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I hope everyone did better than me this last weekend, I didn’t get out on a real trip,(load up take the sled, tent and gear type trip) just short Cutler attempts but it was not good for me. I got two nice crappie Friday AM and then Skunked Saturday and Monday AM in my good spots. I did get a couple 7” crappie yesterday afternoon and a couple Sunfish but I fished hard to get them. I was really afraid I’d lost any mojo I may have had. Hoping for a better trip next time. Later J
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Jeff you did a lot better than me I got skunked Saturday swimming in Richfield with my kids lol and yesterday I was getting boat ready and figuring what I had and needed to get. I did order a new rod for my birthday so is a plus, but without fishing you faired a lot better. But I wished you could of done better.
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I think you've got plenty of mojo. In fact its probably oozing from you!!!!! Haha! Alicia and i have been out on Strawberry and Flaming Gorge and haven't done real well. A couple of fish each time. In fact I took my son out on Chicken Creek east and I almost swore off ice fishing. But then someone must have heard my prayers (or whining) and blessed me with a flurry of 3 fish. Got the juices flowing again. We went out this Monday on Strawberry by the marina and caught 2. One for Alicia and one for me. A bit disappointing but I got to tell you, just to get out and see the beauty of our mountains and lakes makes every trip worth it whether I'm just fishing or actually catching a few. Now I'm trying to convince her we need a Snowdog to get us to some more remote places. Guess I got lucky and married the best fishing partner a guy could get. All I gotta say is keep fishing and the world will make sense again.
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Hey thanks, but I think it was so slow I was starting to mentally go over what I need to do to get my toon ready for softwater... Probably would have been better to have been in the shop trying to make those ideas work... I'm trying to figure out how to put a console in my toon that I can mount my MarCum on for summer fish finding... I really like using that finder for jigging fish underneath me... at least when I'm on deep enough water to need a finder... Guess I usually use the toon on Cutler after the catfish and a finder doesn't do much in 2-3' deep water...
Well good luck with that new boat, I'll bet you'll have a lot of fun with that and your kids this summer... Always a lot to do, to get them legal and sea worthy...
I suspect in a week or two this winter thing will clear up and we'll be into spring in a hurry... After the midwinter lulls that I had last weekend I might even be hoping for spring... Later J
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[quote SkunkedAgain]I suspect in a week or two this winter thing will clear up and we'll be into spring in a hurry.[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Bite your
Jeff. I'm a long way from being done with the ice.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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Bob Hicks, from Utah
I'm 81 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
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Hey Jeff, I haven't heard many reports of good fishing for a while. Does this happen every year at this time? I still have a few (dozen) goals to meet in the contest and am beginning to wonder if I will have a good chance to do so the way things are.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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I should have clarified that better, the stuff you fish should be good till April, but our low elevation lakes may be close to the end. The place I’ve been fishing was down to 5” this weekend and 4” were cloudy mushy ice. Willard is almost clear of ice, it’s coming too quickly for us ice guys. Always ends too fast once it starts. I imagine two weeks will be about it on the close ponds. Hope I’m wrong. Later J
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Hey Craig,
Yes we tend to hit the mid-season lulls every year and it doesn't necessarily mean you won't have a good day, but it's usually harder to do well as the season rolls on. There will be a few days that turn out great, but most of the time the fishing won't be as good as it was on early ice... Usually about the time it starts to slow down and you start to wonder if you should go or not, the ice clears... I almost always lose the ice before I lose interest in fishing, but I do wander more this time of the season... Hope you can get your goals, but I'd get busy on them, the window is closing quick... Good luck.. J
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Hey Jim,
Yup I have to use my days now, because summer does the turn around on me and I don't get to fish much then... But always a good idea to get chores out of the way so fish'en time is available when needed... Hope you get on the pond soon... Later J
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[quote catchinon]Hey Jeff, I haven't heard many reports of good fishing for a while. Does this happen every year at this time? I still have a few (dozen) goals to meet in the contest and am beginning to wonder if I will have a good chance to do so the way things are.[/quote]
[#0000FF]This is the time of year when desperate ice anglers show a lot more enthusiasm than their quarry. And it's not just because the fish are all moody females. Well, maybe some of them. Big female perch especially. As their body cavities swell with ripening eggs...for their early spawn...they do not eat as much or as often.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Another factor is oxygen. Once snow covered ice shuts off the sunlight, aquatic plants either die off or at least quit producing oxygen. When algae and other aquatic growth dies under the ice, the process of decomposition further degrades water quality and fish metabolism drops in the poorer water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Some lakes are already receiving a bit of oxygenated runoff. Besides making hazardous edges on the ice that does improve the water quality. So if you find those conditions you can sometimes find decent fishing...but usually in shallower water or higher up in the water column in deeper water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I'm surprised that everybody keeps going deeper when sometimes the fish are moving shallower. Perch can be an exception. But never say never.[/#0000FF]
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Pat, I really appreciate the explanation. That makes sense and I’ll be trying your tips to help out my next trip. Thank you. Jeff
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