What's workin' now ICE...

[32 degrees]

What a weekend! The weather held out just long enough. Spent some time chasing gills and crappies and was rewarded for it. I still cannot believe the size of these gills. 5-7 FOW continues to produce. Jig type and color has not been an issue. Its just a matter of getting on top of these fish and coaxing them into biting. Here's two examples.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/Bullgills/HUGEGILL.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/Bullgills/Bull2.jpg

[Stratosman]

Nice gills for sure man.

Had a tough bite on Sunday, thought with the impending storm front the bite would be on, but in all reality it was one of the toughest bites for me of the whole winter, as far as quality fish is concerned. Many smaller 6-7" fish but only a handful around 7-8". A few nice perch as well helped the moral. The best is still yet to come I think.

[Matt Johnson]

Nice fish! You know you have a nice gill when it's almost as tall as it is long! Those look like some heavy fish.

[Corey Bechtold]

Man, what a weekend! I am having a blast this late Ice season. I have been able to fish with Cole and he has been great on the Ice. I can't wait till Open Water but with fishing the way it is right now I can wait a while.

I fished Friday and Saturday with Cole and we found ourselves on a real grab bag in the shallows. Everything from Pike, Bass, Crappies and Sunfish have been roaming the flats. The fish do seem to run the breaks too but being in the right place at the right time has been critical.

I have managed some hefty fish on 2lb Micro Ice fished on a 28" Light action Berkley Lightning rod. With a good reel that has a good drag system you'd be supprised how big of fish one can get through the Ice. I have been really impressed with the newer Abu Garcia 100U + 300U Spinning reels. I also still love my Mitchell 310X Gold reel. I have been fishing Power Minnows in a variety of colors and having phenominal success. These late Ice fish are looking for food and finding my bait.

Here are a few pictures from me and Cole's outings...

A 20" LMB that couldn't resist the Power Minnow

The Release

A couple of Cole's Crappies

My biggest Crappie of the Ice season, 15"!

Release shot

I don't know what the weather will have in store for us next week but be safe during the late Ice season.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Johnson]

Good stuff Corey! Always fun reeling in largies on pannie gear, especially those sows!

[Corey Bechtold]

With weather like we had this weekend the "What's workin' now" topic will soon be relating to Open Water!

I took out all 3 kids today to see if I could get them on some nice fish. Bailey and Brooke were sight fishing in the house when something happened. I heard Bailey shouting she needed my help and Brooke was kinda doing her nervous scream. Cole and myself went running over to the house and flipped the lid. Brooke's rod was bent on end and Bailey said she had a fish on. I looked at Brooke's line and it was going over to Bailey's side. I opened Brooke's bail and Bailey reeled in a fish. It was a smaller Bass but it had both of their baits in it's mouth! I don't know who is going to take credit for the fish but it definately had both of their baits. Kinda a fun and exciting start to our day!

Team fishing

We did manage a few nice Crappies along with the usual small Sunfish today. The Sunfish came on Flutter Bugs and Little Atom horizontal jigs. The fish also seemed to really like the Little Atom Wedgees and Noodles.

I will have to get some pictures up for you all to see but I'll have to do it tomorrow. I need some beauty sleep for now.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[ASMOLEY]

Nice fish Corey! I too have had a great weekend realling hooking into some quality fish. I had 5 crappies 10-12" and 1 gill at 9.25". Can't wait to make it out again the fish are really starting to get aggresive.

[Dan Thiem]

Congrats to you Corey! Both for the awesome report and more importantly, getting those three kids of yours so activley involved. My hats off to ya! You're a good Dad!

[Jim Hudson]

Finally, the late ice panfish action has come to my area!! The past few days have been hot.... weather wise and for fishing action...

Searched out a new lake, as I heard rumors of big 'gills that called this water home.. And boy does it ever!!! I sight fished anywhere from 10FOW to 15FOW in this gin clear water, where I seen some huge and I mean HUGE bull 'gills!!! Was lucky enough to catch 2 over 10 inches today, the biggest being 10.75.... Quite a few fish in the 9 inch range as well... Amazingly, I sighted others that were bigger then these bulls... What a sight to see these big suspended fish come finning in and nose up to a lure.. Three, four, five at a time jockeying around the bait... Makes for some intense fishing as you try to make one of them commit!!!

The fish wanted a constant kicking motion on a bait, where the best lure I found was a size 10 Genz Bug (Green) tipped with a Tiny Tail and two waxies... At times the fish were really aggressive but for the most part, the bigger 'gills would stare for a long time before committing...

One interesting thing, was that if there was a hint of a northern in the area.. ie I seen the pike and it left... The 'gills would become ultra aggressive after the pike past... Found this in almost all holes I fished... I figured they were being harassed pretty good by these pike... So they needed to get their feeding in quickly.. before the ol toothy critter came back!!

Here are a few photos..

Two over 10...

Another bull

The Lure of Choice

[Corey Bechtold]

Thanks for the kind words Dan.

Good report too Jim! Those are some nice Gills. Is the Ice getting rotten out where you are?

Here are a few extra pictures from the weekend...

Cole working over some fish

The result

Bailey with a 13.25"er that came off a 2" Power Minnow

I hope to get out again to chase some nicer Blugills and also see if there is a bigger Crappie that wants to grapple with me.

We'll probably need the planks real soon to get out on the Ice. Be safe everyone.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Corey Bechtold]

I was able to sneak out after work and find some fishable Ice. I managed to find enough Ice to stand on and the fish were right under my feet! Fishing in 4'-12' of water I was able to sight fish these fish. \

I fished 2" Power Minnows again to try and keep the small Sunfish from bothering my bait. I was rewarded huge while I was able to slam a lot of good fish. Sorry I didn't have the camera along but I was traveling light. I also had a spell where the fish would swim up to the bait and just sit there. I downsized a bit to a small Little Atom jig and tipped it with a white Wedgee. On the next drop the Crappies raced in and smapped up the bait. It was very interesting because these fish would come in little schools and there was usually one fish that was more interested in my bait. When I would set the hook on a fish they would scatter. I would just move over a hole or two and they would be sitting there again.

One can definately learn a ton sight fishing for Crappies. For one, the fish didn't like a lot of overhead movement. If I was looking down and so much as flinched they would bolt. Also, positioning your bait correctly triggered bites. Ofteh the Crappies would sit and stare at the bait till I got the Power Minnow positioned so they could swim up behind it and take the bait tail first.

Man, what a blast. If this is my last time on Ice this year than I went out with a bang.

Here are the notes from the outing...

4'-12' of water

Berkley 28" Lightning rod

Thorne Bros 27" Sweetheart Plus (custom) rod

Abu Garcia 100U

Mitchell 300X Gold

Berkley Micro Ice 2+3lb

Berkley 2" Power Minnow Realstix (Glow/chart tail)

Little Atom Horizontal jig with White Wedgee

Crappies ranged from 9-11" with one over 12"

Subtle rod shakes to get the fish to commit to the presentation. Released some bigger fish and kept a few for a meal.

These late Ice Panfish are very aggressive and prone to overharvest. Remember to be selective and insure a good future for fishing.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Skeets]

I suppose the lake is a secret?

I was unable to find any fishable ice yesterday...

[Corey Bechtold]

I like sharing information but pointing out a specific lake isn't exactly a good idea. The lakes get hammered during late Ice the way it is. I see to many bucket/freezer fillers out there already. Lets take a look at this guy I talked to yerterday...

"Yea, I was out on Monday and got my limit of Crappies. Tuesday it was slower but I was able to get my limit of Crappies and 14 Sunfish. Thurdaay I only got 8 Crappies. I'm heading to lake "X" tomorrow because I heard the Crappies and Sunfish are really biting."

True statement...

I would have no problem if I was checked by a C.O. everytime I went out to a lake. Unfortunately I have heard similar stories from multiple people. Like today... two guys were talking in the distance..."I don't know what happened to this lake. Last year we absolutely hammered them and this year I can't even buy a good sized fish."

Not venting, just stating my observation. I feel that some of my tactics will apply to most lakes. Take the information and go to your favorite lake and see how it works for you.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

p.s.

This post isn't pointed at you Skeets. Get ready for some open water!

[Jim Hudson]

Well said Corey...

[delmuts]

corey! just be happy that your DNR has a limit on panfish ! here in iowa we don't! a little lake near me;( and there are so few of them!) if the bite is good, it is not uncommon for people to fill pails/coolers full day after day til there is nothing but little ones left! example; a couple of years ago the crappie bite was awesome on this 100 acre lake. after a couple of weeks all you could catch was dinks. there was a group of three guys that fished it every day. THEY were really complaining about all they could get was little fish, but then one of them bragged how in the last three weeks their group had taken more than 3,000 nice crappies out of there! so , do i tell people where and if they are biting? nope!

[Corey Bechtold]

With all that said I have another idea. Typically when the houses have to be off the lakes and we need to buy new liscences Panfish are sliding shallow and are really volnerable to overfishing. Wouldn't it make sence to at least lower the limits again up until Walleye/Pike Opener? That way we could insure that there would be some fish left to make a good spawning run and be able to defend their nests from predator fish when the spawn occurs. Maybe dropping the limits in half during that time period would make sence. Who really needs more than 5 Crappies and 10 Sunfish for a meal or two anyway?

Just thinking,

Corey Bechtold