Dano

Nice to see you found the fish and some good company to enjoy it with! Thanks Terry. It was a beautiful day here too, Fern and I got out on the sleds for a few hours, had a blast.

Targeting lakers? Didnt think the season opened till Feb., or am I missing something?

Ha ha, thats awesome. Thanks for the report.

nice!

Very cool, nice fish. Looks like you guys had a blast, good on you.

Great pics, very nice setting and a tasty eye to boot!

Hey Bernie, this is awesome stuff, love the pics and your insights into them, very entertaining. It must feel wonderful to have those memories preserved and some actual roots you can relate to so well. Thank you, one of my favourite posts yet.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Just an update. I have caught a few more perch from that lake and so far they all seem to be eating the same things which kind of surprised me. Guess I'll have to look for some little rock bass/sunfish shaped baits and see how they work. Cheers!

Yea....You best be wary of that fellow Wayne, knowing him its some kind of trap.....

I wish I could join you Terry, but its my turn to be on call this weekend so I'd better not stray too far. The rig looks great, how did she run?

Sorry to hear of your troubles bud. Good shops are hard to find, glad you're not going to let the sots get away with it.

Yea, no kidding Wayne, its been along time, you usually do all the work for me! Lol Yea young_one, I figured sunfish would be pretty low on the preferred forage list. If thats the case, it could mean a good fishing year there.

Awesome report, that looks like a ton of fun! Beautiful brookie too, congrats!

Some work I had scheduled today was delayed so I found myself looking for things to do. I cleaned out my work truck, did some inventory then told myself I had done enough for the day. I'm still tired from the holiday season with working and moving Fern and her kids into their new house here in town. Of course that entails is a whole bunch of other stuff.... Regardless, I got back home and was met by my buddy Beau, who is always happy to see me. He looked like he needed some fresh air, I know I did, so I decided to throw a bit of ice gear together and try my luck at some panfish. I had never ice fished for perch or crappie before but these were to be my quarry as I was all pumped up after reading some of the articles in the OOD magazine last night. Armed with my trusty companion and my new sled we headed out. It was a beautiful sunny day and at first I was walking/fishing in just my fleece. It took me a while to find what I was looking for on the Lowrance and it wasnt long before I lost my first fish, it was weird because the line broke on the loop that went around the hook eye, oh well. It wasnt long before I was doing battle with a nice little perch, and I was kept busy enough to keep me amused for about two hours, which was fine as my boy was starting to get a chill. Here he is standing guard. All in all, I lost three, put two back and kept two to eat. These fish sure have pretty colours. No crappie, all perch. At least I think they were all perch as I didnt land any crappie So after I kill them, bring them home and clean them, I find these in their bellies. This lake has sunfish, crappie, largemouth and pike as far as I know. I think these are young sunfish but I am not sure. Can anyone positively identify them? What a great afternoon, it sure lifted my spirits and thats exactly what the Dr. ordered.

Looks like a blast. Dont know about buying the crown land, but you may look at leasing some. Write the MNR and see what they say, you never know.

You dont have to worry about me sending you that garbage Roy, I like you just the way you are!

Prayers and positive thoughts on the way. I hope they can nail this thing down Dave, we are all pulling for your daughter!

Looks like an awesome afternoon on the ice, thanks for sharing it.

Nice, should be a lot of fun. Cant wait to see you trolling the reach with it next November!

That's not a miss......lol

Match the hatch, also depends what you are fishing for. As an example, if I was ice fishing for walleyes, I'd use the minnows. Leeches are not a very good cold water bait, at least thats my experience. Late spring through summer I'd try both and see what produced better. I think you will find the minnows a more versatile choice all around.

Hmmmm, so both of you guys have folks that spawn in the spring, just like the esox you persue. Coincidence? Things to ponder... All the best to you Marc and Pete too.

I must say those are some pretty interesting conclusions Clamp-it.

Good stuff HD, thanks for sharing. It does look like a beautiful spot.

Ha ha! Thats awesome Leechman!