January 14th cold, cold, walleye...

[Kevin Lee]

My brother Kenneth and I got out again for a couple hours this evening. We were in a slightly different spot than last Saturday. Same 36 foot depth, just a little closer to deeper water this time. Anyway, we get out there and I realized I left my pole sitting on the tail-gate. Crap! It's far too cold to be riding back and forth to shore too many times. On the other hand, Kenneth pretty much had the shack set up and heater going when I got back, so there is always a "positve" I guess. Anyway, after releasing a couple little guys, I finally hooked a good fish but lost it. This was about 4:30 I think. Then a couple minutes later I lost another one! Both hit the solid gold Ice Darter (color code #1 I think?). Now that I think about, I better make sure I took off the hook protectors.... Anyway, then we had a little lull for about 20 minutes where we didn't see many fish at all. Then Kenneth hooked a keeper on a Purple Jigging Rapala. He said "just a little one" so I didn't even get the camera rolling. So he then procedes to slide a 17 1/2 incher through the hole! Anyway, about 10 minutes later, he hooked a really good fish, but this one got off. Then a little while later he landed one about 20 inches on a Red Grape Moonshine Shiver Minnow. For the better part of an hour I would say, we had good numbers of fish moving through. But getting them to bite was tough. Kenneth tried a spoon tipped with a minnow again, but even that didn't work. And I never hooked another fish after the first two I lost. Not a great evening by and stretch, but still a fun couple hours!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoA9Hq35HBs

[andya12420]

Nice fish as always, keep up the good work. Thanks for taken time to film some of the action, sure is nice to watch all coop up in the house parenting. Oh well its worth it.

[daveintinley]

Nice 'eye in the video & pics! Where about in little bay did you pull those thru the ice? We did not have much luck at all when we were in the bay early October...so...we're coming back up there middle of Feb to test our luck (again) ice-fishing. Do you have any tackle suggestions? I see you were using a sonar...did that seem to help? Thanks!

[Kevin Lee]

Nice 'eye in the video & pics! Where about in little bay did you pull those thru the ice? We did not have much luck at all when we were in the bay early October...so...we're coming back up there middle of Feb to test our luck (again) ice-fishing. Do you have any tackle suggestions? I see you were using a sonar...did that seem to help? Thanks!

My brother and I were fishing between Rapid River and Escanaba. How's that for narrowing it down... I would like to tell you exactly where we were, but I reserve that info for guests in our motel. I really want our guests to catch fish so they come back. If "we" (Kenneth and myself) gave exact coordinates, they would not be as productive due to the noise factor from higher numbers of people in these areas. Infact, the best advise I can give you is to stay away from the crowds. Anyway, as far as tackle...I would make sure you have a couple spoons like William's Wablers or Do-Jiggers to use if the fish don't seem to aggressive. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with the #7 Green Glow Tiger Jigging Rapala, the new Moonshine Shiver Minnow in Red Grape color, and the Green Holographic/Rainbow Trout Ice-Darter. The Holographic Purple Ice-Darter has also been pretty good. But I lost a couple on the solid gold Ice-Darter last time out, so you never know on any given day exactly what color will be "hot". One more thing, when jigging the Raps, don't be afraid to jig 6-8 feet off the bottom. More fish will see your offering. If they are active, they will come up for it. It seems like my most aggressive strikes happen when I'm jigging way off bottom. Hope this helps...

[daveintinley]

Kevin,

I didn't mean to sound like I wanted lat/long for your shanty...just wondering your proximity to Gladstone or Escanaba. A group of us are renting in Gladstone in a few weeks, so I'm just trying to get a feel for how it's been there. Thanks for the 411 on the lures and techniques. I'm used to jigging minnows or spikes for perch & crappie at a lake in lower Mich. Guess it's a bit different when it comes to chasing 'eyes! I notice you are from Sall-Mar Resort? A group of us used to rent those cabins for many years (90's) in late Oct/Nov. Many, many good times and stories at Sal-Mar (and the Swallow Inn, Jack's, and that little tavern in Kipling which I was too drunk to remember it's name!)

Can't wait to make it back!
Dave

[mr. duckman66]

Kevin what a great job with the live video to watch you pulling those fish through the hole. I always email my friends and tell them to take a look. Response is always the same, everyone says wow! Keep up the good work and good luck once again on the bay..Dan