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It was a slow fishing-lite-biting kind of day, but we enjoyed ourselves and the company of two (retired) friends – Steve and Lindsey. No skunks were found, so that was good!
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Started fishing about 8am on 14-16 FOW, near the bottom. First fish at 830 (a trout caught by Steve) had us thinking it may be a pretty good day. It turned out there were no other takers. So by 930 we moved to another location/ but about the same depth – leaving Steve to continue fishing that area since he was still getting a few nibbles. After 30 min with no takers and marking no fish, we moved again. Lindsey set up in about 9 FOW and we chose the same FOW a short distance away. Lindsey iced a nice a perch. Steve then arrived near Lindsey and got set up, soon he was entertaining some lite nibbles when one taker finally took hold and ran – Steve said it felt nicer and heavier (maybe a bass) but eventually it managed to break off his line so he spent some time getting it re-rigged up. We got set up in our area and after 1 hour (we sat at this spot a little longer to accommodate eating some lunch) – Lindsey (having now also iced a trout or two) said we should move over to where they were since they were marking (and sometimes catching ) some fish there. So we moved again. Jil soon had a small trout on the ice that she released to grow some more, then Jeff got a keeper trout, then a perch, then Jil got another keeper trout. Bait that saw the most action for us were Gizzy bugs (white or pink) and Ratsos (blue) all tipped with waxies – just up off the bottom. Ice was 6 ½ in and still froze to the edges, some standing water on the surface started showing up about noon and off and on there was just the slightest breeze.
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A great day with some great friends (no crowds helped too) – sure beats a day at the office!
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I'm glad you got into a few! When that bite is slow, it can be frustrating...so it helps to re-locate.
I tried it over there yesterday and got one lousy bite for all my troubles. My patience has all but left me, so I was out of there after two hours (and 10 drilled holes).
Maybe I'll try it again tomorrow. You know what they say: the fishing is always good; but it's the catching that sometimes give us fits.
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Sorry to here that. I thought for sure you'd get in to them.
Fishing, like golf, is not judged by one round only.
LT
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Dang, only one lousy bite? That's too bad, well mantua has been getting unusual pressure this winter. There's always a huge population of big blues, lmb and perch there but I discovered about 95 percent of the bigger fish won't take anything through the ice. There is a small window in the year when they lose caution, but I'm not posting when that is lol. It took decade or so to figure it out. The only way to figure out specific bodies of water is to go as often as possible. There was a time period I had enough time to go fishing every day to certain places and boy I uncovered a ton of weird patterns I never would have going once a week or once in a while. These are the kind of patterns only the cute fishing gal gets to see. lol. Or immediate family. But yeah the problem with mantua's fish is that boats sit on top of bluegill schools in summer catching and releasing hundreds and thousands of small blues. Those blues get educated and over the years by the time they get big, they won't eat anything that resembles a hook and bait. Same thing with perch. Bluegill are not as good at remembering as lmb, but they are plenty good at recall. Mantua offers plenty of reminders to them at all seasons. That's why everyone is having such a hard time and it seems there are no fish in the lake. There are plenty fish in most lakes, just not plenty of "uneducated" fish. They all have bachelors and master's if not phd's . In some waters almost all lmb are phd's where's in other waters they are less educated. I still would say mantua has the most gullible lmb in the state though. lol. Also the smartest bluegill in the state. lol. I watched perch ignored my bait as if it didn't exist without bothering to look at it. I think lmb in mantua are genetically dumb though….. they get lots of pressure from catch and release yet are still willing to bite readily.
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Congrats on a nice perch. We were having a day on Echo like that when nothing seemed too be biting. Dropped the Aqua view down and was surprised to see the bottom covered with perch. We would watch them come to a rat finke inhale it and blow it out like a jet. Your line would never move indicating a bite. We watched them inhale and then set the hook.it looked like.superman taking off and we covered the deck with perch. Just one more tool in the arsenal. Glad you had a nice day.
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We all had fish finders of various types, when we did mark a fish, we'd bring the bait right to it.... and it was rare that any would take it at all. There are many areas we still could have moved to but enjoyed the company of friends more than worrying about the catching too much. No full moon, but with the front coming/passing through we still got out not expecting to do too well with the pressure change. So we were not disappointed since our expectations weren't really high.
The perch was 10" - really hoped we catch a bass just once at least. Oh well.
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Not sure how you can easily get down to the water at Echo with all your gear. What area did you access the water? Any size to the perch? May have to put an Aqua view on our next Santa wish list (LOL) - for now though, think we'll try getting slip bobbers for days when they are biting so softly a spring bobber just isn't as effective.
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The fish were biting but just like the other post said about Echo they were spitting it out just as fast. This kind of bite turns you into a line watcher. The slightest twitch set the hook. Your rod tip will likely never move even with a spring bobber.
Another trick to use is when marking fish at the jig but no bite is to lift the jig ever so slightly looking for any twitch or slight movement in the rod tip. The lift is about a quarter inch. If no bite and the fish is still there lift it again. Worked Saturday for me.
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We tried to do as you suggested. We will just keep 'practicing' - or educating the fish (LOL) - at least we managed a nice dinner out of this trip.
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One last thing.This type of bite is here inline reels - think fly fishing reels - shine. No line coil like you get on spinning reels. Helps in bite detection and you can use smaller jigs. You want as straight a line as you can get without adding split shot/heavy jigs. And you are right it will take some practice but you'll get the hang of it.
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Stan,
I agree, went to the inline reel last year and upgraded again this year. It took a little practice, but after getting the hang of it, I won't go back to a spinning reel. I used a Black Betty, 1-1 ratio last year. I now have a Black Betty 6061. It has a smooth drag and works as well as any bait casting reel.
Went to Mantua on Sunday and did well away from the crowds in 14 FOW. Caught mainly Bluegill, but did manage to catch a couple of nice perch. The bite was light and difficult to detect. The catching was best in the afternoon after the wind picked up.
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Thanks Stan & Sir,
One of our reels is pretty messed up and we have a Bass Pro Shops gift card - maybe we'll need to see what options they may have for a replacement.
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]. From all reports, the fish are biting very light or the active fish were not where you were fishing. Was there a full moon[