12-09-2010, 11:56 AM
[quote wiperhunter2]Looks like all those fish were caught in the same spot Pat. Was it a finesse bite? From the looks of it they were stacked in the channel.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]That's what I meant to show by posting the pics I did. The fish are available and close. The wiper came on a minnow cast close to the ice edge as I was starting up the channel. By the time I netted it I was a few yards further out. The crappie was also pretty close to the edge of the ice. And there were some good schools of suspended fish all up and down the channel...inside the points.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, after the first hour, I could not get any more hits inside. So I followed the dredged channel straight out into the lake and worked along the edges and up onto the flats. Most bites came at about 15 feet deep...and there were lots of fish scattered both along the bottom and suspended.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tried throwing several different hardbaits and a variety of plastics...from small tubes to larger tubes, twisters and shad bodies. No hits on lures in the 35 degree water. The fish were simply not moving fast enough to chase even a slow moving plastic.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did get quite a few hits on minnows and a couple on whole crawlers dragged slowly on the bottom. But again, the bites were tentative...pop and drop. I let some fish play with the bait a long time before trying a hookset and still came up empty. The exception was the wiper. It did a "grab and go" and had the hook down deep. I had a couple of other "freight train" hits outside the channel but they dropped the bait quickly after picking it up and did not come back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suspect that some of the "inquiries" were from perch. I have caught them in the past while dragging minnows but usually only after letting them work on the bait for a while and then gulping it. Even a small perch can handle a pretty good sized minnow if you let them work on it a while. I have also caught a few crappies on minnows when they are more active and are feeding near the bottom. Not yesterday.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was a surprise to NOT catch any catfish yesterday. Almost always get a few on minnows, even right before iceup and right afterward. But, I did not go to the areas I usually do best for cats. I wanted more wipers and wallies. The kitties are always there.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]That's what I meant to show by posting the pics I did. The fish are available and close. The wiper came on a minnow cast close to the ice edge as I was starting up the channel. By the time I netted it I was a few yards further out. The crappie was also pretty close to the edge of the ice. And there were some good schools of suspended fish all up and down the channel...inside the points.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, after the first hour, I could not get any more hits inside. So I followed the dredged channel straight out into the lake and worked along the edges and up onto the flats. Most bites came at about 15 feet deep...and there were lots of fish scattered both along the bottom and suspended.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I tried throwing several different hardbaits and a variety of plastics...from small tubes to larger tubes, twisters and shad bodies. No hits on lures in the 35 degree water. The fish were simply not moving fast enough to chase even a slow moving plastic.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did get quite a few hits on minnows and a couple on whole crawlers dragged slowly on the bottom. But again, the bites were tentative...pop and drop. I let some fish play with the bait a long time before trying a hookset and still came up empty. The exception was the wiper. It did a "grab and go" and had the hook down deep. I had a couple of other "freight train" hits outside the channel but they dropped the bait quickly after picking it up and did not come back.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I suspect that some of the "inquiries" were from perch. I have caught them in the past while dragging minnows but usually only after letting them work on the bait for a while and then gulping it. Even a small perch can handle a pretty good sized minnow if you let them work on it a while. I have also caught a few crappies on minnows when they are more active and are feeding near the bottom. Not yesterday.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It was a surprise to NOT catch any catfish yesterday. Almost always get a few on minnows, even right before iceup and right afterward. But, I did not go to the areas I usually do best for cats. I wanted more wipers and wallies. The kitties are always there.[/#0000ff]
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