Did anyone hit Mantua today? Any info from today on ice conditions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Wanting to go there again.....haven't been yet though......I bet it's plenty hard again by tomorrow. Don't know how active those bass and gills are though. But it will get better.......just hope we can still park on the east side....lol.
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I am heading up in the am. I will report when i get home.
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Looks like I am finally going to be able to get up to Mantua this Friday. Did you have any luck finding the fish today or figuring out what they want? Any info you have would be great.
Thanks,
MantuaFanatic
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[cool]I don't know but I might be ice fishing it on Saturday a.m. I'm either going there or to Strawberry. Not sure which one yet, but wherever I go I'll post a report...
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Geoff, let me know if you do decide to head through Sardine Canyon...maybe I can meet you there again. I just may go out Friday and Saturday if I can get away with it! [
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Hey, just checking back in to see how Mantua went for you yesterday. I am still planning on heading out there Friday morning and I am hoping to get to where the fish are quicker and start out with what they want. If you have any tips I would appreciate the help.
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[cool]Right on, Derek! I really have the itch to catch some BIG slimers so I was leaning towards Strawberry this Saturday, but I'm going there on the 13 of January anyway for the ice party on "the other board," so I just may go to Mantua this Saturday. I'm kind of leaning that way now...I'll make a decision by Friday for sure...
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[cool]MantuaFanatic, I'm looking forward to your report from Friday. I heard a report the other day from there where a guy caught about 15 perch and one trout. That's about the best one I've heard yet this ice season. I haven't heard of anybody putting the hurt on the bluegill yet, but their in there. You just have to go find where they're schooled up right now. Hope you have a fishfinder and aren't afraid to move around til you find fish. The lake should have a lot safer ice conditions by this weekend, and I may be there Saturday. Still deciding between there and Strawberry...
As for "what they want," it's usually the same most years, you just have to find them first. Take small iceflies with you in Chartruese and white being the best colors usually, but orange and pink also work well. If there's a snow covering on the ice now, you also want to try those colors listed above but in GLOW colors will often give you an advantage in the low light conditions (which happens where there's more snow accumulation on the ice). Tip your jig with maggots, wax worms, or meal worms. Once you catch a perch, cut out it's eyeball and put that on your jighook and HANG ON!! Also, make sure you use a small ice bobber or a wire strike indicator so you can detect the tiny bites. They don't always slam your jig, so if you aren't using one of those things to detect the little bites, you probably are missing at least 50% of the bites and don't even know it. Hope this tips help you catch more fish there, but remember, the most important thing is FINDING the panfish first. The rest is easier from there...As TubeDude often says "you can't catch fish where they ain't." Also, keep the rod IN YOUR HANDS and you'll miss a lot less hooksets then if you just keep it on the ice all the time, and give it a good jigin once in a while too. Good luck to ya on Friday...
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Thanks for all of your help. i don't have a fish finder yet but I'll walk around until I find some people with fish finders and see how they are doing and then go from there. I have some sweet looking glow in the dark jigs I picked up from Cabela's last week so hopefully they will work for me. I'll post a report sometime Friday hopefully, if I can get access to the internet up there. Good luck to you as well.
Mantua Fanatic
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The ice at Mantua is just fine.... 4-5" of good clear ice. Pat is gonna post a report of our day, ao I'll wait for him to give the details.... he puts them much better than I. [
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Nice! when it starts getting around the 4"-5" mark, it makes me feel MUCH safer. I imagine by Friday it will be over 6".
I need to buy me a new ice scoop, and a couple rat finkee's, and then Mantua here I come!
Derek
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Didn't go. Changed my mind about 21st st. Headed up the canyon.
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