20190105-Trophy Blue Gill Pursuit... 3rd Day of the New Moon

20181223-Ice Fishing the Long Rod

20181215-Master Angler 22" White Sucker 110% MAR

20191213  Ice fishing Trophy Black Crappie!

2nd day out on the ice and I score with a trophy B.Crappie at 14.63”…. wow!! I recorded it all on chip what was amazing at the time of this tag I was recording the fish sonar Elite 4 HDI whole screen on my cell phone camera!... I coordinated and synced the two clips together… that was awesome!

This was the 2nd time I recorded a video of a trophy tag on a fish.

I timed this trip perfectly to the Minor.Period of the day on my favorite waypoint using my favorite method.

Location + Solunar period + Method = Success

This has been a great success formula for me the past few years.

20181031-Multi-Purpose Trip

so the purpose of this trip would be multi faceted accomplishing a few goals with the serviced depth sounder as well as getting a few minutes of fishing in.

The last day of October would be nice to tag a certificate fish… would be a first for the October month and is a long shot. October, November, December, March are the elusive months for me for the certificate fish…. Most of the time is wasted during open water to safe ice transition… last year was a total of 4 months of no safe fishing!

Once in the water, the temp registered a blistering 42° at the shore... away from the shoreline kicked up two degs.

One of the goals to accomplish today is to get some sonar logs completed in some shallow flats without the weed congestion associated with the warmer seasonal periods. Some of the lake that needed to be logged and mapped showed some fish in the magic 6-12 foot range. I logged 0 fish out in the deeper flats. I marked waypoints where I saw the schools and continued mapping to fish later.

Since this was a new replacement unit for my faulty sonar I wanted to thoroughly run it thru it’s paces, buttons and features before the ice settles in for the hard water period.

After the logging of lake remainder, I rigged up with some of my favorite micros and slip/floats and headed for the waypoints.

No matter what the presentation… even dropshotting I could not entice a strike in about an hour’s time… wow! And could be an official skunking! I see the fish on the sonar but they will not bite… given I was on a lull period between a Minor.Period and a Major.Period on an 11% FAL day… I fished up the leg of the Major.Period hopefully to end the skunking at hand but ended up empty.

Going in on this trip I knew that fishing would be tough but I needed to finish up on that lake map and test the replacement sonar… I honestly cant remember a date of a skunking in my history of fishing! Especially for panfish!!... this lake also gave up many 100+ fish/trip totals for me in the past.

This only consolidates affirmation of the Solunar tables and strategy for me for fishing success. So combined solunar low for intra-year (Cold-Water Period) as well as intra-month low at 11% for the day and some fishing during the Lull.Period and Uptick Major.Period resulted in poor fishing for the day. i knew this going in

Knowing what to expect on days like this per solunar tables I don’t rethink my strategy s or presentation… I didn’t do anything wrong or pick wrong lure colors and choices… my methods are confirmed and I have faith in them...it’s all in the tables.

tight lines,
Slip

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20181025-Near skunking in the Cold-Water Period

Checking my logs it was hard to believe it’s been over two weeks since I have been out on the lake last. In that period of time, a fisherman easily loses contact with the pulse of fish activity on the BOW. We have made the quick change of summer-like temps in early October to near winter-like conditions at night currently.

We are now in the fall Cold Period historically my worst seasonal period to fish. Quantity and quality of fish are at the yearly lows. Much of this period is unfishable due to the transition of soft to hard water. Many years I will lose an avg of up to 2 months of actual fishing due to this transition.

Estimating water temps in the mid 40’s I knew the bite would be tough but I didn’t think I was going to take a beating… near skunking… with only 4 fish in the boat in just over 3 hours worth of fishing time spent. This beating took place on a lake I have easily tagged over a hundred panfish in a single day several times this season!

It is certainly a tough time to be out on the water. If fishing was good there would be more fishermen out on the lakes. Like today I had the whole lake to myself.

Weather was good… sunshine and very little breeze with air temps near 50°. I layered up with sweats and took my ice suit.

Once on the water I confirmed mid 40’s for water temps and crystal clear waters.

I was without my sidescan imaging HOOK2… great tool for finding tight schools of fish over wide areas. At the time I was confident in my waypoints and knowledge base of the lake.

I did a perimeter check In the crystal clear flat waters in the shallows near my waypoints and found no fish activity whatsoever. One lowly crayfish was the only sign of life in many yards of the shoreline of a visual check. It was going to be a tough day I thought.

My first area of fishing was an expansive area of wooded flats with projecting stumps… scattered weed beds or better described as patches were noticed.

Two slip float/fly/waxie setups were immediately employed as I fan cast the area in between with micro-jigs and crappie swim jigs… nothing.

Moving on I encountered the same pulse… negativity! I was on a Major.Major and striking out! I projected casts tight to cover in less than 2’ FOW and encountered a scrappy 17” class LMB on the slip/float/mousie-fly/waxie. The LMB got me out of skunking status and I moved on after zeroing out on any more tags.

Moving to a shallow expansive bay I made long casts with the slip/float/mousie-fly/waxie setups and detected no activity… long casting the Lil-Minnow proved futile.

After a long period of time I started working my way back to the boat launch still determined to find fish … any fish. I noticed a dimple along a line of stumps in 8 FOW/weeds on the flat water. I over shot the dimple with a long cast slip/float/mousie-fly/waxie and ended up with a lowly 7” B.Gill. Excited to find any activity I worked the area thoroughly and tagged a nice P.Seed with the long-cast/.016 oz Simple Spider jig.

The bite fell off so I decided to scan the creek channel with down scan imaging and sonar. I discovered a tightly packed school of small to medium sized fish. Vertically jigging the school produced a 7” single Y.Perch on a tiny tungsten waxie tipped micro jig. 4 fish in 4 hours… very tough outing.

I started back to the launch after scanning more channel area and deep flats coming up empty.

One of the main purposes of the trip was to work the newer jig and fly ties. I was completely satisfied with its action under the float and the jig on the cast… I have a good feeling it will be a top producer for the next open water season.

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20181024-Game Prep for 20181025 Trip

The game plan for this moon period and the choice of the lake will be made at the end of the drive this morning. One lake is great for both species B.Crappie and B.Gill but is private and the trophy tag does n’t count towards the DNR database. The other lake has some huge B.Crappie in it and I have tagged a few nudging the 14” mark while Earl tagged one in April at 15”

the DNR lake is a small reservoir with some projecting stump fields as well as some nice weed beds. Mainly shallow averaging 6-9’ with a creek channel that runs to near 30’ at the dam. The crappie looks robust and fast growing the b.gill are numerous with some lunkers at the top of the chain. I haven't broken the 10” mark with the gill in this lake but got a few p.seeds over the 9” mark.

I have a blast long-casting the Lil Minnow as well as the LCD baits shallow and in between the many docks and boats during the summer periods. at this time of year, the docks and boats will be gone. interesting to see if the gills will be there.

There is a small shallow bay that holds many gills during the warmer periods. It would be nice to know if the gills are still there also during this fall coldwater period. That is why I'm leaning towards this lake as my selection. Why not? I'm already very familiar with the private lake and a trip there would surely be a success. I pick the challenge. Fail or succeed will greatly enhance the knowledge base for future planning.

The rod bundle for today will be my popular combination… (2) slip float and (3) long cast micro jig set-ups.

I would like to be on the lake by noon with the Major.Period starting at 12:55 and extending to 15:25.

I will be without my side scan imaging with the HOOK2. That unit would have been great for spotting random crappie schools on the flats. I hooked up the rusty old Elite 7HDI in its place just for this trip or until I get the new unit back from warranty service. All my waypoints were transferred to the unit.

I will be greeting mid to upper 40's for surface temps. clear sunny skies and mid 50's for air temps with mild winds.

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