Hit scofield out of Madsen bay early this morning for the ice tournament. Tried to avoid the crowds by the dam and it not sure if it paid of or not. We started fishing at 7 am per tournament rules and caught a decent amount right from the get go. The ice was a solid 4-5 inches everywhere we went. Best I could tell the whole lake was hard deck, but I didn’t see people fishing the middle, just the sides. We caught mostly cuts with an occasional rainbow mixed in. We worked the west side of Madsen out about a mile, caught fish everywhere we put holes but it was definitely much slower after 10-11am. Weather was primo, very little wind and plenty of sunshine. The tournament was great, it added some excitement to the day with nice prizes for sure. I’d definitely recommend doing the strawberry one in January. Tube jigs tipped with meal worm seemed to catch the most but we did get a few on little swim baits and grub types tipped. Some nice fish were caught in the tournament, pretty much all trout species. I did see one tiny chub caught.
(12-16-2023, 11:41 PM)Fubarfishin Wrote: [ -> ]Hit scofield out of Madsen bay early this morning for the ice tournament. Tried to avoid the crowds by the dam and it not sure if it paid of or not. We started fishing at 7 am per tournament rules and caught a decent amount right from the get go. The ice was a solid 4-5 inches everywhere we went. Best I could tell the whole lake was hard deck, but I didn’t see people fishing the middle, just the sides. We caught mostly cuts with an occasional rainbow mixed in. We worked the west side of Madsen out about a mile, caught fish everywhere we put holes but it was definitely much slower after 10-11am. Weather was primo, very little wind and plenty of sunshine. The tournament was great, it added some excitement to the day with nice prizes for sure. I’d definitely recommend doing the strawberry one in January. Tube jigs tipped with meal worm seemed to catch the most but we did get a few on little swim baits and grub types tipped. Some nice fish were caught in the tournament, pretty much all trout species. I did see one tiny chub caught.
Thanks for that report, how much did it cost to be in the tournament? With that many people fishing there you would have thought more chubs would be caught, unless their numbers are down.
We're there any snow machines out on the ice when you were there?
(12-17-2023, 04:12 AM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (12-16-2023, 11:41 PM)Fubarfishin Wrote: [ -> ]Hit scofield out of Madsen bay early this morning for the ice tournament. Tried to avoid the crowds by the dam and it not sure if it paid of or not. We started fishing at 7 am per tournament rules and caught a decent amount right from the get go. The ice was a solid 4-5 inches everywhere we went. Best I could tell the whole lake was hard deck, but I didn’t see people fishing the middle, just the sides. We caught mostly cuts with an occasional rainbow mixed in. We worked the west side of Madsen out about a mile, caught fish everywhere we put holes but it was definitely much slower after 10-11am. Weather was primo, very little wind and plenty of sunshine. The tournament was great, it added some excitement to the day with nice prizes for sure. I’d definitely recommend doing the strawberry one in January. Tube jigs tipped with meal worm seemed to catch the most but we did get a few on little swim baits and grub types tipped. Some nice fish were caught in the tournament, pretty much all trout species. I did see one tiny chub caught.
Thanks for that report, how much did it cost to be in the tournament? With that many people fishing there you would have thought more chubs would be caught, unless their numbers are down.
$50, I would’ve thought more chub as well but no such luck.
(12-17-2023, 03:53 PM)Fisharefriends Wrote: [ -> ]We're there any snow machines out on the ice when you were there?
I saw a couple sled dogs but it didn’t seem anyone took them out really far. Thinnest ice I saw was 4 inches so should be machine worthy real soon.
Great report, gets me excided for ice season.