01-12-2019, 07:12 PM
Finally had a chance to get out on the ice yesterday. Parked near Mud Creek and dragged our sleds behind snowmobiles over the ice about halfway to the marina area.
The ice was plenty thick but there were big patches of slush and some places of 12-14 inches of snow. I did not see any ATVs, and I don't think you'd make it 25 feet from the shore of Mud Creek. It really worked the snowmobiles in some areas. We found a few areas that only had an inch or two of snow (wind-swept) and had no slush at all. We set up shop on a big sheet of this shallow snow. The ice was great -- probably 9-10 inches of clear ice on the bottom and 4-5 inches of cloudy ice on top of that.
We set up the underwater camera and started watching the fish. They were traveling in groups of 2-4, and we'd see a group come by every 5-15 minutes. Most of the time they would brush by our rigs a few times, sometimes even lightly mouthing it, and setting the hook was definitely a trick. Interestingly, the fish were really interested in the camera. They'd bump it, push it around, put their face right up in it. I really wish it could record (it's a MarCum 485c). Maybe next time I'll record the screen with my phone.
It was a challenge getting them hooked, and we probably ended up with 7-8 nice slot cutt catch-and-releases but we saw many dozens of fish. Biggest we brought through the ice was just over 20".
https://youtu.be/ypd1tnMpCQs
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The ice was plenty thick but there were big patches of slush and some places of 12-14 inches of snow. I did not see any ATVs, and I don't think you'd make it 25 feet from the shore of Mud Creek. It really worked the snowmobiles in some areas. We found a few areas that only had an inch or two of snow (wind-swept) and had no slush at all. We set up shop on a big sheet of this shallow snow. The ice was great -- probably 9-10 inches of clear ice on the bottom and 4-5 inches of cloudy ice on top of that.
We set up the underwater camera and started watching the fish. They were traveling in groups of 2-4, and we'd see a group come by every 5-15 minutes. Most of the time they would brush by our rigs a few times, sometimes even lightly mouthing it, and setting the hook was definitely a trick. Interestingly, the fish were really interested in the camera. They'd bump it, push it around, put their face right up in it. I really wish it could record (it's a MarCum 485c). Maybe next time I'll record the screen with my phone.
It was a challenge getting them hooked, and we probably ended up with 7-8 nice slot cutt catch-and-releases but we saw many dozens of fish. Biggest we brought through the ice was just over 20".
https://youtu.be/ypd1tnMpCQs
[signature]