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North Metro Area:
3/2/10-3/8/10
Although the warm weather made it comfortable out on the ice, we had to work a little
harder to catch our fish. We started the week in the same, shallow-focused areas where
we found our fish last week... however, they threw a curveball at us and we found that
they slide out on the first break in 10-14 feet of water. The shallow bite still held a few
fish, but the schools moved out a ways and the action was more consistent where the
school decided to anchor.
We continued to pick fish up on 1-inch Gulp! Alive minnows, as well as Little-Atom Micro
Nuggies and other forms of plastics. The plastic bite continues to be the top producer,
although we had a few groups out landing fish on Euro larvae. Some crappies teetered
into the 12-inch range...
As the week developed we found our fish relocating into the shallows and both the
crappies and gills were in full force. The perch also decided to join the party and were
more than eager to take the cake. They were the aggressors by far, but it took some
sorting to find the larger fish. The gills up in the shallows were of larger size and kept our
attention.
The downside of the week was the diminishing ice conditions. The recent warm weather
and rain has sure taken its toll on our Metro Area ice. Shorelines and accesses are
beginning to really wear down and the days of truck traffic might be over. Please USE
EXTREME CAUTION when venturing out on the ice from here on out. Don't risk it and if
need be don't be afraid to use your legs and just walk out to your spot. Reports of
trucks breaking through the ice are beginning to trickle in, so don't add your name to
that list of statistics.
Otherwise the bite this upcoming week should be great, so go out there and get 'em!
North Metro Area:
2/23/10-3/1/10
The bite is progressively picking up. With the warmer weather we're so more and more
fish relocating into the shallows and in some lakes they are definitely putting the
feedbags on! Stay moving and don't settle for inactive fish... the aggressive ones are
there!
Made it out early one morning late in the week and fished from 5-7am. Worked the same
area I did last week and managed a couple decent crappies. Largest being just under
13-inches. The bite is finicky but a few aggressive fish slide through from time to time.
Tried hole hopping but it seemed as if staying put was the ticket. The biggest fish came
on a 1-inch Gulp! Alive minnow in Chart Shad...
Always nice when you get to the lake at 5am and it's already mid 20's for temps :)
Should be a great week out there!
North Metro Area:
2/22/10
I went back out there again early this morning and landed a couple other nice fish, but
nothing as big as yesterday. Managed a couple in the 12-inch range and everything else
was small. Caught a lot more fish today, but I'm starting to fear that the dinks are moving
in and this bite might be done. Not gonna get a chance to get back out there for a few
days. Here's one from today...
These fish were again very finicky. Small size 10 or 12 jigs tipped with plastic. Gulp! Alive
continues to take the cake. The wierd part about today was that the larger fish were
below the suspended ones. Both of the 12-inchers came right on the bottom while the
ones up high were all under 9-inches. A typical sunfish behavior but transposed onto the
crappies during this scene.
Going to try and get out there again later this week. I will report back...
North Metro Area:
2/21/10
Went back out early this morning to the "stunted" panfish lake to see if yesterday's catch
was a fluke or not. Punched my first hole around 5:30am and started out over the same
area where we caught the better fish yeaterday. Right smack-dab at 9 feet with short
weeds on the bottom... very close to shallow water. Didn't mark a fish for about 15
minutes and then this one came through...
A nice healthy barely under 14-inch crappie. Caught it on a Northland Tackle size 10 Mud
Bug in the Woodtick pattern tipped with a Gulp! Alive blood red Fish Fry. Also used a fly
reel on a 26-inch Quiverstick set-up. Very finicky fish and I'm a believer that the no-twist
from the fly reel helped seal the deal.
Ended up catching a few others but nothing as big. Left the lake around 7am with a
sense of comfort knowing I have a lake close to home that indeed holds some larger fish.
I wrote an article on "Backyard Ice Fishing - Metro Area Lakes" just a few months ago... I
guess I decided to listen to myself for once and actually try a lake right in my backyard.
How long this bite will last, I don't know, but I'm sure going to give it a few more tries
this week to see if I can stay on them... I'll keep you posted...
North Metro Area:
2/20/10
What a day to be on the ice! Definitely puts a smile on your face when you start the
truck at 6am and it's already 15 degrees out :)
We started the morning in search of a few shallow water crappies in the North Metro
Area... and by shallow water I mean less than 5 feet. Objective was to pick off cruising
fish while they roamed the dirty water. Managed to land 5 decent fish between 11-12
inches and missed another half-dozen or so. It was a tough bite we got our feet wet for
the day. Caught all of the fish on Berkley Gulp! Alive Fish Fry on a Northland Tackle Mud
Bug...
Onto lake two... this time it was a deeper bite, in say 12-15 feet. We were targeting
sunfish and stumbled acrossed a couple pods but nothing of any size. Punched roughly
25-30 holes over three different spots and realized this is was not the "lake of the day."
The gear went back in the truck and off we went...
The final lake of the day is and has been considered by most to be a "stunted" panfish
lake. This lake was closer to home so we figured it would be a good one to end the day
at. We started out over the mainlake basin in search of both crappies and sunfish. 19
feet of water and the fish were EVERYWHERE!!! Only problem... the stunted fish were in
full force. Now beginning to believe the rumors of this lake being only full of stunted fish.
We decided to move up shallower so the Strikemaster Solo got put to work and a
barrage of holes took place. We worked our way up into about 8-10 feet of water and
found a nice pod of crappies up in the weeds over untouched territory. Biggest was 12.5
inches which took big fish for the day...
We managed a few other fish in the 10-inch range and of course a bunch of dinks mixed
in too. Had to hole hop to catch the larger fish and once you caught a fish out of a hole
all the runts would show up... so you had one shot at the alpha per hole and that was it.
A wierd bite but a lot of fun!
Caught our fish on a variety of presentations... Northland Tackle Mud Bugs and Gill
Getters, JR's Tackle Pannie Pills, Custom Jigs and Spins Ratsos, Berkley Gulp! Alive Waxies
and 1-inch Minnows... the list goes on and on...
Moral of the day: Move, move and move some more... even if it means moving to a new
lake. Then when you get onto a new lake don't be afraid to beat it up and hit several
different spots. My back and shoulders are sore from punching holes but I found a new
pattern on a lake close to home that I know I'll be spending some more time on :)
Enjoy the rest of this warm weather and good luck out there!
3/2/10-3/8/10
Although the warm weather made it comfortable out on the ice, we had to work a little
harder to catch our fish. We started the week in the same, shallow-focused areas where
we found our fish last week... however, they threw a curveball at us and we found that
they slide out on the first break in 10-14 feet of water. The shallow bite still held a few
fish, but the schools moved out a ways and the action was more consistent where the
school decided to anchor.
We continued to pick fish up on 1-inch Gulp! Alive minnows, as well as Little-Atom Micro
Nuggies and other forms of plastics. The plastic bite continues to be the top producer,
although we had a few groups out landing fish on Euro larvae. Some crappies teetered
into the 12-inch range...
As the week developed we found our fish relocating into the shallows and both the
crappies and gills were in full force. The perch also decided to join the party and were
more than eager to take the cake. They were the aggressors by far, but it took some
sorting to find the larger fish. The gills up in the shallows were of larger size and kept our
attention.
The downside of the week was the diminishing ice conditions. The recent warm weather
and rain has sure taken its toll on our Metro Area ice. Shorelines and accesses are
beginning to really wear down and the days of truck traffic might be over. Please USE
EXTREME CAUTION when venturing out on the ice from here on out. Don't risk it and if
need be don't be afraid to use your legs and just walk out to your spot. Reports of
trucks breaking through the ice are beginning to trickle in, so don't add your name to
that list of statistics.
Otherwise the bite this upcoming week should be great, so go out there and get 'em!
North Metro Area:
2/23/10-3/1/10
The bite is progressively picking up. With the warmer weather we're so more and more
fish relocating into the shallows and in some lakes they are definitely putting the
feedbags on! Stay moving and don't settle for inactive fish... the aggressive ones are
there!
Made it out early one morning late in the week and fished from 5-7am. Worked the same
area I did last week and managed a couple decent crappies. Largest being just under
13-inches. The bite is finicky but a few aggressive fish slide through from time to time.
Tried hole hopping but it seemed as if staying put was the ticket. The biggest fish came
on a 1-inch Gulp! Alive minnow in Chart Shad...
Always nice when you get to the lake at 5am and it's already mid 20's for temps :)
Should be a great week out there!
North Metro Area:
2/22/10
I went back out there again early this morning and landed a couple other nice fish, but
nothing as big as yesterday. Managed a couple in the 12-inch range and everything else
was small. Caught a lot more fish today, but I'm starting to fear that the dinks are moving
in and this bite might be done. Not gonna get a chance to get back out there for a few
days. Here's one from today...
These fish were again very finicky. Small size 10 or 12 jigs tipped with plastic. Gulp! Alive
continues to take the cake. The wierd part about today was that the larger fish were
below the suspended ones. Both of the 12-inchers came right on the bottom while the
ones up high were all under 9-inches. A typical sunfish behavior but transposed onto the
crappies during this scene.
Going to try and get out there again later this week. I will report back...
North Metro Area:
2/21/10
Went back out early this morning to the "stunted" panfish lake to see if yesterday's catch
was a fluke or not. Punched my first hole around 5:30am and started out over the same
area where we caught the better fish yeaterday. Right smack-dab at 9 feet with short
weeds on the bottom... very close to shallow water. Didn't mark a fish for about 15
minutes and then this one came through...
A nice healthy barely under 14-inch crappie. Caught it on a Northland Tackle size 10 Mud
Bug in the Woodtick pattern tipped with a Gulp! Alive blood red Fish Fry. Also used a fly
reel on a 26-inch Quiverstick set-up. Very finicky fish and I'm a believer that the no-twist
from the fly reel helped seal the deal.
Ended up catching a few others but nothing as big. Left the lake around 7am with a
sense of comfort knowing I have a lake close to home that indeed holds some larger fish.
I wrote an article on "Backyard Ice Fishing - Metro Area Lakes" just a few months ago... I
guess I decided to listen to myself for once and actually try a lake right in my backyard.
How long this bite will last, I don't know, but I'm sure going to give it a few more tries
this week to see if I can stay on them... I'll keep you posted...
North Metro Area:
2/20/10
What a day to be on the ice! Definitely puts a smile on your face when you start the
truck at 6am and it's already 15 degrees out :)
We started the morning in search of a few shallow water crappies in the North Metro
Area... and by shallow water I mean less than 5 feet. Objective was to pick off cruising
fish while they roamed the dirty water. Managed to land 5 decent fish between 11-12
inches and missed another half-dozen or so. It was a tough bite we got our feet wet for
the day. Caught all of the fish on Berkley Gulp! Alive Fish Fry on a Northland Tackle Mud
Bug...
Onto lake two... this time it was a deeper bite, in say 12-15 feet. We were targeting
sunfish and stumbled acrossed a couple pods but nothing of any size. Punched roughly
25-30 holes over three different spots and realized this is was not the "lake of the day."
The gear went back in the truck and off we went...
The final lake of the day is and has been considered by most to be a "stunted" panfish
lake. This lake was closer to home so we figured it would be a good one to end the day
at. We started out over the mainlake basin in search of both crappies and sunfish. 19
feet of water and the fish were EVERYWHERE!!! Only problem... the stunted fish were in
full force. Now beginning to believe the rumors of this lake being only full of stunted fish.
We decided to move up shallower so the Strikemaster Solo got put to work and a
barrage of holes took place. We worked our way up into about 8-10 feet of water and
found a nice pod of crappies up in the weeds over untouched territory. Biggest was 12.5
inches which took big fish for the day...
We managed a few other fish in the 10-inch range and of course a bunch of dinks mixed
in too. Had to hole hop to catch the larger fish and once you caught a fish out of a hole
all the runts would show up... so you had one shot at the alpha per hole and that was it.
A wierd bite but a lot of fun!
Caught our fish on a variety of presentations... Northland Tackle Mud Bugs and Gill
Getters, JR's Tackle Pannie Pills, Custom Jigs and Spins Ratsos, Berkley Gulp! Alive Waxies
and 1-inch Minnows... the list goes on and on...
Moral of the day: Move, move and move some more... even if it means moving to a new
lake. Then when you get onto a new lake don't be afraid to beat it up and hit several
different spots. My back and shoulders are sore from punching holes but I found a new
pattern on a lake close to home that I know I'll be spending some more time on :)
Enjoy the rest of this warm weather and good luck out there!
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