01-29-2006, 06:45 PM
I know my report is a day or two late, but thought I would post up for all to read any way. I got the kitchen pass last minute and didn't have a chance to set up with anyone else, so I headed out for the berry solo friday morning. I had originally planned on hitting the SC side, but having never fished over there and the fact that visibility was near zero I switched up midstream and headed for the marina.
I was unloaded and had the wheeler on the ice by 7:30. The going was quite a bit slower than the last time I was up. About 8-10 of fine powder made the trek across the bay a little slower. My wheeler was still going through the snow, but I had a controllable top speed of about 17 mph. Went around the point into renegade and was happy to see that the snowmobiles had beat down a trail over land and I didn't have to hold my breath as I crossed the pressure fault (which still looked to be an issue). I got about 500 yards back in the bay when I passed a point that looked like a promising place to start. I popped a couple of holes in 19 feet of water and had 7 fish on the ice in 30 minutes. I was getting pretty excited about the prospects of a huge day, but about that time the fish stopped coming through. I was just about to move after nearly 45 minutes of fishless fishing, when another school moved through and I picked up a fast 3 more. It continued like that until I left around 2:00. I'd get nothing for a half hour or so then bam 2 or 3 fish just as fast as I could rebait and go back down the hole then back to nothing for a while. All in all I picked up 20 fish on the day, two were right at 22 and I'm sure both would have went over the slot with a tail pinch, but all were returned. I do like to keep a little table fair now and then, but I like there to be no doubt. didn't pick a rainbow today. I lost one chunky one at the hole on my last trip, but that's the only one I've seen so far this year.
A lot of the fish were starting to develop a pink hue on their underside, spawning colors I imagine. The ice was a little thinner than I expected. Only about 8" of black ice under 6 or 7 inches of frozen slush, still plenty of ice, just wasn't what I expected it to be. I seemed to pick up fish two places, right on the bottom or 8 feet below the ice. The fish on the bottom were so tight they would come in under what I could see with the sonar and I had several bites from fish that I never saw on my screen.
The trip out was a little interresting, it was snowing hard enough through the fog that I literally couldn't see my own tracks coming in. I had to follow the shore line around to the point and the first several hundred yards after rounding the point and heading across the bay were a little erie. I couldn't see anything. I simply aimed the bike where I thought the marina was as I rounded the point and tried to hold it straight. After a few minutes of rided all of a sudded the marina appeared 100 yards in front of me. I'm a little surprised that I didn't miss in and end up in mud creek, but I made it.
[signature]
I was unloaded and had the wheeler on the ice by 7:30. The going was quite a bit slower than the last time I was up. About 8-10 of fine powder made the trek across the bay a little slower. My wheeler was still going through the snow, but I had a controllable top speed of about 17 mph. Went around the point into renegade and was happy to see that the snowmobiles had beat down a trail over land and I didn't have to hold my breath as I crossed the pressure fault (which still looked to be an issue). I got about 500 yards back in the bay when I passed a point that looked like a promising place to start. I popped a couple of holes in 19 feet of water and had 7 fish on the ice in 30 minutes. I was getting pretty excited about the prospects of a huge day, but about that time the fish stopped coming through. I was just about to move after nearly 45 minutes of fishless fishing, when another school moved through and I picked up a fast 3 more. It continued like that until I left around 2:00. I'd get nothing for a half hour or so then bam 2 or 3 fish just as fast as I could rebait and go back down the hole then back to nothing for a while. All in all I picked up 20 fish on the day, two were right at 22 and I'm sure both would have went over the slot with a tail pinch, but all were returned. I do like to keep a little table fair now and then, but I like there to be no doubt. didn't pick a rainbow today. I lost one chunky one at the hole on my last trip, but that's the only one I've seen so far this year.
A lot of the fish were starting to develop a pink hue on their underside, spawning colors I imagine. The ice was a little thinner than I expected. Only about 8" of black ice under 6 or 7 inches of frozen slush, still plenty of ice, just wasn't what I expected it to be. I seemed to pick up fish two places, right on the bottom or 8 feet below the ice. The fish on the bottom were so tight they would come in under what I could see with the sonar and I had several bites from fish that I never saw on my screen.
The trip out was a little interresting, it was snowing hard enough through the fog that I literally couldn't see my own tracks coming in. I had to follow the shore line around to the point and the first several hundred yards after rounding the point and heading across the bay were a little erie. I couldn't see anything. I simply aimed the bike where I thought the marina was as I rounded the point and tried to hold it straight. After a few minutes of rided all of a sudded the marina appeared 100 yards in front of me. I'm a little surprised that I didn't miss in and end up in mud creek, but I made it.
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