Needed to get outa the haze so headed to the Berry today with my dad. We arrived at 6:40 AM to fog and a brisk -16 degree's. It was a real snot freezer.....right to your face[unsure]! Tlspyder and his bro in law showed up shortly after and we were able to get one of two 4 wheelers running. So we were not able to go to the one place we had hoped to fish. We picked a closer location near the marina and shuttled out there. We drilled holes in 25-36 feet deep and caught some fish out of all of them. Used tubes mainly and caught fish on both minnows and mealy with no real favorite. It was not fast fishing by any means but my dad and I landed 13 between us and missed many others. Spyders Bro in law was on a roll for awhile and prob had landed 10 fish by the time we left including one over the slot just as we left. Hopefully Spyder will post up so we know how they did after we left at 1:30. Once the sun came up it warmed up and I even took one jacket off but the car temp only read 5 degree's when we were leaving. There is a good 18+ inches of ice with 4-6 inches of crusty powder on the ice. Perfect for sleds or wheelers and a little challenging for walking too far.
Spyder thanks for the taxi shuttle service this morning. It was great to get to fish a new area and get to fish with you and Matt again. Hopefully you got the skunk off in the afternoon....[pirate]
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Too bad its still slow fishing at the berry. Its that time of year when you have to get away from the heavily fished areas. How did your fish finder hold up in them cold temps.
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Like Bigcat said the -16 start for the day was a little cold but with no wind wasn't too bad. The fishing was great but the catching was something else. My brother ended up with either 16 or 18 and I never caught a thing until after taking Bigcat and his dad back to the truck. About two the fish moved in and I caught 2 real quick and then nothing like the rest of the day for me.[crazy] Not even a bite. My brother picked up another 4 or five between 2 and 3:30 when we left. The worst part was my brother pulling out a 23 1/4 hog out of MY hole while I ran people to the truck. O well made his day.
Could go anywhere you wanted on the 4wheeler just had to take your time in a few places where it has drifted.
Thanks again for a good day fishing Bigcat.
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That sounds mighty cold! This time of year that cold air gets trapped in that little valley and man it is evil in the AM! I've gotten frostbite on my face before in that kind of cold! Thanks for the report.
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MGB,
Things have definetly slowed down. Not sure where the majority of the fish have gone or if they just have lock jaw. I saw plenty on the finder that came by for a look but no hit. I changed jigs and bait alot hoping to find the magic combo but kept going back to the white tube jig with minnow chunk.
No problems with the FF. I keep it in the car for traveling and I threw 2 hot packs in the cooler for transport on the ice and then as soon as I pull it out of the cooler I turn the backlight on high. It did just fine. I didn't even turn the portable heater on yesterday cause it seemed to do fine. I did face the screen toward the sun to capture whatever heat it was putting out. So I was pleased with how it performed.
You heading up anytime soon? Would love to hook up with you and B4B again and catch a few!
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Spyder--Sounds like Matt had top fish honors for both biggest and most! I would have loved to see the 23 1/4 incher. Of course he gets it just after we left! Did you get a picture? I guess we were your bad luck and you got the skunk off once we left! LOL
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He took some pictures on the lake and then at my house with my kids to use up his film. When he gets them developed I'll post them to show people what happens when you do a good deed and take people back to their car.[
] Still can't believe on his first ice day at the berry he catches 3 keepers. One over the slot, one under the slot, and one rainbow. Guess he got a hat trick.
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Havn't made any plans to go as of yet but as the weekend gets closer I will most likely deside to fish the berry this Saturday. What about you?
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The hat trick! I like it- might be a good trend. That's impressive really. Not many people have trips where they catch all 3 like that. [cool]
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Hey Mike, if you hit the berry Saturday are you heading for the same spot I bumped into you and Kent?
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I would like to fish in that same area but if the snow is too deep it would be too much trouble hiking back up the hill. Hopefully it has been packed down if not I will go over to the marina. Are you going Saturday?
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Well a few people made that tec last weekend so there might be a a trail.
I'm not sure where I might end up this weekend, maybe the Berry. Been thinking I might give Mantua another shot or maybe Pineview,?? Want ta chase some Muskie?? LOL!!
I'll look for ya if its the Berry tho'.
You know where I want to head for the weekend but the damn W just keeps stirring things up.[mad]
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Some people have all the luck! Gotta love the hat trick! [sly] So do you get to take any credit for the big fish since you were out playing taxi driver and he caught it in your fishing hole?
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MGB,
I currently have plans to night fish on friday night but at this point they are pretty iffy. Saturday my wife has plenty of "fun things" planned for me unfortunately!
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I like fishing pineview in the spring, summer and fall but I have never cared to ice fish it. I never have cared to go after perch and muskie threw the ice can be sloooow. I live 10 minutes from there and would rather drive 2 hours to strawberry or bear lake.
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He cut me no slack or credit for the slot cut he pulled in while I was drilling a new hole so there was no chance he was giving up the big one. It will always be the fish I helped him get when around family and friends though since it was bigger then the one I caught last spring. You can't let your little brother have a bigger fish if there is anyway to take some of the credit or put doubt on his ability to catch it himself.
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