First Ice Report of the 07-08 Season!!!

[mjhowe]

Greetings all,

Well, I have been out a couple times so far...Was on Smith lake west of Kalispell on Dec 2nd and again on Dec 9th. The pike fishing is unreal. Tip ups or jigging, it doesnt really matter. In fact people think its OK to leave your pike laying on the ice for the birds...NOT. We cleaned up about 50 pike, all in the 1-4 pound range, that were frozen to the lake, half eaten by birds etc. In fact one of the guys in my party scolded an angler about leaving one behind...his answer was "they aren't even supposed to be in here"...

The people doing this are not only leaving a hell of a mess behind, but it is a recognized game fish in MT and the fines and penalties can be tremendous..."Wanton waste of game"...anyway

While the fishing has not been what I would call a hot bite, the perch that I am seeing have been really good size for Smith. There is about 5-6 inches of good clear ice and the water clarity is pretty good for this lake.

Lower Stillwater has about the same amount of ice, probably more by now. Some guys have been fishing, but I have heard its been slow. Rogers Lake, Little McGregor and most of the smaller Lakes west of Kalispell should be fishable by this weekend.

I presented a seminar on old school VS new school ice techniques at Snappy's on Saturday and there were about 75 people in attendance. Chancy Jeschke also presented a seminar on finess perch fishing. If you need anything pertaining to ice fishing, stop in at Snappy Sport Senter in Kalispell. They have a huge section devoted to ice fishing and stuff you just wont find anywhere else.

The 1st event of the 2008 Perch Assault series kicks off on Jan 5th so check our HSOforum for more info on that, you dont want to miss it!

In the mean time, get fresh line on, check those tip-ups, sharpen the jigs and dig out the coveralls and boots cause ice fishing season is HERE!!!!!

[Fish Toys]

Thanks for the report. Have you tried spearing out there or cutting a bigger hole to see what is down there?