Mantua 12/12

[EyLayo]

I rarely get away from work this time of year, but had an open date today.  I arranged to meet with JArner for an early morning run up to Mantua. I parked and tested the ice at the northwest corner.  It did not look good all along that side.  I walked out a little ways and was met with a lot of cracking underfoot.  I chickened out after going out about 15 to 20 ft.  Jim handed me his long handled crowbar and I walked back out.  I hit the ice twice and it went through. Pucker Moment!  I made a hasty retreat and we loaded our sleds back in the truck and parked down by the boat ramp.

Headed out with the masses and out past most of the others.  Drilled a few holes and started catching some dink perch.  Caught a few others that were nicer but nothing over 8".  Ice was about 5".  Move out further, nothing but dink perch for me. Jim can comment on his catches. 

We punched a few more holes, steadily moving northeast.  There were a few open spots here and there that we gave a wide berth.  The ice got thinner as we moved east.  The last spot we tried had 3.5" of ice.  Caught a few more perch and then had some marks that would not bite the perch eye or meat.  I switched over to spikes or wax worms thinking they might be gills.  Bingo, they were.  They liked either of those offerings.  I put 10 on the ice in about 1/2 hour. It wasn't fast, but it was steady. We were getting ready to go when the gills moved in and it was after noon, so we called it a day.

Love it when my perch eye gets rejected repeatedly. Usually a good sign the gills have moved in. Rarely do I get a gill on perch parts. Did you happen to notice any black parasites on the flesh of the bluegill after you filleted them?