NumenOn the Water
Date: 1-30-16
Date: 1-30-16
Body of Water: McEwen Lake
Boat: None, Ice
With: Alone
Target: Panfish and Pike
Time: 8 AM - 1 PM
Conditions: Mild and mostly sunny; light southerly winds and about 33-38 degrees F; 5+ inches of solid ice
This was my first excursion on the ice for the season; I'd chosen to tie hair jigs last weekend rather than test our first available ice. This week things firmed up nicely, and the crowds were on Reeds Lake; so I knew that conditions on this lake would be safe.
I arrived to a crowd, and while I was able to set up for suspended panfish in my location of choice (the deepest water I'm aware of in this lake), various groups had flooded my primary areas for pike fishing with tip-ups. I was able to watch these groups chase flags all morning, but it didn't appear that anything of any size was caught; meanwhile, I scouted different areas with my tip-ups while I roamed the basin with my sonar hunting panfish.
My tip-ups (which spent most of their time in 12 and 25 feet of water, with live baitfish suspended 4-5 feet off bottom) were silent. The panfishing was pretty tough!
It took me a few holes to find any suspended fish, and this hole (38 feet of water) produced most of the day's fish. I fished other holes in 17 to 39 feet of water, but these produced no more than a fish each, with many zeroes, too.
Once I found the productive hole, it looked like it might be productive morning. While the first few fish did not respond to my array of baits (Jigging Rap, Pimple and Slab Spoon), an early drop was intercepted by a fish up high as the Rap descended. This crappie inhaled the bait and was about as aggressive as I could ever want; it appeared to be Game On!
While the Jigging Rap obviously moved fish (I could see them on the sonar's screen), I was getting lots of rejections; and I was soon including a bare tear-drop (with spike maggots) in my presentation array.
Deep fish, for the most part, would not bite. Shallower fish in the same hole were less abundant, but more likely to bite. When these fish started rejecting the Jigging Rap I switched to Size 4 Rattling Rap, and this too was initially effective. Occasionally I could get a few fish fired up and catch two or three in succession, but usually I was picking off individual fish, which for whatever reason, ate. Surprisingly, most of these bites were confidently aggressive, too; when they went, they went.
I finished with 10 or so panfish; mostly crappies with a couple of bluegills. Average crappie size was decent, better than could be expected on most local lakes, and the biggest was about a foot long. A select five were harvested for a meal upon request of a good friend. This harvest gave some tangible value to these panfishing efforts.
This was my first excursion on the ice for the season; I'd chosen to tie hair jigs last weekend rather than test our first available ice. This week things firmed up nicely, and the crowds were on Reeds Lake; so I knew that conditions on this lake would be safe.
I arrived to a crowd, and while I was able to set up for suspended panfish in my location of choice (the deepest water I'm aware of in this lake), various groups had flooded my primary areas for pike fishing with tip-ups. I was able to watch these groups chase flags all morning, but it didn't appear that anything of any size was caught; meanwhile, I scouted different areas with my tip-ups while I roamed the basin with my sonar hunting panfish.
My tip-ups (which spent most of their time in 12 and 25 feet of water, with live baitfish suspended 4-5 feet off bottom) were silent. The panfishing was pretty tough!
It took me a few holes to find any suspended fish, and this hole (38 feet of water) produced most of the day's fish. I fished other holes in 17 to 39 feet of water, but these produced no more than a fish each, with many zeroes, too.
Once I found the productive hole, it looked like it might be productive morning. While the first few fish did not respond to my array of baits (Jigging Rap, Pimple and Slab Spoon), an early drop was intercepted by a fish up high as the Rap descended. This crappie inhaled the bait and was about as aggressive as I could ever want; it appeared to be Game On!
While the Jigging Rap obviously moved fish (I could see them on the sonar's screen), I was getting lots of rejections; and I was soon including a bare tear-drop (with spike maggots) in my presentation array.
Deep fish, for the most part, would not bite. Shallower fish in the same hole were less abundant, but more likely to bite. When these fish started rejecting the Jigging Rap I switched to Size 4 Rattling Rap, and this too was initially effective. Occasionally I could get a few fish fired up and catch two or three in succession, but usually I was picking off individual fish, which for whatever reason, ate. Surprisingly, most of these bites were confidently aggressive, too; when they went, they went.
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| I hope I never have to ice fish without a sonar again; and GPS on the ice (with waypoints from my boat) is awfully nice to have! |
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| Not exactly The Most Dangerous Game, but ... |
I finished with 10 or so panfish; mostly crappies with a couple of bluegills. Average crappie size was decent, better than could be expected on most local lakes, and the biggest was about a foot long. A select five were harvested for a meal upon request of a good friend. This harvest gave some tangible value to these panfishing efforts.
What do I have to say about this?
These were nice, comfortable conditions to start my ice fishing season. Even if a bit crowded, I enjoy this lake for the natural, generally undeveloped setting, and the crappies are worthwhile. It was good to finally get a 2016 Fish, and I'm going back tomorrow, so I guess it was worth it!
These were nice, comfortable conditions to start my ice fishing season. Even if a bit crowded, I enjoy this lake for the natural, generally undeveloped setting, and the crappies are worthwhile. It was good to finally get a 2016 Fish, and I'm going back tomorrow, so I guess it was worth it!
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