Fun Day on the Ice

[Matt Johnson]

Well, it's April 2 and we're still on the ice in the Metro Area, MN! Last year at this time we were out in the boats, LOL... so no complaints here. We spent the day in the company of good friends and play around with some new products and take advantage of the late ice. To be honest, the ice is still in great condition. We had no issues getting on or off the ice (we walked out but could have took ATVs but only had to walk 50 yards). Still a solid 18-20" of ice. Some shorelines are starting to weaken a little, but as of today things were in good shape. We will see some warmer temps the next couple days (50s with sun) so please be more cautious if you venture out this weekend. We plan to hit the ice again later this week and I can report back on how things look.

As far as the fishing tactics... we used Maki plastics and tungsten jigs in 6-12 feet of water. A lot of the bigger fish came within 3 feet from under the ice and some were darn-near hugging the bottom of the ice. It was important that you started your jigging sequence as soon as you dropped your jig down the hole, because it wasn't uncommon for a fish to crush the bait the second it broke the water column under the bottom of the ice. Definitely a fun bite!!

Here's a few photos from today...

Dave Genz works over a fish during sunrise

Dave and me with a nice multi-species double!

Dave Genz with the big gill of the day!

A nice crappie I picked up on a jig/plastic combo

Enjoy the late ice this year and be safe out there!!

[fishing tech]

Nice day and nice fish.

[MNCPRGUY]

Great stuff Matt!

[Jim Uran]

Good stuff guys, there is still a ton of fishing to do up north! Come on up and catch a few hogs

[MikeRaetz]

Looks like a great day on the water!! Good huntin guys!!!

[Tod Todd]

Good to hear that the ice is still holding I think I have one last trip up north left

[Tim Moore]

Looks like a fun day! I wish I still had safe ice closer than a two hour drive.