This weekend, despite the colder weather, the fishermen showed up. The bite was steady throughout the day with Small Perch and Walleye. Some of the deeper reefs produced slots and “overs,” and the evening bite from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. was also good in the shallows. During the day, some in the shallower reefs caught some nice Northern Pike, with the biggest being a 42 “monster” in our VIP 7 rental on Gull Reef. I’ll be posting some of the pictures on our Facebook page later today.

The ice and roads held up well with the traffic we had, and the steady cold has stabilized the ice somewhat. Ice depths are increasing.  On Monday, we will be rechecking spots to see the increase over the last four days.

Starting Monday we will resume our wheelhouse reservation list. (See wheelhouse sectionj of website). Basically, if you are planning on coming up to fish with us the next weekend we want you to reserve a spot on the list, as I limit the number of weekend wheelhouses out of our place as we have many seasonals signed up and I do not like fisheremen to crowd others, and to reduce traffic, especially with no snow on the ice.  Everyone out there hears everything moving. Hopefully we will be getting some snow in the future to quiet things down.

Keep a Tight LIne!

During the day yesterday, most reports were small Perch and Walleye.  Those fishing shallow caught slots in the early am. And late afternoon at dusk.  A few over-slot pics were sent in after dark in deeper rocks, but overall, it was fairly quiet, in my opinion. The highlights were Northern Pike in the shallows for those targeting them.  I heard of four C/R between 33″-40″.

The ice roads held up well with the traffic as everyone kept their speeds way down.  In checking ice depths this morning, we increased thickness by approximately 1/2″ since Thursday afternoon when we last checked, so we are gaining some.  Ice depths in close range from 16″-18″ and farther out 13″-15″.  By next weekend, if the cold continues, the ice in the areas we go to should be “over the hump,” as we used to say with ice conditions.

I’m hoping we get some snow cover out there soon!

Eddy

After running the roads this morning, everything looks good, with no cracks overnight. We will be letting trucks up to a curb weight of 7000 lb. pull single-axle and tandem-axle wheelhouses up to 21ft in length out to most of the areas we go to. The gravel bars will be a no-go this weekend until we check the ice depths out there as it is considerably thinner out there than inside our rough ice boundary. Absolutely no wheelhouses will be allowed to go out on the ice after dark!  Period!!!   All other vehicles, rentals, permanents, and portables fishermen will also have a curb weight limit of 7000 lb.

  Click on image to enlarge

The bite has been pretty steady for most, with the majority of the catch being small Perch and Walleye. Overnight has been the better time for “keeper” Walleye in the last few days, and I think that will be the case most of the time through this colder period of weather. As the season continues and the baitfish sizes change, I think the larger well-fed walleye out there will start to bite better than they have recently.

With no snow on the ice, the cold, sunlight, and all the temperature changes that come with it will be a challenge until we see some snow cover. Fishermen need to be cautious in their travels out there, even though the ice depths are increasing. If and when we receive some snow, things will get back to normal.

Eddy