First Trip - 2015

NumenOn the Water

Date:  1-11-15

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat:  None, ice fishing

With:  Alone

Target:  Perch and crappies

Time: 1 PM – 5:20 PM

Conditions:  Seasonally mild; about 30 F with SW winds < 10 mph.  Clear at first, but increasing cloudiness and about 4.5 inches of snow-covered ice.

Reeds Lake closed up on about 1-1-15, and after a wicked Alberta Clipper and associated lake effect snow event, folks started getting out (all over) on Reeds Lake this weekend.  I joined them on Sunday.  I didn’t have any bait, but I did have my new Humminbird 688 Sonar/GPS, so the focus of this trip was simply to practice with the unit while targeting (first) perch and (then) crappies.

I went “light” on this trip with only a couple of light rods and a handful of ice spoons, along with all the tools of ice fishing.  I powered up the Humminbird before I started my walk onto the ice, and I was pleased to see that the GPS had me correctly and pretty precisely located before I stopped to drill the first hole.  I was less pleased to see that the sonar was obviously not reading depth correctly; but after a few minutes of fiddling around, rebooting and accepting some default settings, I was soon watching my favorite Swedish Pimple in 27 feet of water.

Bottom activity was obvious and it wasn’t long before I teased a fish a couple of feet from the bottom.  As the sonar readings from the lure and fish merged I sensed a bite, and soon the First Fish of 2015 was on the ice.  It certainly wasn’t a monster, but it was a nice, eating-size yellow perch.  After a quick picture, I watched this fish descend to the bottom on the graph.

The First Fish of 2015 was a decent Yellow Perch taken on a trusty old smooth glow Swedish Pimple.

The power of this new sonar was immediately obvious.  With a split sonar view (normal and 2x or 4x zoom), I was able to assess the presence of any “live bottom” or suspended fish activity under any of the dozen or so holes I drilled.  I was also able to watch my lure and see fish react to it, so I was also able to refine my tactics to each fish and anticipate most bites.  I know I caught more fish than I would have without the unit, and I also know I didn’t waste much time at “deserted” holes.  Overall, this unit really boosted my efficiency on the ice, while making pan-fishing more fun.

This not a great picture, but you can see the fish I'm fighting while at least three more await my lure near the bottom.

This was the nicest fish of the day with a solid girth and beautiful coloration. In addition to the Pimple, a glow-rainbow Northland Slab Spoon produced.

After 20 or so perch in 27 to 30 feet of water, and with the sun getting lower, I re-located to one of Reeds Lake’s primary basins.  This is a well-known community hole that has produced hundreds of crappies for me over the years.  In the past I’ve found suspended crappies here in 35-45 feet of water, and usually these suspended fish are willing biters.  There had obviously been lots of fishing activity here previously based on tracks in the snow and slush on the ice, but only a couple of others were out with me at this time. 

My first couple of holes here seemed lifeless, but when I found some live bottom in 38 feet, I decided to camp for the duration.  I could watch the activity level rise on the graph, and after a couple of clear refusals, I finally got a fish to accept my dancing spoon.  But it turned out to be another perch, as did the next few biters.  I never saw any suspended crappies, and so at 5:20 PM or so, I pulled the plug on the trip and headed off the ice.  It’s possible that I left too early and missed the bite, but I don’t think so.  In the past, the crappies have been active as dusk developed, and the bite usually reached a crescendo before full dark.  It simply didn’t seem to be happening on this evening; and I also know from past experience that the crappie population on Reeds Lake “cycles”.  Maybe the crappie fishing for others had been poor, and the obvious lack of traffic this evening was due to that, and not to the NFL playoff games on TV.  Time will tell how this season will unfold.  Regardless, it was worth getting off the ice, even if a bit early, to have some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner!

What do I have to say about this?

While local pan-fishing isn’t exactly exciting, it was a nice outing.  It’s certainly worth doing, as even poor ice-fishing on a soft and pleasant winter’s day beats staying inside or doing chores.  I liked the quick-and-easy “light” aspect of this trip, and I appreciate the productive introduction to the new sonar.  This unit will be indispensable for many aspects of ice fishing, but will probably be most important for sessions just like this one.  There’s no sense in fishing “blind” out there, and I’ll appreciate the increased efficiency that I hope to enjoy while utilizing this new tool.

While I can’t say that the “live bottom” conditions I observed were entirely due to fish (and not plankton or insects), it was certainly the clue to look for (in the absence of suspended fish activity.)  There was a strong correlation between deciding the bottom was “live” at a given location and subsequently pulling multiple fish through that hole.  Finally, I can’t help but appreciate the analogy between this and selecting a spot to anchor in the Keys to set up a chum line and start drifting shrimp.  Perch and crappies aren’t snappers and grouper, but they are lot closer and convenient, and they’re providing the same service of fun-fishing for food (for those that choose to eat them.)