01-21-2011, 03:46 AM
If I had to guess, I'd say there's about 30 to 40 Thousand!
A friend and I made it over to Mill Meadow this morning and arrived to find great weather, a few fishermen and very willing Yellow Perch. The lake has been constantly rising so there is some thin ice around the edges but we didn't have any problem getting onto the ice. We did take our 8 foot long 2x8 board with us just in case there was a problem coming back in later in the day. It wasn't really a problem coming in, you just had to pick the right spot near the concrete boat ramp where the ice was solid.
We fished near the boat ramp and a little way toward the culvert under the road where the creek flows into the reservoir. I noticed the water had come up at least 4 or 5 feet since my last visit about two weeks ago. We fished in water between 16 and 21 feet deep and did well in all the areas we tried. We were using small ice jigs tipped with perch belly meat suspended about 8 inches below a shiny attractor such as a Kastmaster or Stinger spoon. The action was very fast and practically non-stop all day with only a few short periods of slower action.
I would estimate the two of us caught around 125 perch and a couple of brown trout today. I think we ended up taking about 35 fish (perch, no trout) home. We fished from 0930 until 1600. The ice is at least 14 inches thick and very noisy due to the expansion caused by the rising water.
Mill Meadow was featured recently on "Roughin It Outdoors" which starred BFT's own Pikeman99. I heard several other fishermen today mention that they saw the show last weekend so it has apparently generated some interest. There were about a dozen people on the ice today which is a few more than I've seen on a weekday.
Mill Meadow is a great place to take the family and let the kids fish where they can catch a bunch of tasty perch in a short time.
I believe the work on the dam which was postponed this year will resume next summer and the lake will be drained and we may see the end to this great panfish water. So get down there while the gettin's good.
[url "http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/?action=view¤t=IMG_1756.jpg"][/url]![[Image: IMG_1756-1.jpg?t=1295580913]](http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/IMG_1756-1.jpg?t=1295580913)
Most of the perch we kept were in the 8.5 to 10 inch range. Not jumbos like you may see elsewhere, but there's not many places where you can catch so many in a day. All in all a great day on a beautiful body of water away from the beaten path and the weather was fantastic!
Mike
[signature]
A friend and I made it over to Mill Meadow this morning and arrived to find great weather, a few fishermen and very willing Yellow Perch. The lake has been constantly rising so there is some thin ice around the edges but we didn't have any problem getting onto the ice. We did take our 8 foot long 2x8 board with us just in case there was a problem coming back in later in the day. It wasn't really a problem coming in, you just had to pick the right spot near the concrete boat ramp where the ice was solid.
We fished near the boat ramp and a little way toward the culvert under the road where the creek flows into the reservoir. I noticed the water had come up at least 4 or 5 feet since my last visit about two weeks ago. We fished in water between 16 and 21 feet deep and did well in all the areas we tried. We were using small ice jigs tipped with perch belly meat suspended about 8 inches below a shiny attractor such as a Kastmaster or Stinger spoon. The action was very fast and practically non-stop all day with only a few short periods of slower action.
I would estimate the two of us caught around 125 perch and a couple of brown trout today. I think we ended up taking about 35 fish (perch, no trout) home. We fished from 0930 until 1600. The ice is at least 14 inches thick and very noisy due to the expansion caused by the rising water.
Mill Meadow was featured recently on "Roughin It Outdoors" which starred BFT's own Pikeman99. I heard several other fishermen today mention that they saw the show last weekend so it has apparently generated some interest. There were about a dozen people on the ice today which is a few more than I've seen on a weekday.
Mill Meadow is a great place to take the family and let the kids fish where they can catch a bunch of tasty perch in a short time.
I believe the work on the dam which was postponed this year will resume next summer and the lake will be drained and we may see the end to this great panfish water. So get down there while the gettin's good.
[url "http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/?action=view¤t=IMG_1756.jpg"][/url]
Most of the perch we kept were in the 8.5 to 10 inch range. Not jumbos like you may see elsewhere, but there's not many places where you can catch so many in a day. All in all a great day on a beautiful body of water away from the beaten path and the weather was fantastic!
Mike
[signature]