After a very late start we parked at the top of the hill around 1030am and drove the sled down to grab some minnows. Definitely no shortage of minnows in their tank.
Ice is great for machines and walking.
Water is clear with no noticeable current.
First spot was straight towards Bait Island a few hundred yards past the pack with only a few guys out farther. Small schools would arrive and stick around for a couple minutes before taking off.
Moved back towards shore and maybe 100 yards from the brown huts where the action was better.
Fish were very aggressive until 4pm when they stopped rushing baits and started showing little interest. Used the same lure (2" jigging spoon with dropper chain) and pickerel rigs (modded with spinner blades for flash) all day with no reason to switch until the end.
Size of minnows made zero difference today with 1-3" all working great.
Me and the 5 year old brought home 30 fish ranging 9-12" with easily that many dinks released and dozens of keepers missed, lost or dropped back down the hole. Not bad for 5 hrs of fishing.
Now the bad part of the day...3 dead mud puppies and trying to explain senseless killing to a 5 year old. Why the hell do some feel the need to kill incidental catches and toss them on the ice? Does losing a 15 cent minnow and 15 seconds of time really justify killing a native species that takes so long to mature? As the 5 year old put it....those guys are jerks.
Ill post more details and pics tomorrow.
Ice is great for machines and walking.
Water is clear with no noticeable current.
First spot was straight towards Bait Island a few hundred yards past the pack with only a few guys out farther. Small schools would arrive and stick around for a couple minutes before taking off.
Moved back towards shore and maybe 100 yards from the brown huts where the action was better.
Fish were very aggressive until 4pm when they stopped rushing baits and started showing little interest. Used the same lure (2" jigging spoon with dropper chain) and pickerel rigs (modded with spinner blades for flash) all day with no reason to switch until the end.
Size of minnows made zero difference today with 1-3" all working great.
Me and the 5 year old brought home 30 fish ranging 9-12" with easily that many dinks released and dozens of keepers missed, lost or dropped back down the hole. Not bad for 5 hrs of fishing.
Now the bad part of the day...3 dead mud puppies and trying to explain senseless killing to a 5 year old. Why the hell do some feel the need to kill incidental catches and toss them on the ice? Does losing a 15 cent minnow and 15 seconds of time really justify killing a native species that takes so long to mature? As the 5 year old put it....those guys are jerks.
Ill post more details and pics tomorrow.
looking forward to the photos 
