Hanson's Report (Feb. 17-19)

[hanson]

Early Friday morning, I was watching KARE11 to try and get a weather report when Jonathon Yuhas came on to say today would be the coldest day in over two years. Guess what, I'm packing to go ice fishing!

Being a native to northern Minnesota, I've experienced my fair share of -20, -30, and -40 degree days so this was going to be nothing new to me. However, when it is -20 outside with a stiff northwest wind, being mobile while icefishing is completely out of the picture. So mother nature through us a big curveball and we were going to make the best of it.

My fishing partners for the weekend were FishingMinnesota ProStaff Joel Nelson and his dad Francis. I struck a deal with Joel over a year ago to take me turkey hunting and I was going to return the favor with an Upper Red Lake crappie trip. It was going to be a tall order to repay the favor to Joel since I shot a 22 1/2lb gobbler three hours into our hunt. Crappie fishing isn't that easy, especially at -20 below.

Our plan upon arriving at URL was to split up, Joel & his dad would fish in the hardside house and I was going to go scout a few spots to see if I could find fish. I bundled up in every piece of cold weather gear I owned including my ski goggles and braved the cold.

We were out on Hillman's Rd and I found an area that was reasonably away from most people. The cold got to me after I augered 5 pairs of holes and had to set my Otter Den up. I made the rounds to all my holes checking depth and looking for fish with my LX-3. I marked fish in one set of holes and set up there. On my very first drop, that same mark on my screen rose 2' off the bottom and smacked my bait before I got my bail closed and I had crappie #1 on the ice. Crappie #2 & #3 were on the ice just as quickly.

Noticing that the crappies were acting very aggressively, I swiched up to using plastics only and managed to finish out my limit while losing 3 more fish near the hole. The reason for the switch to plastic was to be able to fish faster. I was marking 3-4 fish at a time on my Marcum and they were very aggressive. Not having to rebait after catching a fish would let me pull one more out of the school before they moved on. The crappies I ran into were cruising and they would come and go.

I made it back to the shack to see how Joel & Francis were doing and they hadn't caught a crappie yet. We gameplanned a little and decided to move the hardside in the morning to where I caught fish.

It was a good idea because Joel's dad landed this one not too long after making the move.

By the way, it was his first URL crappie. He's going to be hooked for life now.

About a half hour later, I pulled this beauty in and took a couple photos.

Custom Jigs & Spins Ratfinkee w/ a crappie minnow fooled this guy.

Are two daytime crappies an indicator of things to come? You bet! Just like the previous night, they started about the same time and were very aggressive once again. As the night progressed however, the aggressive bite disappeared and we were faced with many, many fish looking. When all was said and done, we had 29 crappies total and another 10 perch that were almost 10". Not too bad for -20 below! It was fun to spend the weekend with a couple more great guys! Joel is an awesome turkey hunter and a pretty darn good ice angler as well. Thanks for the fun you two!!

For those of you looking to get into some URL crappie fishing, I'm hosting the URL Slabfest 2006 out of Roger's Campground this upcoming weekend. Fun, Friends, & Fishing is what its all about. No contest, no entry fee, no pressure! Just a way to get together with fellow anglers!

Click Here For More Information on Slabfest - URL Slabfest 2006 Info

Click Here For Roll Call - Slabfest Roll Call

[Captain B.R.K]

Great report Hanson, this really has me excited about this weekend!

Glad you got Joel and his dad on some fish because the size of those crappies coming out of an ice hole still just has me eyes buggin' out.....THEY ARE HUGE!!

[SCONASOTAN]

hey great report, coming up this weekend and it is very encouraging. What type of plastics were you useing? COuld you get around off road with just a 4x4 pickup?

[hanson]

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What type of plastics were you useing?

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I just got my hands on some Little-Atom Nuggies, in particular the pink color last weekend. I'm just becoming familiar with Little-Atom but they have been in business for years and have some great products. Their plastics are scented which is quite different from other plastics on the market. I have no idea where L-A products are carried in Minnesota right now. Ordering off of their website Little Atom Website would be your best bet.

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COuld you get around off road with just a 4x4 pickup?

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Yep! Even pulled the drop axle shack off road. You just have to get through the plow banks and then you are good to go.

[Borch]

Great report Chris!

Good to see someone was on some active fish this weekend!

I tried giving you a buzz but the cold ate up my cell batteries. You guys had a lot better luck than we did. All though we did find a few Sunday night.

Way to go!