Dec 30th Report

[Rob Manthei]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my last report of the year...LOL!

Ice conditions remain ugly, and very ugly at best. Lots of slush cover the area lakes, however there are some spots that slush has frozen, or is starting to freeze. If you are luck enough find a "dry" location, it won't be for long. After popping a couple of holes, I felt like Jed Clampet shooting into the ground.

KNEE boots are a must, and also safety. I was out with a group last night and still only found 1.75" of ice over 16' of water.

I have found that "flooding" an area and coming back a couple of days later, will help speed up the process of firming the slush, but not everyone has the time for that.

Fishing was pretty good, once we got over the slush factor. We kept 6 nice walleyes and released 4 pike. Total of around 30 flags, but lots of "droppers" and bait stealing going on. I think the thin ice also had something to do with it, spooking the fish as we approached the tip up. I was fishing deep coontail edges, targeting both the inside and outside edges with sucker minnows.

Hard to tell what is really going on with other species, since a lot of the water that I fish is just too far to walk and/or un-safe or too slushy.

This past week 3 ATV/Snowmobiles have gone thru with a fatality the other day when a father was saving his daughter. Talking from experience, it isn't worth going thru. Use your head and extreme caution.

It is suppose to be cold the rest of the week, however we are going to get another 4 to 6" of snow over New Year's. Great for the trails, not for the lakes.

Good Luck!
__________________
Rob Manthei Guide Service
Web Site: http://www.robmanthei.com
http://www.fibbersresort.com