Mill Meadow 01-27-2011

[TopH2O]

Three friends and I fished Mill Meadow today from 0930 until 1600. We fished in the area of the boat ramp in water from 12 to 23 feet deep. Fishing was a little slower than we seen over the last several weeks. This could be due to high fishing pressure at the lake during the weekends. We did catch a decent number of 7 to 10 inch keepers and a few slimers. I would guess the four of us caught around 160-180 fish and I believe we brought about 45 home. We were the only ones fishing the area near the boat ramp. I think there were some others fishing at the north end of the lake but I didn't talk with them to see how they did. It was a beautiful day weatherwise and we saw a pair of bald eagles up close and personal. One of the eagles was trying to get a perch that was frozen into the ice about 50 yards from us. Quite a sight but I wasn't able to get any decent photos.
We were using small jigs under an attractor. We tipped the jigs with perch eyes or a small piece of perch belly meat.
Ice conditions are good with solid edges in the morning and a few soft spots near shore in the afternoon. The ice is at least 16 inches thick, so a power auger is almost a must if you're going to punch many holes. We had a long 2X8 with us but didn't really need it today. The lake is still rising and the edges may be soft on warm afternoons. Be careful and have fun.

Mike
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[utefisherman]

Thanks for your post. I am hoping to get down there on Saturday, so I appreciate the good update. Sounds like a good day. Crazy about the eagle, that same thing happened to me last year and I was the only one on the lake. There were three of them circling above me and I had about 40 fish on the ice. I thought they were going to dive right into my stash.
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