With the days getting longer it is giving the sun time to warm up our temperatures a bit. It is that time of the year a lot of ice fisherman wait for… Late Ice! With the weekend upon me I made my way to Aitkin Co in search for some crappies and tullibees.
Saturday morning came and with it the nervous anticipation of catching some nice fish. Made it to the lake at 7am. I pulled out my gps to find the area to cover. Turned it on and it was locked in on my last spot I fished until it acquired the satellite signal. The spot you ask? Well, it was my proven tullie spot. I thought to myself. Well, we are in Aitkin County and tulliees are a nice catch this time of year. So I pulled up on the spot and grabbed my trusty Strikemaster Solo Pro Lazer auger. Cutting holes in almost 3 feet of ice was a breeze.After blowing out a few holes I dropped the Marcum lx3 down the hole to see what was there. Right away there were tullies on the screen. So I quick grabbed the Otter Lodge and set up. Dropped down and all I got were fish swimming in and out. I stayed there for about an hour in hopes that one would take chase but none did. Talk about being
humbled!
So once again to the gps we go. Knowing that most of the season the usual crappie spots had been hit hard I needed a new spot. I had got a tip of a spot that was holding crappies and one could make them bite. So off in that direction I went. Reading my topo map on my gps I continued to bore holes hoping to find a school. We set up in about 24 fow and drilled some holes. Sure there were fish there so I set the house up and soon after a few fish were on the ice. The action slowed and out came the Pro Lazer. Circling the fish house I dilled several holes in no time flat. It seemed like I marked fish in just about every one. Not a lot of aggressive fish though, but they were there.
Now although there were fish here I was really looking for a school of them. I know that the compitition between crappies triggers more of them to be aggresive.
So back to the gps one more time. In looking in the area where I was at I noticed a funnel point in the structure not far away. It was about 20 – 22 fow at that point. So I drilled some holes where the mouth of the funnel was and I continued to mark fish also. Not setting up the house right away I hole hopped for awhile and found many more fish willing to take chase. After that I set up the fish house and sat and continued to catch fish for the rest of the day. The key here was they were stacked ! Just what the doctor had ordered.
The next day it was off to the same spot for round two of the crappies. I picked the last spot from the previous day and BAM there were fish down there! So I drilled out the area. This time not only did I drill out the funnel point I went on the inside curves of the funnel also. The morning was overcast and a little chilly. The action was slower than the day before. Around 11 am the snow began to fall and it was like a switch with the fish. It seemed that more crappies were willing to bite and the game was on. The later it got the better the action was. Soon a few tullies made there way on the ice. It seemed that a lot of fish also came from the inside turns of the funnel. Glad I made that call to drill those areas out also.
The weekend showed that it is great to have proven spots but even those can slow from time-to-time. Don’t be afraid to try and get a tip on new spots or get out and try to find a few more for a rainy day or a nice snowy winter day.
That topo map paid for itself and the gps…well she’s got a few more way points!
Tight lines everybody
Chris Barlage