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Monday
Dec132010

Things Heat Up On The Ice!

DateMonday, December 13, 2010 at 12:01PM

 The Otter and Strikemaster Ready To Go!Well, I'm glad to say I've not got a few days of ice fishing under my belt.  Great to see such a good early season going, although the big storm this past weekend is surely going to screw up A LOT of ice conditions around Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I met up with fishing buddy Matt Bistodeau and we set out to fish a favorite panfish lake of mine on the west side of Minneapolis.  Matt's never fished it, so I was pretty excited to show him all the hype.  We hiked out onto the lake to a favorite spot of mine, a roughly 15 minute walk.  I pulled my Otter Sled loaded with my Strikemaster Solo and plenty of fishing gear.  No sweat pulling that thing through the snow.  I love being mobile like that without needing a machine.  Matt and I set up and started popping fish almost instantly.  I jigged a small Northland Gill Getter tipped with two wax worms.  That rig proved lights out for bluegills. 

 

 Another Big Bluegill

 Eventually I changed over to a Bro's Bloodworm and it also proved pretty deadly.   Matt was first to start pulling up the crappies.  Granted, we found no giants,  but catching a couple dozen 10-11 inchers sure makes for a fun night.  

 Crappie!

 A Slab!

Add to that the thirty or fourty nice bluegills, including a couple of three-quarter pounders and you've got an AWESOME evening on the ice.  We had nearly constant action from 3:30 until we picked up at 8 pm.  I'm thinking the combination of early ice AND the big front moving in had those fish scrambling to eat.  About halfway through our evening I watched a fat, red blob come up on the Vex and quickly grab my jig.  My drag zipped as the fish took line.   I had to be pretty gentle considering I had 2 pound stringed up. After a fight of three or four minutes, I coaxed a nice little pike through the hole.  Man, I love early ice....   

No Giant, But Sure Fun!

Matt's 37th Fish.....

Okay,  so I've got my "panfish itch" scratched (at least for now). Next up?  It's time to find a few walleyes! 

 

 

AuthorBill Sherck | Comment8 Comments | Reference2 References |

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    Response: costume jewellery
    at costume jewellery on September 18, 2014
    Things Heat Up On The Ice! - Bill Sherck's Blog - Due North Outdoors
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    Response: Mano Swartz Baltimore
    at Mano Swartz Baltimore on December 27, 2014
    Things Heat Up On The Ice! - Bill Sherck's Blog - Due North Outdoors

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