2/8 Mantua Mess

[Jig-fisher]

A mess of gills and a few perch thrown in to be exact. Didn't get there until 11 am and quit just a little after 2. I was in 18 FOW and probably iced close to 60 fish. Had to sort through a lot of small gills and perch, but wow they were hot this afternoon. Small ice fly or tungsten, or a hali's tipped with spikes, wax worms or a piece of mealworm did the trick. I had to be somewhere at 330 or I would have stayed longer, they were still going strong when I left. "Fish tacos" here we come!
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[wiperhunter2]

Wow, you really did good, must have been the location. We got there late too (11am) after trying Porcupine early that morning and finding too much open water to get on the ice. We figured we would just fish at the closest place with easy access, so we just fished off the ramp, in 13 to 20 FOW. Tried deeper first then moved to the shallower water after but not bite deep. Maybe we were in the wrong location or did not stay long enough but it sure sounds like you nailed them. Thanks for the excellent report and pic, it gives me hope it isn't over there yet. Ice was really thick where we fished 13" but most of it was white, not a lot of clear ice toward the bottom, maybe a few inches.
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[L-D-R]

Nice . Good looked mess of fish.
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[Jig-fisher]

I hiked 3/4 way across and was by myself out there. I parked in the north plowed lot. I'm sure it was the location. They were stacked sometimes up to 7 feet off the bottom. The ice was good, just a few inches of white ice then solid clear ice at least 7 to 8 inches below.
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[wiperhunter2]

We were out on the ice fishing by 11am and saw a guy walking out from that parking lot about that time, were you by yourself carrying a black bag, maybe a tent?
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[Jig-fisher]

No, I was pulling a sled. I probably arrived a bit before 11, but didn't actually get lines down the hole until around 11. I never did set up my tent. Was warm enough without it with the sun shining.
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[wiperhunter2]

The guy I saw was pulling a sled but after he walked by the last group of people i did not notice how far out he walked. Would you say you walked 1/2 mile or more out to the location you fished? We did see some people way out there like that fishing but did not notice anyone fishing by their self when we got there.
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[Jig-fisher]

Yes it was probably 1/2 mile or more. I was probably 200 yards or so away from the bank coming off the hill on the east side. There was a group to the south of me, but they were pretty far away from me.
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[Jig-fisher]

The tacos were awesome! Cilantro lime dressing topped them off.
Not a single piece of fish left!
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[obifishkenobi]

How was the road, is it passable to the back of Porcupine? Was there a big gap between the shore and the ice, do you think it will freeze back up? Sorry for all the questions but I really want to get back up there.
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[wiperhunter2]

No problem getting to the top of the dam, we stopped at that first pull over just past the dam and walked down from there. It looked ok but the first step went through, so we used a shovel to check out about 4 or 5 feet and it gave way, so we decided not to chance it without a plank. We were the first truck back in there on Fri. We decided to try going back toward the first ramp and it looked bad too, so we gave up and left. When we got back to the dam we could see someone had walked down right at the dam and got on the ice ok. Then we noticed a snowmobile on the ice too, I guess his skies were long enough to bridge the gap between the shore and good ice or he brought something with him to get it across.[:/] We never made it to the back. It was 9 degrees when we were there, so I'd say there is a chance it will freeze up again.
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[obifishkenobi]

Thanks for the information, one more question how deep is the snow around the lake?
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[wiperhunter2]

Around 5" from the last storm, maybe 8" or more of old frozen crusty snow beneath that.
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