Sk8man

Way to go Steve. It's anyones guess what will happen to the ice with the rain today and then 50 plus degrees tomorrow....I'm hoping to get back into some of the huge pumpkin seeds like I got the other day there (glove is extra large size).

Good going Pops! Real nice fish....reminds me of the old days on Seneca when 15-20 pound notherns were the rule of the day....

I don't know a whole lot about autopilots but wouldn't the boat steer better (perhaps with fewer position corrections) with the out drive in the down position (as a rudder)?

Sorry Andre.....I just couldn't help messin with you If I get down that way I'll check it out... Les

I'm pretty sure that the place is frozen up right now

Steve - We fished out from Trident Marine mainly east side about 11 - 15 ft of water. They hit waxies wouldn't touch spikes worms or rubber. All fish came from jigging...nothing on the tip ups with shiners., There were guys fishing at extreme north end out from beach but they picked up and went in early didn't look like they did much. We didn't check the south end. Adm Byrd - If my son had learned to ice fish from you all his tip ups would have been tangled together

There was about 4 inches of hard solid ice. It was slow going though and aside from losing a good one at the hole (I think Walleye but didn't see it) we had a keeper pickerel, bass, and a couple dinner plate gills (my son got them :>) It was a bit chilly though (5 degrees this AM and only moved to 10 all day and windy) It looked as though the folks fishing out deep (middle) didn't do well at all from the looks of it as they didn't hang around long....of course another factor may have been the weather. My wife said I should be "committed" ...my response was " I couldn't be any more committed than being out there today in that weather Les

As far as the first day of the walleye season in May....be real careful on the ice

John is on target with his info and don't rule out fishing for them right after dark or just before. Walleyes are usually very "skiddish" and "fussy" you really have to mess with them most of the time when you spot them on the Vexilar . Guys with cameras have repeatedly noted that they often come right up to a lure or bait or jig and just look it over and then turn away and move out and you'd never know they were there. You don't want any "swiveling" around and around of your lure either. They often prefer horizontal jigs (such as the miniature Rapalas etc.) rather than vertical ones. Like most of the perch and pike family they often seem to display a preference for the chartreuse range (yellow through green) lures but obviously hit other stuff as well. Their eyes are VERY light sensitive so if the ice is very clear (e.g. when it first forms and or is thin) look for any spots that have snow cover and fish from it at the edges. Good luck. P.S.Pap seems to be right about most of the eye fishermen and secrecy

I'd suggest anyone thinking about going out take along a couple extra sets of underwear (and not for just the cold weather)

A couple things.... after over thirty years of dealing with behavioral issues, and human relationships etc. I am reminded of the old adage "Don't make important financial or personal decisions in the heat of emotion" . I once had a friend who got tired of the BS at work and sold his home and moved his family (2 kids and wife) to Florida WITHOUT EVER HAVING BEEN THERE. He returned after 7 or 8 months and had to rent a place and was pretty embarrassed as well, and ended up in a divorce over it, and the friend later committed suicide but the point is that he should have cooled off in the first place and looked at all the pros and cons (perhaps on a SPECIFIC LIST) and weighed the options and then done his homework as far as physically exploring the potential environment before "leaping". When this new gun law came out I had that same impulse as you (only thinking of Montana perhaps :>) but when I seriously thought things over carefully it doesn't make sense (at least right now) as I have a kid in college, elderly mother etc. It might be wise to wait a bit to see how all this regulatory bs pans out at the Fed level as well as here before doing anything you may regret later> I know this sounds a bit "preachy" but I assure you it is well intentioned anyway.

They were getting them off the aluminum docks (out at the very end) at Sutters just before the last ice and a few off the end of the pier (south east end) last week but I haven't checked since then. They were using minnows on typical bobber rig for the most part. Most of the perch were in the 8-9 inch range and I had seen schools of them that size in the area of the channel the weeks before that.

Maybe we should trade in for sailboats..... with heaters