20180422-Opening Day

I decided to gear up and head to a local lake to test the waters for the panfish bite. Looking around winter evidence of ice is still present against the north facing foundations of the houses and garages and I’m going panfishing?

Looking at the solunar tables we were sitting at the lowest activity of the month at 13%. I would be fishing the lull approaching the major period. Today the weather was the trigger to get me out on the water.

30 short mins later im in the water scanning the shallows looking for the schools. Main lake body temperature was a cool 49° some calm shoreline waters broke the 51° mark where I started fan casting without a bite. This skunking went on for about an hour without a bite or signal from a fish.

During this skunking 2 other locals in their boats joined the pursuit and they seemed to be experiencing the same lack of success. I then started scanning with the side imaging looking for any sign of life. I then looked for them along the first and second breaks. Looking for schools of crappie would have been the easiest to spot on this lake… there are many as well as Lepomis. The search revealed nil.

Many times while out on the water during negative periods I would usually occupy my time by being productive in other ways like visual runs of the shorelines and contour mapping… just to keep me out there till the next solunar period.

At one point I started checking my phone for messages and position on the solunar graph while letting the boat drift slowly in one of the lakes shallow bays. Checking the surface temp on the sonar unit registered a blistering 53°. Just then I startled a large school of panfish in mere inches of water. Backing quickly out with the trolling motor I positioned the boat within easy casting distance to the bank.

I quickly rigged up the slip-float /fly/waxie setup and sent it to the school. The first cast was splashed on top of the school apparently alarming them sending the immediate shallows into a boil.  After repeated attempts with the rig ended with the same result the float spooking the fish in such shallow conditions.

I then started long casting the 1/64 oz jig/waxie combo into the school and started immediately hooking up which included the first fish/B.Gill of the season. I then let the jig settle to the bottom dead sticked it as well as a twitch and hop and increased the pace of tagged fish

After a short period in a flurry of fishing action I tagged 26 fish just over a Michigan limit and called it a day. In that mix were some nice mid sized B.Crappie and PSxBG hybrids in the lunker class… very nice.

I was able to recover the trip successfully by being persistent and adhering to a few basic early season principles. Fishing the warmest water, fishing tiny baits and fishing shallow. I missed the fish earlier in the trip fishing the same area but not shallow enough apparently.

A memorable opening day.

20180421-took a walk to the bridge to take a pulse of the reservoirs current condition… water temps etc. I of course took 3 long-cast/UL jigs set-ups with me to test the bite. As I started to take a temperature reading with the digital thermometer the battery died… but I’m guessing with the rapid snow and ice melt-off and ice and snow still on the bank water temps would historically read in the mid to high 40’s.

A great forecast ahead with sunshine and seasonal high temps we are headed for a fast warm-up into the water temps in the 50’s very quickly along with some fish activity.

with 20 mins casting during a major period i concluded no fish were present in this stretch of water presently.

20180420-did a little scouting today…

I was not impressed... since I always stow tackle in the vehicle at all times… (ya never know when an emergency arrives!) … I stopped at a few local shoreline spots that offer the premiere early fish activity meters in my area. The earliest fish activity  is measured at these spots accurately … after ice-out these are my earliest go to spots… throw a slip/float with a waxie or long/cast a little minnow/jig combo… hookup… fish are in. very simple equation.

There was no action today… I threw the go to baits and no hits. Just to test. Usually the fish are in with visible minnow activity in the sandy shallows… nothing… no visible life. The ice and snow melt off is a bull in the china shop indicator this is not the time… too early! Water temps at the most near mid 40’s with the melt off

Still thinking though a deep vertically jigged ice jig/waxie combo would be the ticket at the first break off the flats at 9 to 10-0’ levels….I need the boat for this to happen. Soon though the launches will be in shape and accessible.

Today with the great weather however I mark as a pivot point on the calendar in weather activity… winter/ spring transition I feel begins here.

Soon enough… soon enough I’ll be on the water scoring tags.

20180419- one year ago today Earl and I were on the fish in 58° water

One year ago today Earl, Connor and I were tagging the fish right and left long–casting/.032 UL jigs with 58° water temps. Checking normal avg water temps for this time of year would be within that range… we are currently -15° off that mark…. Water temps in the low to mid 40’s.

Checking the weather we art at the turning point where winter will finally be loosening its grip for near normal temps.

20180419-Tweaking the slip/float setup and methods…

I spent quite a few hours tweaking spinning rod setups for slip/floating and long-casting over some idle time this past winter. Back and spine issues kept me on the sidelines thru the hard water ice fishing season. Some of the changes I made were very minor in nature with no extra purchase in rods, reels and lines.

Since May and early June are just around the corner I concentrated most efforts on the slip/float set-ups realizing they are under the most use during those weeks with long-casters a close second.

The lines were all braid in the 6-8# test range with less than 2# mono diameter. For maintenance I simply swapped the line end for end which I normally do every one or two years to compensate for wear.

I noted one set-up is going on its fifth season with the red power pro line of 6# test. That is an incredible statement alone in itself. Significant durability and economy is well noted each and every time I use these rigs out on the water.

The line of choice is braid for the slip/floats systems. The main reason is its insane ability to cut thru weeds and stalks better than any other line type. On two separate occasions I landed 2 30” class fish in the same shallow lily pad field. I was simply amazed after landing the fish and noting the floating stems and pads in the battle zone. The braided line literally weed whacked thru the field… cannot do that with mono. Slip/floating and braid combinations has certainly earned my confidence. Then consecutively… it is thin and durable and casts like a dream.

The rods used varied from 4-0’ thru 5-6’ all UL action. The set-ups have the capacity to launch a slip/float in excess of 75-0’ fully loaded… not bad for short rods. I very rarely make casts over the 40-0’ mark … the floats are small and casts further than that are tough to see and detect the light bite.

Of course slip/floating set-ups are always changing preferences with me… but at a slower pace… I feell im actually getting close to the perfect set-ups matching my methods

Will always keep ya posted on any changes… good fishin

Keep those Lines Tight!

ken

20180429-Full moon today as we prepare to close out the month... but hey just over 10 days ago there was snow and ice on the ground making early April unfishable. Looking over my records the past few seasons i made on the avg a quick rebound and recovery for this april and still with a trip on the books for tomorrow.

20180224--With the recent record-setting above normal temps, we've been experiencing here on the tundra (Mid-Michigan)… left us with swollen over the bank rivers, streams, and creeks resulting in large sections of the thawed reservoir, ice dams, and flows. A really messed up ice fishing situation for me. This area was my go-to walk from home ice spot… looks like it is damaged for the rest of the season. Large sections of 8-12” thick icebergs stacked up along the bank pushing up to the road guard rail. Wow… I have never seen this are in such a transitional mess. Gotta love witnessing the raw power of nature though… for me it’s part of the sport of fishing… witnessing and being a part of.