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!