Fishing Report...

[Matt Johnson]

I spent half the day today guiding a guy in the Chisago area in search of crappies and bluegills. We found 7-8 inches of solid clear ice and fished in about 13 feet of water over a hole in the weeds. We managed to find quite a few bluegills and crappies as well as a couple pike and bass. The fish were pretty aggressive at times and they would meet the jig on the way down. Other times we had to really coax the fish into biting. Size 10 Custom Jigs and Spins Shrimpos were the hot lure today. We used glow pink, glow blue and all black. We caught fish by both tipping them with maggots and plain with just the finesse plastic. Minnows only caught one pike, everything else came on maggots or finesse plastic. I dropped the underwater camera down and we noticed quite a few pike cruising through stirring up the pannies. I also noticed that the bigger bluegills would hug the bottom, while the smaller fish took control of the suspended water. The crappies were mostly suspended and they came in schools.

If you get a chance to hit the ice tomorrow I would focus on mid-depth weeds. The fish are relating to those areas right now and the activity level should still be pretty good. I located several areas where fish were holding and the bigger panfish seemed to like those weedy areas just off the initial break on the mid-depth flats. 10-17 feet seems to be key. I also found a few fish in shallow water amongst the thick weeds, but they were very, very finicky with the cold snap we've had. I'd expect those fish to pick up their activity level this weekend once we see those 20 degree temps.

Here's a few pictures of Mike and some of his fish from todays trip...

Good Fishin and Merry Christmas,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Nice stuff there Matt! Do you sleep?lol

[delmuts]

looks like a happy client to me! great pics too. del

[Matt Johnson]

Tom,

Nope, no sleep, I'm off to lake again on another guide trip bright and early in the morning. But, it will be my last trip for a little while, then I get to go play and scout out some new water I'm gonna bring the portable to my Aunt's house on saturday, she lives on a lake and I think I can sneak out in the afternoon

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Corey Bechtold]

Good job Matt! Glad to hear you're on the fish. Good Luck on Saturday.

Merry Christmas,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Breuer]

Good job Matty, I really hope things take off for you this Winter!!

[Matt Johnson]

I made it back out the same spot today with another group of guys. I had them set up in 13 feet of water and work a Shrimpo and maggot combination. The fishing was a little bit slower than yesterday and the fish were a lot more finicky. The ice was cracking and booming a lot more than yesterday and the wind changed direction as well. Temps were a little colder but pretty much the same. I set up in 10 feet of water and both houses were catching fish. They were set up right along the edge of the break and a few pike came through and decided to take their Shrimpo's for a ride on a couple occasions. We only managed a few crappies today but a bunch of bluegills. No real pigs but a lot of 7-8 inch fish with a few around 8.5 possibly 9 inches. We all had on either a noodle rod or a spring bobber after the first hour of fishing. Often times the only indication of a bite was by a pulse in the line.

The fish were very intent on staying close to the bottom today and we didn't see as many suspended fish. The crappies were pretty much non-existent and the ones that did come through were on the bottom with the bluegills.

Once a fish showed up we had to really finesse them by small little quivers of the rod and a slow rise as the fish approached the bait. The rise sequence really seemed to trigger the fish into biting. They were willing to chase the bait about 2 feet off the bottom, anything higher then that and they would sink back down.

Some decent schools showed up at times, but a good majority of time it was one or two fish that appeared.

Again, 10-15 feet seemed to be key and they are relating to the weeds (bluegills).

Here's a picture of Greg and his dad Loren with some of the bluegills they caught today...

The ice is getting thicker everyday and I watched a car drive by out there. Might not be the best idea yet. I found about 8-9 inches of ice today. Still well too early for cars or trucks. A lot of permanents houses are starting to show up and wheelers or snowmobiles are out all over. The warm up this weekend should bring some life back into the fishing and we should see the fish activity pick up...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Breuer]

I had out some folks last night and the night before as well. They had a hayday on the crappies, everything was over 11". All of our their fish came out of 34' of water and were suspended anywhere from 1-6 feet off the bottom. Custom Jigs and Spins Demons and Striper Specials were the ticket. Glow/Red in size 6.

[Matt Johnson]

Nice slabs Matt! I talked with a guy the other day that said you guided him last winter for panfish. He's from the Metro area and I ran into him at B&B's Sporting Goods off Hwy 8. He saw the FM decals on my truck and asked me if I knew you. I believe his name was Dan or Don, or something around those lines. Pretty nice guy. He said you guys had a field day on the pannies. He also said he's going to book a trip with you again this winter.

Custom Jigs and Spins is really doing the trick in the Metro right now too. The Shrimpo has been very hot and I would expect the Ratso to be the same.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Johnson]

Today was a pretty good day for bluegiils. The crappies were basically none existent. Only two crappies were caught all day. We made it out on the ice around 10am and fished until close to 4pm. The midday bite seems to be the best out in the Chisago area for bluegills right now, with the best hour being between 1 and 2pm. The fish were in the same area as last week, 12 feet of water.

Here's Chris with a nice catch of bluegills...

The warm up in temps really caused the fish to put on the feedbags. We had gills chasing our baits all the way to right below the ice. The sizes were a lot better today too, with a lot of fish in the 8 inch range and several around 9. We lost a really nice bass at the hole and that was only bass we had on. We watched a lot of bass swim through on the underwater camera but no takers. We also saw several nice pike cruise through the area as well.

Custom Jigs and Spins Ratsos and Shrimpos along with the Ice Minnow from JR's Tackle worked very well today. I just used a single eurolarva to tip the jig, or else I would use just a plain finesse plastic on the Ratso's and Shrimpo's.

Here's a scene from when I left the lake today...

Tomorrow should be an even better day if the weather pattern continues. A lot of people on the ice today and it looks like ice fishing is in full swing!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Chad711]

Went to Clearwater today from 1-6, nothing but perch and a HUGE pike that smiled for the camera. Searched all kinds of spots, 5' with weeds, 10', 15, 20 with rocks, 25 with rocks, allkinds of breaks. I saw 1 Fish with my camera, either a Gill or Crappie in the distance. Very strange, couldnt find them at all.

I basically was around an Island that I nailed them on every time this summer, sure didnt work today. Glad to see someone is catching them. Matt J is that Crappie in your avater close to 17? Wow!

[CrappieJohn]

Jim W and I made it out on the Zumbro today, Matt, and we smoked the crappies and sunfish. Glow red with waxies four to six feet off the bottom in 25 -27 feet of water. Glow blue took them too. Had one sunnie that was 10 1/8"! The fish would swim up and slam the jig on the drop in many instances. Gonna do it again tomorrow morning.

[Matt Johnson]

Chad,

That one went 17 3/4 inches, my biggest crappie. Caught it last winter up near Deerwood. That's a day I'll never forget.

Tom,

Sounds like you and Jim had a good time today. Red glow is always one of my best winter colors too. Pannies just can't seem to get enough of it. 10 1/8 is a dandy gill!! I haven't come close to 10 yet this winter, a few around the 9 inch mark but the 10 is still off in the distance. Zumbro you say, I hear you like that body of water Nice fish Tom!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Breuer]

Tom,

10 1/8" is a monster! Good catch Tom! I was dying for a 10" 'gill last Winter and could only manage one 9 7/8" and a ton of 9.5"ers. You're off on the right foot!!

Matt,

Near Deerwood huh? I know the area well! We'll have to go down there and stay with my folks and hit some lakes around there. My second largest crappie came from a lake 8 miles from Deerwood! Also, if you see Don again, ask him about the walleye he lost, it was a pig! He schooled his brother and father that day, he was a true crappie king!

Good catches all, keep it up!

[Matt Johnson]

Matt,

Maybe we're talking about the same lake You tell me first and I'll let you know if it's the right one

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Hey Matts....This guy came off a minnow! On a deadstick. I was fishing primarily for crappies and was trying to tease some of those "less aggresive" fish with some slowly swimming meat and wham. The bull roared in.

The down side is that I prefer to put these big guys back in the drink and this one came up out of that deep water so fast on it's own accord that the eyes and bladder blew out.

My handspan from tip of thumb to tip of pinkie is just at 9 3/4 inches and this fish was past that. Jim just about flipped. At the cleaning table I tossed the tape on it and wow! This has to be the largest sunnie I have actully taken from the Zumbro, but I have had them break four pound line in the spring!

In all the preparation we made on Sunday, neither of us remembered to bring a camera and I did not want to post a dead fish pict when I got the thing home so it went to the pan. I tried holding it for a bit in a bucket of water to see if it would revert, but was belly up in three minutes. Like I said, I really do like to put these fish back and keep a mess of the 8 1/2" fish for the table.

The red glow was the kingpin-color, but when seemed things were going to die off I'd reel the most productive rod with the red up and drop a glow blue for about two jigs. All it would take actually and I'd be right back into fish. That color would work for maybe three or four minutes tops and then the red would go back down and the whole thing would start all over again. Out of four hours on the drink the blue wa in the water for a total of about nine minutes, but accounted for that many fish.

I'll be doing the return number in two hours and hope the fish are still on. Yesterday was a riot.

[The Grebe]

CT...."Whooo!" Thats a a good fish, 10 plus inches! I may have to change my tune on fishing southern Minnesota lakes?

Not that I don't think they have good fish, I just don't go down there?

I have trout fished the Whitewater alot, afew streams around Cannon Falls, Hay Creek near Redwing and General Shields and that is about it.

Usually the only time I get south of the cities is if I hit Treasure Island Casino. I'm gonna have to change that methinks?

[CrappieJohn]

The sunnies were more run of the mill today, being only 7 1/2 to 8 inches. Crappies were slower too (clouds vs bright yesterday). The red glow was the ticket once again, but size/profile was an issue and a smaller bait is what they wanted. The hits were very soft too.

[The Grebe]

Maybe if I would have plied my efforts in southern waters today, I would have been a little more successful?

Sunday, I decided to hit a new lake that I have been thinking about for a couple of years now.

I know that it has some huge pike and bass in it and I seen a guy catch a few nice sized sunnies so I thought that maybe, just maybe it was a sleeper? It is an almost private lake and recieves little pressure from the general public.

The homework was done, the map was studied and the attack was laid out..I did make a couple of tactical errors in my calculations though. First, I did'nt take into account that there could be an abundance of little Perch, which there was and they drove me nuts! Second, I started out for someplace else and ended up at the new lake as an afterthought, thus I got there a wee bit early. By the time the bewitching hour was at hand, I was about frozen, so I had to pull the plug.

The tally for the day....about 20 little Perch that would all fit in a coffee cup and one pike about 7 pounds, got em with the panfish gear, the 4# test, (1000 yards for $1.50, SouthBend) and my cheesy little ballbearing open face, that does'nt freeze when it gets cold. It's all in the drag, gotta set that drag! Nice fish, dynomite, vivid pike colors, I turned him loose to keep the Perch numbers down, it looked like a hardy eater, as hefty as it was.

Today we tried another lake that nobody fishes in the winter..we kicked butt on some really nice Crappies on this lake last fall, it was one of our mainstays. One pike about 2 pounds and one missed bite on a Crappie minnow, it was probably the pike? Not to good, but I was on the hunt and that I liked!

We did'nt make our effort during the best part of the day, but I could'nt even pick anything up on the Vex and we covered alot of different structure, over a pretty large area.

We went to the 2nd lake today, a small body of water that usually gives up it's bounty during the daytime hours and although the fish showed up on the Vex and could be coaxed up off the bottom, they would'nt bite..lake 1 and homeboys 0!

Tommarrow we are heading up to Mille Lacs and give that a shot! Might hit Ann on the way up, for an hour or two. You just have to keep swinging when things are'nt working out for ya and sooner or later, you are bound to connect!

There are so many factors that influence these fish, hell, even the huge earthquake Sumatra might have something to do with it? Supposedly it tweeked the earths orbit! If it did, it might have an effect on alot of things....Then again, maybe we were just in the wrong spots?

[Lost]

Grebe, e-mail me them little known lakes!

[CrappieJohn]

Grebe....You should mail me! About Weds and some fishing!

[The Grebe]

Lost...Let me know your address and I'll turn you on to a few lakes that might work for you.

[The Grebe]

Made an 11th hour trip on Tues. up to Ann lake....we set up in the same area that we fished previously and got the same results.

Initially, it was the sunnies hugging the bottom in about 12 feet of water. You really had to work for them with different colors, hole hopping, jigging techniques, and they were quick! "Bing", in and out before you could even move sometimes....makes you feel kinda silly when you set the hook on a phantom!

On the tight line, you could feel the "Tick" and drill them, but I do love seeing the bobber pop?

Like Crappie Tom mentioned earlier, his biggest sunnie came on a minnow, so did ours, I got a 9 1/2 gill on a little Crappie minnow and it did'nt slam it, bit just like a Crappie. So did several others that prefered minnows over waxies.

As the afternoon gave way to early evening, the sunnie action slowed, they were still there according to the Vex, you could bring em up, but they would'nt hit.

Shortly after the sunnies slowed down, the night shift moved in and we started picking up an occassional Crappie.

We got just as many on waxies as minnow, some were tight to the bottom, some were suspended.

The Crappies ranged up to 12 inches and to me, that is a dynomite fish, perfect for the table!

For whatever reason, we talked to a few other fishermen that were working the area and they said that they have'nt been able to get anything? A couple of the guys said they had been hitting it steady for two days, with one pike between them? Man, thats dedication! Short of relinquishing my holes, I did what I could to help them out.

At any rate it was a good trip and as always, I look forward to the next, which, like most of the others, will be and 11th hour foray, depending on the weather.