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Fished the marina this morning in 18-20 feet of water. Got a little new snow last night (less than 2 inches). Some w... blowing all morning but not too cold. We arrived and started fishing at 7:15 and fished for 3.5 hours. The good news is that most of the slush layer has frozen and the powder has developed a crust down about 2-3 inches so walking and pulling a sled was so much easier than Saturday. I doubt it is solid enough for a wheeler though... I fished with cyclonejack and another friend. I pretty much got schooled today in my own fishing hole. CJ landed 14 and my other friend landed about 13 or 14. I only landed 8. So we landed over 35 fish between us. We also missed a lot of hits and lost some at the hole which were not counted in the fish total. All fish were cutts in the slot with the biggest one 20.5 inches. We also caught a cutt with a totally messed up mouth (he had two mouths). It looked just like the one that someone posted a picture of last week. Used foxee's, paddlebugs, and curlytailed jigs tipped with mealys or minnows. When one thing quit working we changed things up and would usually catch another fish or two. The fish seemed to be in schools again and we would catch a couple at a time and then nothing for 30 minutes. Not too many people fishing today (maybe 20 people total at the marina). They now have Mud Creek plowed down much farther than on saturday. Not sure how far but looks like all the way down to the bottom parking lot. It was another fantastic day at my favorite lake! Its hard to beat when you can consistently catch fish that size and plenty of them.
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Sounds like a good day. Good thing that slush layer is frozen. The only thing worse then slush is wind!
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Cowboy Up!
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Thanks for the report,I'm going up Wed.,have you heard how the roads are at Chicken creek east are?
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[green][size 2]Thats why its called "Heaven".[/size][/green]
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Fishcrazy-
I don't know about CCE road conditions. Some people on the board fished CCE (I think)on monday(jedburton, petty4life, thekillerbee, tomegun and others). Send one of them a PM for more info on CCE. I haven't fished it this year yet. Good luck tomorrow!
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While at "Heaven" today I saw a bright light and I had a strong feeling to go toward the light. At first I thought it might be Tomeguns artificial sun but it was a little brighter than 44,000 BTU's. As I went toward the light I was distracted by my fishing pole that was bouncing so I decided to hook and land another fish instead. After landing the fish I noticed the light had once again gone behind a cloud so I no longer had the urge to go toward it. So I continued fishing.....[cool]
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[green][size 2]Very funny, now I have another padawan! Where did you go at the marina? If I may ask.[/size][/green]
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You guys did good today. The early morning bite is the best,after about 11:00 the fish get real picky about what they we hit. Last Sunday they where coming threw in schools and there where many times you would see them on the sonar rise up to your jigg and then leave with out biting. Thats a good report about the ice/snow conditions, it was tough pulling a sled through that slush.
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Tomegun,
We were east of the marina and 18-22 feet deep.
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MGB
I know what you mean about the fish getting picky in the late morning and afternoon. On Saturday we didn't get there until 10 AM because of bad roads. We caught some fish from 10 until 12 and then it died. We put an aquaview camera down the hole and watch DOZENS of large cutts cruising by and showing no interest whatsoever in any of our bait offerings. Before that I always assumed that fish always ate when presented with the easy opportunity. I learned on that day that it is not true. They had no interest in eating. I remember in one of Tubedudes great sermons he talked about different "moods" if you will that fish are in. Sometimes they are very aggressive, sometime they are just opportunistic with the right conditions, and other times totally passive and not interested. He didn't use those exact words but ya get the point. Maybe the infamous one could enlighten us again.
I'm not sure if it is more frustrating not catching fish when you are not sure if there are any around or when you are not catching fish and you can see 2 or 3 of them swimming around your bait on the aquaview monitor..... The moral of the story.... Fish early and late at the Berry for best catching, the fishing is always good if you are with your buddies!
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[green][size 2]In a couple more weeks the mid day bite will happen. It seems while I was working last week all you folks ripped too many lips. I'm just gonna have to be more tickier than them. [/size][/green]
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey Bigcat, I don't do SERMONS. Dissertations, diatribes and downloads...but never "sermons".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think the three words describing fish modes are ACTIVE, NEUTRAL & INACTIVE. Those ain't my words. I borrowed 'em from the bass chasers. They seem to need more high-falutin' excuses than we mere mortals. Heck, I am content to blame a bad day on a full moon or empty water (didn't plant this week). But bassers are as bad as fly flingers about wantin' ta make everthang tecknickle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The concept is simple. Active fish are usually cruising around, looking for their next meal. Sometimes they are "looking down"...watching the bottom for creepy crawlies or minnows hiding in the weeds. Sometimes they cruise at a certain depth, either following a temperature line or staying at the same depth as their prey species. A good sonar will tell you that they are moving at at what depth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What a sonar won't tell you is whether "they have their mouths open" or not. It will not tell you whether they are actively feeding or whether they may be simply "working off a big meal" from the feeding period just before you stuck your transducer down the hole.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What a lot of people do not realize is that fish do not feed 24/7. In a system that has lots of food for them, they are likely to feed only for brief periods, until they get full. Then, they go into an "inactive" or "neutral" period until their hunger signal rings again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is generally accepted by those who study these attitudes, that fish will sometimes strike a bait or lure while in the "neutral" mode. If you present the right lure (or bait) in just the right place and in the right way, you can prompt an instinctive munch. The fishyologists call this a "reaction" bite. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fish sometimes act like cats who see a moving object and pounce on it whether they intend to eat it or not. At other times, especially during the spawn, while guarding nests, fish will smack anything that encroaches into their nest zone. That is most common with bass and other members of the sunfish family (like bluegills).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When fish are totally "inactive", they may simply lay on the bottom, not moving or feeding. They may also cruise aimlessly at some depth above the bottom, not responding to even the easiest food offering. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Inactive fish are often "glutted". Like humans, in the presence of a lot of food they will overeat. They don't have belts to loosen, so they just take a nap or swim around to work it off. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Other things can cause fish to become neutral or inactive. They do respond to pressure changes...like fronts moving through. Sometimes that stimulates them. Other times it shuts them down. In open water they are affected by rapid temperature changes...up or down. Under the ice, they slow down as the oxygen levels drop after months under the ice.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]While some species do not seem to be adversely affected by lots of overhead activity (ice fishermen), others are more sensitive. A hot early morning bite can drop off or shut off once there is a lot of commotion in the area. It is strange, for example, that walleye are very sensitive to noise but their smaller cousins, the perch, are seemingly attacted to groups of anglers drilling holes and making a ruckus. Not always though.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So, those are the words. Figuring out when is which and why is always the fun part. Is it science or is it art? Sonar is science...to help us at least know when we are amongst the fishies. The art is in figuring out what mode they are in and how to appeal to the fish. If you get it right, BINGO. If you don't, then your sonar will only let you know how many fish you DON'T catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]End of download. Return your eyeballs to their full open position.[/#0000ff]
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On my first two outings to Strawberry ice fishing, it seemed almost every time we saw fish on the finder we would get bites. If one came through up off of the bottom, reeling up to it almost always resulted in a bite. This past Friday it was very different. Rarely did five minutes go by that a fish wasn't showing on the fishfinder, and some schools of fish were aggressively biting; however, the majority of schools weren't interested. I reeled up to several fish, and didn't get a single bite for my effort.
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tomegun-
So when does the mid day bite start (you said in a few weeks)?? I usually don't fish it mid day and only hit it in the early AM til about 10:30 and then have also had good luck the last hour in the evening and a little after dark. Why do you think a mid day bite happens in a few weeks? Do the fish loose track of time because of lack of light when the ice gets too thick??? Just curious...
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The Infamous one has spoken. Amen Thanks Tubedude I knew I could count on you!
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Don't let Bigcat fool you, he would have had 30 himself but was too busy coaching me on the finer points of ice fishing.
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[green][size 2] Bigcat
I've seen over the years that once the roof solidifies the ice fishing becomes fast and furious for about a week to ten days. Espeically at the marina(it happens else where too). Like Tubedude said, they are trigger for various reasons and different times of day. Early in the season morning/dusk light changes might set them off. Later after it slows down, I've seen a 11-2 bite that defies reason. This happens right near the marina. It could be that minnow schools are active this time of day or something else.
It might they lose time. Them sundials probably don't work well under the ice. Morning storms, fog, later sun rising might all effect when the cafe opens for breakfast or brunch. When the sun sets behind the hills can also trigger the dinner bell too.
It sucks being sick when you're on vacation.
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