Fishin report!!

[mjhowe]

HI!
Last week was a great week, got to chase some elk, cook (and eat!) a great Thanksgiving dinner and do some SERIOUS icefishing.

Never caught the elk, but discovered some great new hunting ground in my backyard, almost! Shot a nice whitetail buck Fri, so said the heck with elk hunting! Saw guys fishing one lake from the ridge I was hunting on and had to get out on the ice with em!

So Sat, my partner and I hit Smith lake and spent the day playing seek and annoy with the lakes perch. Found some nice fish for this lake, and went home with plenty. But the Pike fishin', thats where the fun began.

Saw several, very nice fish while sightfishing. Fish would show up high on the Vexilar, then we would close the house and watch em come in! Had one fish look at my jig for almost 3 minutes then without warning, BAM and the fight was on!! And then just as fast it was over, bit off again.

Several instances between both of us and landed a few smaller 1-2 pounders. Gave away a 3 lb'er to a couple kids who didn't catch anything.

Then, Sunday, hit a lake we had never fished before only having got permission the day before. Known for big pike and lots of perch, we gingerly stepped out onto unknown and unwalked on ice. Drilled some holes, had 3-4" ice and started searching with the Vex's. Found some perch real fast and were in the process of catching a few when BAM, George gets a hit and line is screaming off the reel. It was almost like we didn't know what to do!!! I dropped what I was doing and just watched him fight the fish!! Got it to the hole a time or two before we realized it was a rainbow trout! He had been fighting it thinking he had a pike and just waiting to get bit off. 6lb test and a 7" whole was going to make it real interesting.

On the 6th attempt we had it out of the hole, 6lb's even, beautiful fish and tasty!!
Nothing but small perch for the rest of the day and we fished all day, learning the lake as we went.

All in all an awesome end to a great week.The only bummer is its getting warm every day and the ice aint gonna be safe for long. Oh well, we got some hot early ice action a lot sooner than some folks in other parts of the country!!

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Mike
Kalispell, MT
<<><<
"LOOK ALIVE, MAGGOT!"
(Not you Pal, I was talking to my bait)

[danny berg]

MJ,
Are you still planning on being here for the Ice fishing show this weekend. I can tell you now that there isn't much for ice in the metro area right now..Don't know about farther north yet either.

Danny

[Guest]

Thats a nice rainbow!

Sounds like you guys had a good time.

Good Fishin,
Matt

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[email protected]
Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum

[mjhowe]

Danny,

No, we are gonna shoot for next year, and I am glad now with the conditions, although I would still like to go to the show!!

While you guys are shopping, hopefully I will be fishin!!

I hope to post a few pics tomorrow

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Mike
Kalispell, MT
<<><<
"LOOK ALIVE, MAGGOT!"
(Not you Pal, I was talking to my bait)

[Guest]

Nothing better than catching Rainbows.

I see you are from Montana. I grew up in Anaconda and will be fishing Georgetown in a couple of weeks Any reports from Georgetown?

[danny berg]

Fishon,
Welcome to the wonderful world of Fishing Minnesota. I grew up in Hardin, and go back there every other year. If you are in the west Metro, maybe we'll see you on Waconia some night for crappie fishing.
Danny

[mjhowe]

Fishon,

Check the States forums for the Montana forum. I have put out the challenge to folks to post some reports from around the state. I am currently posting for NW Montana when there is anything to report. Hopefully someone from SW Montana will join in and keep us posted!

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Mike
Kalispell, MT
<<><<
"LOOK ALIVE, MAGGOT!"
(Not you Pal, I was talking to my bait)