Finally have the Desire

To get out ice fishing. For various reasons I just have not had any desire to get out ice fishing this season. Normally by this point of the season I would have been out 20+ times by now. So far I’ve been out 1 time for about 3-4 Hr’s. Even though yesterday and today have been brutally cold, the forecast for tomorrow and Sunday looks decent. I’m a little unsure how the bite will be coming out of this Cold snap, but I guess you have to get out there to find out. Hopefully this outing will jump start my normal desire/Drive for ice fishing. What are all of your thoughts on how the cold snap will effect the bite this weekend ?

I have been mainly focusing on panfish but I dont think fishing will be tough by any means. Warm enough to hole hop pretty easily and find them. I have been doing pretty well still on weeds for bigger fish. I would be basin bites will still be going. Walleyes I have no clue on.

I think fishing may be slow tomorrow morning but by evening I’m hoping things change for the better.
I’ve dealt with some very negative fish the last couple weeks but still managed to catch enough on very finesse presentations to be satisfied.

Same with me. Been out only about 4-5 so far this year but thr truck is all packed and ill be camping out in the pop up all weekend

I hear ya. I have been having fun ice fishing this year and going again this weekend with my son. I am getting sick of the cold though, so mild temps this weekend and next week will be welcome

To your question about fishing. I personally don’t think it will be very good particularly tomorrow. Just too big of temp swings. Need the weather to stabilize a bit. Having said that, only one way to find out…

Ya I’ll be chasing mostly panfish. Buddy I’m going with has access to a panoptics unit for the day, so that should be helpful and fun to see in action. In nothing else it should really cut down on the # of holes needed to locate schools of fish. My buddy got a report of where we are headed and it sounds like there a lot of fish, but size is a little on the smaller size for Crappies. Right now a good bite seems more important than size. Just something to get the juices flowing again. Hopefully we can manage enough keepers to have a fresh fish fry. Its been awhile since I’ve had a good panfish fry.

Good luck Fishthumper! Yeah we about survived the cold snap only a few more hours left and maybe we are done with this crap for the year. Would be nice! Weve definitely been lucky this winter only 2 brutal cold snaps so far. January for the most part was really nice which is rare.

If you dont find size in the basin drill your way towards the weed edges. Good luck!

Weed edges right now

Good luck FT. The sudden rise in temp will probably be better for fisherman than fish but who knows. I want to get out too but cant shake sledding. Once we start losing snow I will get out again.

The place we are headed I’d call it more Wed edge fishing rather than Basin fishing. Although the weed edge on this lake is rather massive. Running along several long shorelines. Still a ton of water to cover to find the better more active schools.

Shallow panfish have been very aggressive and active for me the past week even with the cold. Targeted walleye last night and Sunday night and had decent success with 2-3 eater-size fish each night. Last night was brutally cold with the wind. I haven’t really seen the temps affect the bite too much.

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So some of you guys are still having success in or near weeds? That’s surprising to me considering the amount of snow/slush cover and how late in the season it is. Would think there aren’t too many green, healthy weeds left down there… But what do I know?!

If you’re fishing south of the metro consider some of the deeper lakes.
Been hearing reports of freeze out on the shallower lakes.

Aboxy17 wrote:

Shallow <em class=”ido-tag-em”>panfish have been very aggressive and active for me the past week even with the cold. Targeted walleye last night and Sunday night and had decent success with 2-3 eater-size fish each night. Last night was brutally cold with the wind. I haven’t really seen the temps affect the bite too much.

The fish should be pretty active with this being a very steady cold snap. It’s been a full week of freezing, it’s that day of the transition that usually slows the bite or pushes it real negative. Last Saturday the first full day of the cold was a tougher bite. But Sunday the fish were back to being active. Tonight in to tomorrow with the big transition again, I would think will alter the bite once again until evening and or Sunday morning will probably be a more aggressive bite. ( I’m hoping) . I could use a day to chase aggressive panfish and watch flags pop. The kids definitely need some nicer weather. They are going nuts in the house. I’ll be heading out toward Chisago

Tom schmitt wrote:

If you’re fishing south of the metro consider some of the deeper lakes.
Been hearing reports of freeze out on the shallower lakes.

Was curious when this would start happening. The deep snow and lack of light in the lakes is going to be tough on them

Last Saturday the first full day of the cold was a tougher bite. But Sunday the fish were back to being active.
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Pretty much exactly what I saw as well also had a great bite Thursday and Friday of last week.

I got the desire today also.. I think Umy’s post Found and the subsequent picture of the gill triggered my instincts.

The high pressure should be pushing out and the fish should start feeding.

However this winter has been a struggle for me anyways. So all bets are off on the prediction.

I’m hoping that is what my wife says tonight

Tom schmitt wrote:

If you’re fishing south of the metro consider some of the deeper lakes.
Been hearing reports of freeze out on the shallower lakes.

Yeah, heard quite a few lakes in Faribault are dying

Area

Thumper –
Punch a couple holes for me please.
I’ve so freakin buzy this year that I’ve only been able to get out once in early season and I see no signs of things slowing down.

Driving by the local lakes around Ham Lake there are very few people out. Ham has one house on it. Coon has one here, one there. Lindstrom very few. Thought these lakes and more where always packed with ice fisherman.

Mike W wrote:

Driving by the local lakes around Ham Lake there are very few people out. Ham has one house on it. Coon has one here, one there. Lindstrom very few. Thought these lakes and more where always packed with ice fisherman.

They are. This is almost a blessing to give the lakes a break. I went to Chisago yesterday and there were 4 big castles on the channel and the rest of the lake was quiet

I absolutely hammered Gills and crappies just off the base of breaks away from crowds. Started on the weeds this AM and only picked off a few. Went out to the base of the break and was back on them. I lost what was probably my PB crappie right at the hole. Got to see it at least. There was enough ice castles on this lake to be considered a town.

Yesterday was good on Lower Prior.
16 FOW of water – weeds are still looking healthy.
Tons of Sunnies and caught a couple 1 lb bass.
Saw a nice Walleye cruise by but he wasn’t interested in what I was selling.
BEAUTIFUL day on the lake.

Umy wrote:

Yesterday was good on Lower Prior.
16 FOW of water – weeds are still looking healthy.
Tons of Sunnies and caught a couple 1 lb bass.
Saw a nice <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Walleye cruise by but he wasn’t interested in what I was selling.
BEAUTIFUL day on the lake.

Ice fishing Prior is one of the few things I miss about living in the metro. I lived less than 5 minutes from the access on the lake and fished it a ton. It’s funny but the panfishing was so good out there that I use to have buddies from up North come and visit me to fish. It’s sad that the quality of the bass fell way off for some reason. From the late 80’s thru the early 2000 I would say it was one of if not the best bass lake in Minnesota. The average size was incredible with some true monster fish being caught each year. I keep hoping to hear that it returns to its good old days. It seems like it has started to rebound a few times only to fall back off again. Bummer !!!

I actually ice fished most of these two days … Friday and Saturday … it was a planned outing so I was fishing no matter the weather.

Neither day was lights out … I would say somewhat slow but with streaks of consistent catching… Saturday afternoon was probably the best. Most of the fish we did catch were really nice size. We kept about 20 or so for a couple of meals.

What a difference in the two days … Friday AM below zero and some real wind chills … Saturday was almost short sleeve weather where we were.