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2/5 Outing on Washington

mrwalleyee
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mrwalleyee Community Regular

mrwalleyee

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My4 year old son and I headed out to Washington a little after noon today. Too nice of a day to sit and home and help mom clean house grin.gif. Only my second time out this year down here. Had to pull him on the voyager the whole way blush.gif. I decided to try a spot that I hadn't fish for a couple of years that I had done well in the past. And it was one of those "away from the crowd" kind of places. I can't say that I have ever seen anyone ice fish this spot before and there was no evidence of any holes anywhere near where I was. Wasn't anyone closer than 300 yards. Nice and quiet, well except for my son.

I was fishing a nice drop from 5-12'. Then flattened out into a huge flat. I'm not sure that I would consider this a "shallow water spot", but it was definetely way shallower than I would normally be fishing this time of year.

Punched enough holes around the drop and out in the flat to locate some nice bottom. I found a transition area from soft to hard bottom, and it was right under a nice long snow drift which made it even better. Started out fishing the soft bottom, but quickly found that only smaller sunnies were holding there. I made a 10 yard move to the harder bottom and immediately found some nicer sunnies.

Nicholas had fun realing them in after I hooked them. He even caught 3 of the nicer sunnies that we kept all by himself jigging with only a spring bobber. Things slowed a littel so I moved again. Didn't find any better fish so I moved back to the honey hole about 2 pm. Sat there until 5.

I was surprised at the size of the sunnies out there this year. I have never gotten into the bulls like that out there. As a bonus, we also landed 3 nice crappies between 2 and 3pm that all went over 11". Kept those and 6 sunnies between 8.5 and 11". He got cold and hungry so we headed in. I would have liked to have seen if the crappies moved in, but it was better to leave while he was having fun so he would want to go again.

Top bait today was my go to jig. I white and black glow horizontal jig with 3 or 4 spikes on it. It is my confidence bait. Fish just can't seem to resist it's swimming action. Hooking percentage is also way up there with this type of jig for me.

It seemed like being a a snow drift made a huge difference for us today. Couldn't hardly get the fish to bit when we weren't on snow.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the guys that post there reports on here. I don't get to get out fishing as much as I used to, and reading these reports and tips helps me to narrow my search down quit a bit before I even drill a hole. And also the confidence to strike out on my own away from the crowds.

And boy, there is no meal as good as a fresh fish fry! Nicholas loves fresh fish laugh.gif. Thanks again guys, Later, Paul and Nicholas

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pikerliker Mentor

pikerliker

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Sounds like a great time mrwalleye! It's always nice when you find the spot away from the crowd! I did the same earlier this year (also on Washington) when a friend and me limited out on 10-11 inch crappies and there wasn't a house within 1/4 mile of us! Enjoy the fish, my kids and I love a fresh fish dinner too!

~piker

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Fish'n guy Proficient

Fish'n guy

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Nice report mrwalleyee!!!

Its always great to hear of getting the little guys on fish.

GOOD FISHIN!!!!!

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