TDunn Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) Hey OFC! What a winter we are having! I love it. Warm and windy days have been the common denominator up here around the Soo. Many around here are complaining about the lack of winter but not me. I’m going to enjoy this until ice out because I know it might not happen again for another 20+ years. Now to the fishing. .... Ive been targeting pike and crappie on a few of my favourite weed beds. I set tip-ups for pike with a smelt/cisco or sucker. They are hung by 40# fluoro quick strike rigs I tie up. I set the tip ups anywhere in the water column from the tips of the weeds to right under the ice. This year I had my best luck with the baits 6-12 inches above the weeds. A few were caught closer to the upper part of the water column but the big girls all came just above the weeds. First pike of the season is big and of course not ready for a picture! Just a quick self timer in the hut..... pushing 40"... there is some video footage of this fish at the end of this report. Ted and I hit the ice for a day of pike My crappie spots have been producing quite well this year compared to previous years. Fish are all big with the average size being close to 11”. Pink and glow crappie tubes and glow Northland Forage minnows have been deadly. During the day Ive been pulling them right off bottom through the heavy weeds. It can be a pain pulling up weeds all the time but thats where they are.... As the sun dropped, I began to mark and catch agressive crappie suspended. The best crappie bites came when I was fishing alone. Isn’t that usually the way it goes! LOL! Self timer shots..... Had a few buds out for them. Caught some but never hit them like I did the week before. Ive kept 12 crappies total this year for a wicked fish fry Every fish since then has gone back for next year! My cousin Ted had been fishing a lake for walleye with a few of his buddies from the Fish and Wildlife program here at Soo College. They did quite well with Ted landing a real nice chunk. A few days later. Ted, another relative and I sent out to ice a few walleye of our own. Although we didn’t do quite as well with the eyes as the guys from FW did but we did manage a few keepers and the first two pike I have ever seen come from this lake. One was a giant! 43” by 22” and still swimming! Then he lands a 30”+ five minutes later... Hit LSPP for a day.....maybe the coldest day of our winter here LOL. Not a good idea. We spent most of the day looking for wood to keep the fire going and us warm. We couldn’t even jig for the first 4-5 hours because of the intense NE wind blowing the snow sideways until about 3pm. We got about an hour in of jigging and hit half a dozen lakers or so. They weren’t big but it felt great to hit a nice flurry after going through a day like that! My last few outings have been for perch. Hasn’t been a great bite but we have manage enough each time for a fry. I think I am going to move shallower next and target some of the giant rainbows swimming around at this spot! Here are some video clips of some of the pike. Including the 43" PIKE VIDEOS We were just slammed by snow and wind the last few days. It seems winter has finally arrived until I checked the weather and tomorrow and weds is calling for temperatures well above 0. Even though the mild temps have been common through winter our lakes are still locked with a bunch of ice. I'll be on the ice for another couple weeks than its steelhead time!! Hope you enjoyed, TDunn Edited March 6, 2012 by TDunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAW Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Great report man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdve23rveavwa Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Great stuff, as usual, Tyler!! Love that 43" gator!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Caster Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Can't wait to see if you guys get into those rainbows! Awesome chapter of fishing... Especially liked the three big walleyes stacked above the smaller ones. Thx for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Holy Cow !!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Wow, excellent report. Some real nice fish there. Those Crappie sure do look tasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassnbows Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Some very sweet looking fish there. Great report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spincast Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great report - those are sweet esox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofthesteelhead Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I am jealous of the decent fishing you have up there,must be awesome in the warmer months also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Beauty report Tyler!!!!! Thanks for taking the time and sharing the experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Is King Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great report! You are all over them this winter! Nice job! Love those crappie. Great eating!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThisPlaceSucks Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 awesome man! after a slow start this year i've been nailing fish the last few weeks and now I don't want winter to go! there's no need for you to ever go fishing alone you know! any day you need a parter for crappie out east, i'd gladly oblige... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great stuff Tyler, some really nice fish there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf 3 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishindevil Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 great report as usual tyler !!! man theres some very big slabs,and some nice pike too,well done !!! so when is the big fish fry ?? lol..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Well done boys, lotsa big there !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvette1 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 awesome gators congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnsled Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Great report!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyb Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I think your reports get better and better every time. NICE!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitespinnerbait Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 WOW !! A fishing report!! Great stuff Dudes !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDunn Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thanks guys! Doc if I'm heading out solo again I'll let you know TDunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2fish85 Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Awesome report. Those are some nice fish. I never caught anything like that when I stayed in your area. I caught a couple whitefish lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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