First Ice Success!

[tip-uptwo]

I will start by saying it feels great to back on the ice again...It was a real bummer not being able to get on the first week of December as we were used to in recent years :-\ Today was an awesome day with no wind and sunny conditions..I think the high was -2. Glad I had the chance to get out today as tonight the freezing rain will start and it's going to change into rain by tomorrow...Anthony and I had 5'' of ice under our feet Hope the rain does not kill it :-[

We arrived at our destination just as bite started to turn on..By then we were not the only ones down there..It was nice to see a few familiar faces I had not seen in a while .. Punched the first few holes of the season a immediatly started to mark fish 10 feet down in 19 feet of water..It was not hard to decide where we were going to set up base camp for the day Anthony and I were anxios to try out a few new toys we purchased over the long wait for ice, especially the new Marcum VS-250 Underwater veiwing system...Amazing little camera for the price..It did not disapoint us..Clear and very easy to use..Nothing better than watching slabs nail your bait all day long. We had too much fun with it

First crappie of the year was a beaut.Caught him on a Northland Forage minnow with a few waxies hooked in the arse..

We proceeded to catch a few a whole bunch of them ranging from 8''-10'' with a few small gills mixed in..

The bite slowed down a bit around 11am which gave us time to pound back some chocolate milk and a bag lays regular chips..It also gave us some time to downsize our baits and try slip bobberin'..I stared at a blank screen for a few minutes so I tried rapidly jigging a spoon to see if I could get the attention of a any fish, then switched to the smaller baits ti get 'em to bite..Of coarse, it worked ;D

By the end of the day we must have iced easily about 60 fish for the few hours we were down there...All fish were released because we had forgotten the kill bucket..besides it doesn't hurt to let em go once in a while Can't wait to get out in the new year and fish some waters I have been waiting to ice over for a while..I can see the walleye shaking' already.. Wednesday I hope to get back down to the crappie hole and nail a few eaters.. Here are a few more pictures from today..

Thanks for taking the time to read 8) Be careful and safe out there guys...All the best in the new year!!

-Andrew

[jphersh22]

Thanks for the report and the pictures. Looked like a great day. I have no ice down here in Iowa so it's good to look at some. I noticed the Nature Vision hat and the Marcum camera. You should ask someone on here with connections at Marcum to send you a hat so you match your gear.

[vern]

Great photos! Looks like fun.

[harvey lee]

Great report and pictures. Looks to me like you had a wonderfull day.

[tip-uptwo]

Quote:

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I noticed the Nature Vision hat and the Marcum camera. You should ask someone on here with connections at Marcum to send you a hat so you match your gear.

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, What makes you think I don't don't use any of Nature Visions products? ..I bet the Marcum hats are pretty nice..LOL..

It will be nice once you guys get some ice a bit closer to home

-Andrew

[FishGUY]

Nice pictures and report, looking at you fishing is about as close as I can get. Checked out a few metro lakes this morning very poor ice. Keep them coning.

[vikingmeatwad]

Nice pannies tip!

I am very jealous as I am staying off the lakes in the metro. I should have made a trip north this weekend.

[Matt Johnson]

Very cool report and pictures! Looks like first ice has been good to you

[bgreen82]

definitely good reading. like everyone says that is great to see up there since we arent getting to it down here. any more reports would be WELL appreciated. keep em coming.

[Sifty]

Cool Pics. and a great first ice report.

Sifty