6 largies. No pike, no 'eyes. Everything came on a size 8 or smaller.

I lost a crappie at the hole today that I swear would have pushed 14, talk about frustration! I had my chance at grabbing it but screwed up, it gave my one shake and out comes the hook. 3 inches of ice isn't much to work with when trying to keep a crappie from turning All the rest of the crappies were 10-12 inches, I was a little surprised to see that kind of average but nothing ceases to amaze me anymore with these southern MN lakes.

Some of the sunfish were nice size too, but nothing that reached 9 inches.

The perch are what surprised me the most though, some were close to ligit jumbos! We measured two that were just about 11.5 inches! My friend thought we were on Winni!

We fished anywhere from about 3-12 feet today, with a majority of our fishing in about 5-8 feet.

All in all we had a fun couple days down here. Not a whole lot of ice on some of the lakes. Most we found was about 5 inches. Francis had about 2-5 depending where you went. Madison and Washington were similar as well. Although we found a few spots on Washington that I wouldn't advise walking through until we get another cold snap. Only punched through about 2 inches on one spot that was pretty soft. The auger got a work out today too

Maybe I'll be able to hit the ice one night this week...

[minnowhead]

Thanks for the updates MATT. You are one great person, usally once fishing starts, nobody tells anybody about what is happening. I will give you the thumbs up.

[mymaro]

matt i live just south of the twin cities in cannon falls and fish a couple of local farm ponds alot i dont know if u have ever fished around here. would you be interested in maybe joining me and czl99 some time its an 18 acre lake. was out today 12/11 and caught at least 50 sunnys all were 8-10 inches 10 ta 15 of em in the 10-12 range

[Matt Johnson]

minnowhead,

No problem. Quite a few people out on some of the lakes today, looks like a lot of people have the itch

mymaro,

10-15 that were in the 10-12 inch range?!?! Where do I sign up? If those numbers are indeed correct, then I'm very interested and I'd be willing to take you up on that offer the first chance I get. Shoot me an e-mail if you're serious about chasing trophy-size gills and we can plan a trip...

[Matt Johnson]

redrocketangler,

Scratch that, Wisconsin trip just got postponed, I'll be in kato and I will be fishing

[redrocketangler]

Matt

gonna have to be in january im goin pheasant huntin this weekend in south dakota, my dad just informed me were doin a late season run. Im lookin forward to gettin on the ice with ya though maybe a FM get together in january is in order i think harvey had the same idea.

[Tyler Holm]

mymaro,

That sounds like an outstanding time. I've never been one to invite myself onto somebodies private body of water, but if you ever need anyone to hit the drink with, please let me know. I live in Rochester and would be super interested in incing even 1 gill over 10"

If your ever in the mood to head south to give the Rochester area a try, let me know. The Zumbro has been producing nice sunnies and the crappies should take off soon.

[Team Otter]

We'll be having a get-together in January. Stay tuned for details.