3/6/11 Fish Report w/Muskie Matt

[Muskie Matt]

Our 10/11 gamefish season wrapped up yesterday, We've chalked up yet another season of plying the waters of northern Wisconsin, eh?

I actually put up my tip-ups a week or so ago in favor of searching out some crappies n gills. I always forget how much fun panfish through the ice can be, I love those nice late season days watching a Vex and finding what the fish want. The crappies n gills were on a good bite a while back but near the end of last week the action slowed considerably. You had to really fiddle with your jig presentation to intice a hit. And, I mean really work to find the action they wanted, but with some persistance we caught fish.

I find the most common action on a jig that will produce fish, when they're active, is a slow "wave". Just a slow, inch or two, up n down movement of the rod then hold still as the *marks on the Vex come together. I usually fish this way anywhere from 2-5ft off bottom in 12-20ft of water using either spikes or waxies on small jigs. How these fish prefer a jig worked does change, and quite frequently. Always experiment if you're watching marks on the Vex come up then slowly drift back down towards bottom without a hit. For me, finding what they want is the fun part of panfishing through the ice, it's a hoot, and just amazing what it'll take sometimes to make em' hit a jig.

Remember, we know mobility is key, so punch a load of holes and find your action. Most the time once you find some action you can stay in a generally small area and work your fish.

Good luck and be safe out there this late ice season!

[Mark Benson]

Matt:

Was actually going to try to call last night, but left the ice a little too early to do an "on the lake" report and got home and ate, then started cleaning fish. The last two Sundays I have been able to get out to explore the lake that my brother bought on... It seems to be a fertile fishery, but haven't gotten very close to finding anything yet.

However both last Sunday and yesterday I pulled off to a little lake close by known for producing some mega crappies and tried two different spots other than the community spots and was rewarded both times with some quality fish. Looking for areas on the basin sides close to spawning areas is starting to show fish just off the weed lines in 15' - 20'.

Both nights I was able to pull marks off the bottom and get them to chase the Lil' Cecil I was fishing with so fast I had to reel the bait up at the same time or there was no room to set the hook as the bait was so high above my head!!! Playing cat and mouse in this fashion has been as you say "a hoot" to say the least.

Last Sunday I was able to get 7 'tween 9" and 11", while being a little earlier this week allowed me to get in the hour long bite before dark started setting. Yesterday, I was able to find some fish on the first lake and then catch an additional 17 crappies 'tween 8" and 12".

The spot I was on last Sunday started to show just before dark a chironomid hatch, where your vex screen (hues of green & orange) starts to show all sorts of life at the bottom and the fishing just slowed down. I tried this past Friday after work and was too late and the hatch had already started. This second spot had a fair amount of tannic water and I was not able to detect the "hatch", but the bite slowed considerable just before 6 p.m.

The next time I get to fish this lake, I will be practicing selective harvest of fish less than the 10" mark as I have plenty of bigger fish cleaned and ready to dine on. All fish cleaned were of the female variety.

Mark

[Mark Benson]

Got a chance to get out and hook up with a couple of friends last night on the same lake at the first spot that produced for me. Wasn't able to get out there until 5:20, but did manage to lay the wood to a couple of fish right off the bat, but even in the storm, the fish were not nearly as aggressive as last Sunday.

Mark

P.S. Can't wait for day light savings this weekend!!!