Had planned to fish with the wife on the holiday, but the weatherman told us not to. Unfortunatly I have not had a ton of faith in them through the last storms so I got up early and saw stars so we decided to go. We were the second group on the ice and the edges were not too good to start off. I am surprised that we did not sink a boot through getting off at 12:00 pm. We fished in 64' of water and did pretty well. A sonar is a must. I wish I had a new one to play with because it would have really paid off today. If you saw a fish on the screen and could get there fast enough they would generally hit. Later in the day the bite softened as did the ice, but they were still there. All fish came through between 8 and 50' with only a few at those extremities. The majority were between 15-25'. Used small white tube jigs and wax worms. I would take a plank up there if you were going to go up. I madethree or four shout-outs on the radio throughout the day but got no responses. Jake
side note, but MAIN NOTE: We had our first ultra sound last week and found out that we have a healthy BOY on the way!! Everything is going as planned and we are super excited!! The wife is 20 weeks along and I was a little worried with her going down that steep hill up there, but she did great and loved it!! She is the best!! Baby is due at the end of June. Hopefully all goes well and by August so he can go scout for some monster velvet with me!!
[signature]
I was up there yesterday also. Sorry, I don't carry any radios. I arrived with my boys, 7 and 5, at about 7:30. Was only two groups on the ice. I fished close to the buoys and immediately started catching fish. Was fishing in 31' of water and the fish were right on the bottom to start with. My boys outfished me though. My 5 year old caught a 15" incher and was sure pleased, then about 15 minutes later my 7 year old pulled in a 16". Those were the two biggest of the day. There were some fish coming through at about 15' and if you reeled up, they would usually bite, but not more than once. Green and pink were the best colors we found. Almost every fish that would come through would at least nip at the bait. At about 9:00 a group of teenagers, probably scouts came down onto the ice. They hooped and hollered and chased each other around and made quite a ruckus. The ice was only about 6" thick, with no snow on top. They made so much noise the fishing died right after they came. I felt sorry for the two guys fishing over by the hill where the boys were sledding. They ended up packing it up and leaving. I had a couple of the teenagers walk past me and I said "Hi", but neither one even said anything back. Only ended up with 9 fish for the day, but it was enough to keep the kids happy. Weather was great. I don't know how much longer the ice will last. Half of the lake is wide open.
[signature]
Sounds a lot like our trip on Sunday. Fishing was pretty steady all day. Glad to hear about your "bundle of joy". Congrats[cool][cool].. Sounds like the wife is a real keeper too. Any wife that would walk down a steep bank to catch fish while she's pregnant is a real troooper. Best wishes to the both of you..
[signature]
Bearclaw, I wanted to thank you on the good report. I think that we were close to the same area. Luckily for us we were away from all that noise. It is too bad because they sure looked like they were having fun. Jake
[signature]
Just to let you guys know that I had a buddy try and fish the same spot that we were at on Monday and he said it was open water!! I can't believe it!! There was 5-6 inches of ice there on Monday. Edges were tough, said it was his last time up there till ice off or colder weather. Be EXTRA careful. The two of them combined caught 3 and missed 2. Jake
[signature]
Anyone ever fish the creek right above mountain dell reservoir? I have heard there are some big fish in there. Anyone know?
Anthony
[signature]
My friend was up there yesterday and said the ice has receeded a little but that he was able to fish it. He said the ice we fished last weekend was pretty sketchy so he fished about 100yards to the south (up the arm). Said he had similar success to what we had on Sunday. As spring approaches we all need to be extra careful.
[signature]