Fishing Forum

My best advice is be careful. Ice that was good on Wednesday was bad and some places that were bad on Wed. had people on it. It is a very volitile place right now so be careful if you go out for the Sat. fishing.

I went with Steelfisher and three of my kids. We got there a little late as we started off by remembering the auger when we got to Ashton so we had to go back.

The fishing was fast from about 8:30-9:30AM. Then it cooled off. We ended with over 30 fish iced most of them cutts. The average size was probably 16-17", but we managed several over 20".

White paddle bugs and small ice jigs tipped with mealworm seemed to be the ticket.

Windriver
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my dad and i will be up there tomorrow. we were just wondering where you might have been fishing and what depth was the best for you.
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Thanks for the info. I hope I do not have to go in the water to get someone out of it. I am going up in the morning by myself and 3 year old from St Anthony. I have relatives that may come but I should have room for 1 more. Plan on being there all day.
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Take PFD's if your going on thin ice and really . . . children and thin ice? Scary.

Losing a child for the sake of fishing a week or two early seems like a crime.
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+1 to that. Just be extra careful if you are taking your kids. It gives me a sick feeling just thinking about the bad possibilities!
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My kids were wearing PFDs. The ice I was fishing was about 5" today and totally solid. Anyone who knows me knows my kids come first. We went back out today. Fished the morning bite and caught about 20. Today they wanted a jigged white paddle bug. Yesterday they wanted it dead sticked. Funny how things change. Probably won't make it back up for awhile. Good luck to everyone and stay safe out there.

Windriver
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Thanks for the report sounds like its getting beter by the moment[cool]
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I know you take extra precautions with your kids WR! I just want to make sure everyone it thinking along those lines!

5" will work!
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I always have a PFD and use when needed (kids to). I didn't venture where I wanted to just in case the Ice got thinner than the 5" and being alone. I found all the places I checked. Maybe next weekend. Landed 30 or so and broke 3 off on the same pole and jig even after peeling off 20' of line. Time to respool. All 4 colors of paddle bugs I used caught fish. White was the best last weekend but caught the least today which was odd. I noticed that the poles with 4 lb line seemed to catch a few more than the ones with 6 lb. Didn't have luck jigging but an occasional 6" lift helped every few min. When the wind kicked up and the pole tips were moving the bite slowed way down. Even a marabou jig didn't help.
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We also fished Saturday. Decided on the state park area. Windriver, was that you and your family in the blue clam shelter? We were in the green Eskimo pop-up.

We ended up icing close to 30 fish between 3 of us from 8:30 to 3:30. Nothing huge, mostly cutts 15-18 inches with a few around 20
inches. One 15 inch Brookie. Missed as many as we caught. Once we moved away from the crowd the action picked up. Pink maniac jigs with half a meal worm was by far the most successful. Early in the day jigging was the ticket but later dead sticking was better. Fun first day on the ice for the year. Tight lines.
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Yep, that was us in the blue shelter. I should have come over and talked to you. You were the ones with the jigger totters right?

I did better early before the crowd moved in on me as well. There wasn't much you could do about it. I put the ice house over a hole that was hot on Friday. We didn't catch anything in the ice house. I think the shadow in the shallow water scared them. 15ft away we did just fine. I guess that is what makes it fun always trying new things and looking around. Funny pink worked for you. I gave up on it after it didn't work on Wednesday or Friday.

Windriver
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I thought that might have been you. I think your success was what brought the crowd in. How deep was it where you were fishing? We were anywhere from 4-6 feet then when we moved over by Howard creek we caught fish in as little as 2 feet.

The jigger totters came in pretty handy, I love those things. My father in law also caught a few with his jaw jacker. Looked like you guys had several of those as well.

Looks like you have a great family, I hope one day I can share ice fishing with my kids like you do. Next time I will come visit with you!

Cole
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I'm going to try the jigger totters. There is a time and place for everything. On Friday the Jawjackers were great. I bet we hooked 30 of our 35 fish on Jawjackers.

We were fishing in 5-6 ft of water.

Hope to meet you on the ice again sometime.

Windriver
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