First Below Zero Night = Ice Fishing

[Sundance]

Well tonight is scheduled to get down to -2F.
Yeee Haaaa. Makin ice for fishing..... the high
today was 9F

Any other ice fisher persons????? Got the auger
sharpened and ready to rock.

[iddee]

Yes, the ice in the chest to keep them fresh when it's 90 out on the water...

[Ruben]

Have fun, too cold for me.

[WCMN]

9F here in Alexandria MN. Small Lakes are were starting to skim over but the wind needs to stop blowing for a day. ---- Randy

[Sundance]

9F here in Alexandria MN. Small Lakes are were starting to skim over but the wind needs to stop blowing for a day. ---- Randy

It was 9F here nearly all day........... must be a big pocket
of 9F air....

Alex has some nice crappie water nearby....... Is it Osakis?

[Zane]

We took it up last winter. I dont have an auger yet and dont like the chainsaw method!!! so an auger will be bought soon. I bought a few poles and flagging devices last summer for cheap. Havent had much luck on my 9 acre bass pond but it was real fun. Whats some good lures or baits to use? How about flies(I make my own)? I have bass, crappie and bluegill for fish.

[Sundance]

We took it up last winter. I dont have an auger yet and dont like the chainsaw method!!! so an auger will be bought soon. I bought a few poles and flagging devices last summer for cheap. Havent had much luck on my 9 acre bass pond but it was real fun. Whats some good lures or baits to use? How about flies(I make my own)? I have bass, crappie and bluegill for fish.

Hand augers are the way to go for early ice, they
don't spook the fish like a power auger. But if
your ice gets thick a power auger is nice. We see
36" thick ice nearly every year. But in your area
I'd be surprized if you get beyong 24"???

For hand augers the Lazer is the one to have. And for
mainly panfish a 6" is plenty big. Smaller augers are
easier to drill with. I use a 5" Lazer for early season
panfish.

Crappie are suckers for the Ol' jig and minnow. 1/32 oz plain
jig (chartreuse, florescent orange, and gold). Crappie usually
suspend off the bottom (4 to 6 ft). A flasher makes fishing
crappie through the ice a lot more productive. Use no more
than 6 pound test (I like 4#)

Bluegills.......... 2 pound test with micro jigs tipped with
wax worms are killer.

Bass will hit anything.

How deep is the pond Zane?? Crappies tend to hang
out in the deepest spots in winter. Suspended.

[Scrapfe]

Well tonight is scheduled to get down to -2F.
Yeee Haaaa. Makin ice for fishing..... the high today was 9F Any other ice fisher persons????? Got the auger sharpened and ready to rock.

An old man was fishing through the ice and having no luck..

A little boy augered a hole next to the old man’s and commenced to start pulling them in hand over fist.

The old man asked, “Sonny why you catching so many fish?”

Little boy said, “Myspper, wgodda creep wgo yumms mwumm.

Old man said,”Sonny I can’t understand a word you say, speak up!

Little boy rolled his eyes held his hand in front of his mouth, spit into his hand and said, “Mister, I said you got to keep your worms warm.”

[Hambone]

Crappie are suckers for the Ol' jig and minnow. 1/32 oz plain jig (chartreuse, florescent orange, and gold). Crappie usually
suspend off the bottom (4 to 6 ft). A flasher makes fishing
crappie through the ice a lot more productive. Use no more
than 6 pound test (I like 4#)

Bluegills.......... 2 pound test with micro jigs tipped with
wax worms are killer.

Do you use ultra light gear? So easy to fill the bites with light gear.

Also, if your wanted to move to Texas. We could go to the lake this weekend and limit out on crappie. High is gonna be mid 60's Spedo weather for you.

[Scrapfe]

It was 9F here nearly all day........... must be a big pocket of 9F air....

I never went ice fishing.

But, I been crappie fishing when I had to break the film ice off the surface in the minnow bucket in order to net the bait...that count???

Hey it must be too cold there for cold air, it all migrated South. Ya'll need to feed ya'll's cold air better!!!

Maybe you should get the vet to fix that cold air so you can keep it home.

[Sundance]

Do you use ultra light gear? So easy to fill the bites with light gear.

Also, if your wanted to move to Texas. We could go to the lake this weekend and limit out on crappie. High is gonna be mid 60's Spedo weather for you.

I am a fan of ultralight gear. Quality ice rods are about
30" to 36" long graphite blanks with ceramic guides, etc.

As to Texas........ Lived there for shy of 2 years. On Padre
Island (small town of Flour Bluff). Fished gaters and reds
regular. There was a small drug store that had a diner in
it and the lady would cook up the finest fried Red fish
I can remember. Love Reds.......

And all the shrimp you can eat down at the causeway
bars with long necks........ ,mmmmmmmmm

[WCMN]

It was 9F here nearly all day........... must be a big pocket
of 9F air....

Alex has some nice crappie water nearby....... Is it Osakis?

Osakis has nice pan fish along with a number of other lakes in the area. I spend most of my time fishing for "eyes". Like to get on the ice by Thanksgiving and fishing for them up till the end of Dec. Then go looking for the panfish till ice out. Its going to have to stay cold to have any safe ice anytime soon.----- Randy

[Sundance]

Osakis has nice pan fish along with a number of other lakes in the area. I spend most of my time fishing for "eyes". Like to get on the ice by Thanksgiving and fishing for them up till the end of Dec. Then go looking for the panfish till ice out. Its going to have to stay cold to have any safe ice anytime soon.----- Randy

Randy......... I grew up on Mille Lacs Lake and of course
cut my teeth on "eyes". Moved here in 1999 and can't
believe the walleye fishing here on Devils Lake..... wow.
And my favorite time for walleye is mid March to ice
out.... It is incredible to sit there with the spring sun
on you in a plain shirt catchin rays.

[Hambone]

I am a fan of ultralight gear. Quality ice rods are about
30" to 36" long graphite blanks with ceramic guides, etc.

As to Texas........ Lived there for shy of 2 years. On Padre
Island (small town of Flour Bluff). Fished gaters and reds
regular. There was a small drug store that had a diner in
it and the lady would cook up the finest fried Red fish
I can remember. Love Reds.......

And all the shrimp you can eat down at the causeway
bars with long necks........ ,mmmmmmmmm

If you don't get to go and get that elk this year. When it warms up. You can always come down here and I will take you to get the reds.

[WCMN]

Randy......... I grew up on Mille Lacs Lake and of course
cut my teeth on "eyes". Moved here in 1999 and can't
believe the walleye fishing here on Devils Lake..... wow.
And my favorite time for walleye is mid March to ice
out.... It is incredible to sit there with the spring sun
on you in a plain shirt catchin rays.

Is Devils lake still growing in size (area) or has it slowed down. My son has fished Devils in the summer time with some friends, he couldn't get over how they fished in the tree's. Is the winter perch fishing still good?------Randy

[Sundance]

Is Devils lake still growing in size (area) or has it slowed down. My son has fished Devils in the summer time with some friends, he couldn't get over how they fished in the tree's. Is the winter perch fishing still good?------Randy

The lake has stopped flooding for the most part. It reached a
critical level so that if it goes up another foot or two it will
spill over into Stump Lake and on into the Sheyenne river.
Last summer the lake went down a foot or two in fact.

Fishing the trees it pretty cool, but it takes a toll on
tackle.

Perch slowed down quite a lot in the last few years, I
think the pressure effected them as well as the growing
walleye and northern populations. Lots of 20# plus
northerns get caught every year.

For years the perch limit was way too high, folks would
regularly take 5 gallon buckets full of them off the lake.
And then they scratched their heads when fishing for
them slowed.

There is a growing population of crappies (and big!). I
hear more and more people getting into them. Catching
several over 2#.

[MapMan]

Ole and Sven grabbed their poles and headed out to do some ice fishing. As they were augering a hole in the ice they heard a loud voice from above say, "There are no fish under the ice."
Ole an Sven moved about 25 feet over and started to make another hole. The voice said a little stronger, " There are no fish under the ice."
They both looked around and then looked up. Ole said in a humble voice, "Are you God?"
The voice spoke back, "No ya idiots! I'm the ice rink attendant."

[phil c]

Still gonna be awhile for hard water around here.
I love Ice fishin gets me away from the wife and kids for a while.
After the floods around here this past summer its gonna make the river backwaters a whole new ball game.

[Sundance]

.... gonna make the river backwaters a whole new ball game.

They can be fun and make for great fishing (if you get
there first). I've pulled some monster panfish from
river backwaters, and some dandy walleye.

[WCMN]

Well,we got some calm winds and lakes have started to freeze. Saw two guys yesterday out on the ice trapping minnows so it won't belong now.--------Randy