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Here’s a little info for those thinking about Hyrum tomorrow. I got on at 7:00 this morning off swim beach. Spud was going through on second or third hit, but I went out anyway. Punched a hole with the auger and it’s sort of unsettling when the augers go through so fast. I measured the thickness at just about an eighth less than 3”. It held pretty good except later when Alan, 2knots joined me and he was giving me some tackle and when we got close there was a big crack and drop. Sort of scary and afternoon it kept getting worse, but it held us up. Anyway that was the ice condition. Fishing early was great for perch. Just about all that swam by hit it. It was a good day for me, I got 25 perch over 8” and two bows under 12”. Alan really schooled me after he joined me. He got a nice big bow and quite a few perch and other bows. It was a fun day but the fishing really slowed down after 11:30. If you go use lots of caution and stay spread out. Don’t take anything very heavy and keep your holes a ways apart so the ice won’t crack and drop you through. I wouldn’t recommend taking kids or elderly now. Whoever goes out may need to self rescue so only those that can get themselves out should try it. Fish were all over the chart for what they were taking, big, small, black and white and pink and yellow and just about anything I dropped into the zone got hammered. They liked spikes today, but got a couple on wax and night crawlers too. Only thing that didn’t work was a fake perch eye that looked great, and cost $5, but they didn’t catch any fish, just me. I didn’t try a real perch eye. Well I better get this posted. Later Jeff
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Thanks for the update.
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You’re welcome. Jeff
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Here’s a picture
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tks for the post Jeff..that'll give us 'Ice fishing perch junkies' a chance to spread out - already - now with 3 pretty good hard-water sources fishable....maybe take some pressure off Mantua....Fish tacos...perch fry...hard to beat....Guluk..
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Being new to this and getting to check out the new ice was a great experience on learning hard deck conditions for me, with my spud being heavier I was able to punch through on the 2nd jab and sometimes on the 1st. As we looked around a bit chasing schools we did find some spots that were thinner ice, be safe if you go and I’d definitely suggest having a buddy with you.
Jeff had a good pile of fish when I arrived so it was “catch up” mode for me, he had drilled holes in a few areas and with his comments on how the ice was I just used a couple of his old holes at 1st. I was looking forward to catching my 1st ever perch and of course it seemed all that wanted to play for me was bows which Jeff was looking for for the contest, always seem to be the way it goes lol. Finally I caught a perch that was about 4” so got that out of the way. After a bit and a slow down in the bite we decided to move into a little deeper water and had some good action on the perch for about an hour, I had switched over to tipping the jigs with a piece of crawler and did well, I had put a glow white kastmaster on 1 rod and was jigging with it and dead sticking the tear drop jig. It seemed that the jigging attracted the fish and then they would hit the dead stick rod. Anyway had a great time and appreciate the invite Jeff, looking forward to the next trip.
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You’re welcome, I’m sure Mantua would be too crowded to fish if there weren’t some other options starting to get safe. Probably was pretty busy anyway since it’s the safest ice so far. Hope everyone found some fish today. I didn’t but I played a long shot and failed. Later Jeff
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Looks like you did ok. How do you like your jigging JJ?
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Yes had a good day for the limited time I was there. That JJ in the pic is Jeff’s, I forgot mine at the house, next time hopefully lol
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Hey the jigger did okay, but I did better on my active rod... I had six or seven takes on the JJ but I missed like four of the them because I was too slow getting to them, but I love the JJ.. I did run out of batteries for the second time in two years of using it, so they last pretty well.... I won't fish without the JJ as my second rod any more... Later J
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is that jigging jacker noisy at all?
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Got to see one in action today. Definitely adds a new level to dead sticking. Glad you like it
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[quote gaardvark]
is that jigging jacker noisy at all?
[/quote]
I used mine for the first time today. When I used the wheel that does the most active jigging it was a little noisy, but not bad.
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They kind of growl a little but doesn’t seem to effect the fish or annoy me, but when you hear the snap I’m in sprint mode. Kind of a whole different kind of fun. Like setting a trap and then trying to get to it before it gets loose line and slips the hook. I really like it and I’m ok with it setting the hook. It usually just means I’m going to catch more fish than I would have otherwise. I’m going to be at Newton tomorrow AM if you’re around there come find me and check it out. Later Jeff
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They are kind of fun. watch Dicks sales I picked one up for 20% off so it wasn’t quite as spendy. But you already catch all the big fish so you don’t need another edge. Later Jeff
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Thanks Jeff, I'd love to come out, but I think last minute Christmas prep assignments will keep me off the ice today. Let me know if you can get out later this week, and I'll try to join you.
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I just went for a couple hours today and I’m back to Christmas prep. Will let you know if I get out again soon. Later Jeff
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