Dismal Start To Weekend
We had wondered and wondered why so little activity out on East Bay this year. Since late December when we got a lot of snow there just hasn’t been a whole lot of traffic out there. We had been meaning to investigate this area but for one reason or another we just hadn’t gotten around to it.
Well, Saturday presented us with an opportunity and we went for it. Wish we wouldn’t have. We knew of the location of a number of Perch schools in several other areas but our thrill seeking and adventurous sides took over and we wanted that Perch Eruption Christmas Tree discovery sense of elation.
ONE HUNDRED FIFTY SIX holes later:
Goose Egg!!
I honestly could not believe it. I am a hole driller, I believe in ‘throwing as many darts at the bullseye’ as possible inevitably results in a bullseye. Apparently not out on East Bay on Saturday. We worked many depth levels all the way from behind Pop’s, the east ridge of Foughty’s, down south all the way into Skadsem’s Bay and along Mitchell’s Bars.
NOTHING!
In fact, we barely even marked any fish. It was unreal how little fish activity we found. My daughter’s basketball game was the only saving grace as it gave me a reason to get off the ice and caused us to change locations. What a difference that would make.
Love When Different Species Start to Intermingle
This time of year, if we are still able to get on the ice, its migration time for most fish species as they start to stage for there pre-spawn feeding frenzy.
During this migration time, we see a lot of intermingling of Perch, Crappie, and White Bass schools and often times this will bring about a great bite, Saturday and Early Sunday didn’t disappoint. Until a small snow squall shut them down late-morning Sunday, there were a lot of fish biting and a lot of really nice Perch and Crappies came out of the lake.
This is only going to intensify and by mid-week when the weather straightens out again, we look for a lot more good reports to be coming in.
Our magic depth was 31-34 feet of water. Gold Varmints with minnow heads and slip bobbers with a plain hook and a minnow through the tail were our weapons of choice.
These weren’t super schools, in fact there were little pods scattered in a lot of areas, but they were will biters and there would be sporadic eruptions every few hours.
The other thing was that 10 feet could make all the difference in the world. We will talk about these two factors tomorrow in our Fish Behavior Fish Activity commentary that comes out every Tuesday.
It never ceases to amaze me how touchy these fish can get with:
- A. Weather
- B. 10 foot variances of distance
More Happy Customers
These points from several weeks ago continue to produce as there are a lot of fish in this area:
Good Luck out there!
Hold On To Your Rod…
And…
CATCH MORE FISH!!
How are the ice conditions? I read last week you are still driving 4X4 trucks on the ice, is that true for Devils, Stump and the northern lakes?
Yes, we are still driving trucks on most parts of the lake. Stay away from cattails, bridges, any water flow areas, and sunken shallow roads and pressure ridges. We had 30 inches of ice on the parts of the lake we were on Saturday and Sunday.