12-05-2019, 03:34 PM
I marked inches on my spud blade so I can tell how thick it is on the fly. Sort of blew my mind when I realized 2” will hold a fat boy like me up. But it’s really easy to lose a half inch of ice in a couple steps so it’s a very dangerous time to be on the ice and I don’t want to take much gear and it should be the cheap stuff you dont mind losing.
I haven’t been to motivated to try Mantua yet, it is risky and haven’t heard of great fishing yet so best to be safe till we get decent ice. I tend to think it’s the crowds and noise that shuts the fishing down so once the ice is safe for the crowds, that’s usually when the fishing slows down. Had a guy tell me the other day that he would watch the fish leave as people walked over them. He had the pan optics system and was watching crappie from the side view. Makes sense to me, I always figured those gas augers are one of the worst offenders for scaring fish away. Anyway be safe and good luck. Later Jeff
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I haven’t been to motivated to try Mantua yet, it is risky and haven’t heard of great fishing yet so best to be safe till we get decent ice. I tend to think it’s the crowds and noise that shuts the fishing down so once the ice is safe for the crowds, that’s usually when the fishing slows down. Had a guy tell me the other day that he would watch the fish leave as people walked over them. He had the pan optics system and was watching crappie from the side view. Makes sense to me, I always figured those gas augers are one of the worst offenders for scaring fish away. Anyway be safe and good luck. Later Jeff
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