Headed out to Newton to chance the ice today with lavaman and Coyotespinner. We were able to get on and off no problem. Ice was 9-10 inches thick everywhere we were. We ended up catching four different species of fish - perch, crappie, bass, and bluegill. Yep - bluegill. Has anyone else out there caught one out of there? I took a pic if the first one. The colors in all of them were flushed out. Lavaman caught one that was 8 1/2 inches - the biggest bluegill I have personally seen through the ice this year. All in all it was a fun day on the ice. Hopefully we will be able to make a few more trips out there. Below is the pic of the first gill I caught. Maybe lavaman will reply with the pic he took of his gill.
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I did a drive by this morning there was I think 4 people fishing... Sounds like you did ok were you fishing the bottom or suspended?? Were you using a fish finder??? Do you know if those planks over by the two cars got left there?? I might go out in the morning wondering if I need to find me one or two planks?? Thanks for your info
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Well, those four people you saw were Lavaman, CoyoteSpinner, myself, and an older gentlemen we met there that was from Hyde Park. We were fishing off the bottom, but marking a few fish that were suspended. The planks by the truck and suv were mine. we would have been fine without them today, but I brought them just to be safe. The first 20 feet of ice is the thinnest. At the spot where we had the planks, after 20 feet, there was nothing to worry about. I would be interested in seeing what the ice is like there tomorrow. No worries, though, once you are on the lake. Good luck if you head out!
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Yup - we was them. The nice thing about getting on at that side - was the shore is shallow, so even if you stepped through on the way out - you're not going swimming. The bad thing was the mud-bog by midday. The "road" was goopy, soupy - but we managed. (just don't stop!)
I've heard tales of Channel Cats in there from days of old, but hard to know what survived the "low years". AND didn't get eaten by a Musky!
Silly me- one thing to forget the lawn-chair, quite another to show up in slippers! TG for the Mickey Boots still sitting in the back of my rig! Thinks I might have had a less comfy day w/o them!!!!
That's what I get for "half" packing up my ice-gear! (checklist!, yo!)
Ben will have to post that bluegill pic (if he so desires).
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