Slabs And Bulls Through The Ice

Recently I have received emails from several people wondering about how to target panfish through the ice in northern Minnesota.  Rather than giving away GPS coordinates and hundreds of hours of labor in finding these northern gems, I thought I would share with everybody the approach that I use in finding the fish on lakes that I target. 

The first step for me is obviously printing out or purchasing the best quality lake map that I can come across.  Some of the computer chips will also have the lake maps for the larger lakes which works for the GPS, but not for all of them just yet.  I will then find out any information from anybody willing to share with me such as: local bait shops, Resorts, or other fisherman on the lake.  With any of the info that I obtain, I will then find places on the maps that look promising and prepare to drill many holes.  Crappies and Bluegills really tend to school up in the winter, and they are usually in one of two places.  In the weeds, or suspended over a deep hole.  I will usually locate the largest concentration of green weeds (a large bay or shoreline) with deep water nearby, and drill many holes ranging in all depths of the weeds.  I will at times drill as many as 50 to 100 holes before I even wet a line. 

Once I drill all the holes I usually fish them fairly quickly to find any active fish.  I start as shallow as possible and work my way to deeper water.  If I don't locate anything in the weeds, I continue to move out to the deep water and do the whole program all over again.  The only difference with the open water, is that I may not even fish until I graph anything in the holes that I have drilled.  Weeds may obstruct the vexilar's view, but in the open there is no mistaking those red lines that show up, and they are almost always suspended off the bottom which makes them easy to see.  Once a school is spotted, I fish them instantly and catch what I can before they move away.  Having all of the holes already pre drilled makes this part easy, because I will just move again until I find them.  More holes might be necessary to stay on the fish, but they don't usually move too far once you locate their area. 

It seems like a lot of holes at times, but I have found that on many lakes they will be in the shallower weeds early in the day, then move out and suspend in deeper water during midday, then head back to the shallows at night.  This may make your first holes good as gold right before dark, and you don't have any auger noise to spook them when they move shallow to feed. 

Every lake that I target for Bluegill and Crappie seem to give me a different pattern.  It takes a lot of patience, persistance and hard work to find them, but the rewards can be worth it.  Never rule out anything on any lake.  I have caught them in 2 feet of water on one lake and drove ten miles to another lake to catch them in 35 feet of water on the same day.  As a general rule they will be in the thickest bay of weeds or in the deepest water close by.  Hope this helps a little in your next journey on a new lake.  Fish On!

Ice Update

I ventured on a small lake near Bemidji last night and found the ice to be around 8 inches thick.  This morning I hit lake Bemidji and found about 5 - 6 inches which is more than enough for my equipment.  These cold tempurates will allow for vehicle travel in very short order at the rate the ice is thickening up.  I had mixed results the last two days of fishing.  Last night was horrible for myself.  I didn't get out in time, and the first time every year with all my equipment seems to be real interesting, so needless to say, most of the time on the water was spent getting my sunflower to work and the lantern, along with a few other necessary tools.  With all of the complications, it didn't help that a man decided to set his large permanent house ten feet from my honey hole and do all of his necessary first of the year tune ups on everything.  It really sounded like he was building his house right next to me.  In 12 feet of clear water, you can imagine the success.

This morning was slightly better even though I over slept and missed the morning bite.  I caught a couple of smaller walleyes, bbjp's and numerous northern pike.  The action was pretty steady, and really leads me to wonder what I may have caught if I wouldn't have shown up at 9:45 am.  I'll keep ya posted on future successes. 

Oh, Metro lakes are fishable with caution.  It sounds like MIlle Lacs locked up with fishing in the bays taking place.  Red lake and LOW are also starting to go in full force.  This weekend will most likely be in full swing for all resorts and fisherman throughout the majority of the state.  Good luck to all who venture out.  Fish On!

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Who's thinkin ice fishing??  With the recent cold snap that came through last night many of the lakes in the northern region of the state managed to cover themselves with that solid sheet of ice that we've all been looking for.  By the time this weekend rolls around I would have to assume that many lakes will have people crawling around on them.  Safe or not, you can bet there will be a few brave soldiers venturing out.  I'd say that I will be one of these few, but not sure that time will allow me to hit the ice just yet.  To my knowledge there is ice on all lakes in the bemidji area, Red lake, and LOW.  It will grow in thickness fast, so start planning your get aways now.  Early ice can be the hottest time of the year for all species, and it doesn't last long enough.  Check back soon, cuz I don't think I will be able to stay indoors for too long.  Fish On!!

Da Turdy Point Buck!!

The 2006 rifle season here in Minnesota is coming to a close yet again.  As always there were many great stories and jokes told.  Our group managed to harvest quite a few deer yet again this year, but with mixed results from each hunter.  The majority of the deer taken from our party of came from the first weekend of season.  We had 11 men in our hunting party this year.  On day one of the season we took 11 deer, followed by 3 more on day 2.  The remaineder of our group returned for weekend number two and bagged a couple more which gave us a total of 16.  We had 2 real nice 8 pointers and a couple of younger bucks ( no turdy pointers this year).  As always there were a few good ones that managed to get away, but hey, that's hunting.  Hopefully the ones that got away from our group found a safe hiding spot and can sport an even larger rack next year.  Way to go guys, especially Art and Mike for their dandy bucks!

On a side note, I have yet to fill my tag on a Minnesota buck, and am still going to be in pursuit in the coming months.  I have harvested 2 does out of the large northern herd to this point (1 by bow and arrow, and 1 by rifle), but have another week of rifle hunting in my zone and a few more weeks of bow hunting in the fridgid cold if I can get out.  Wih the liberal bag limits this year, I am allowed 3 more deer for the remainder of the season.  Thus far I have had 2 days in the woods with my rifle, and only a handfull with the bow, so if I can find the time I will definitely be in full pursuit.  Watch out deer, you're not in the clear yet!

Whitetail Buck Deers!!!!

Good luck to all who enter the woods this weekend in search of that trophy buck to put on the wall.  The numbers are extremely high again this year in all parts of the state, and there should be many to pick from.  I've got my sights on a 47 pointer this year(haha), so wish me luck.  Remember to be safe and shoot where they are....not where they were.  Hunton!!