Alexandria Area Report: A Break in the Weather

It's been a long stretch of this arctic blast until this past weekend when we finally received a break in the weather. And it was a welcome one to say the least. First of all, we have great ice and most lakes have 15-20 inches and very little snow. So the travel has been very good as well. I can't remember the last time we had quality ice conditions, but this year marks a good one.

With a break in the weather, that means that I could get out and scout for crappies and gills without being cooped up in a shelter. With this warmer weather, being more mobile and staying on the fish is a lot easier than shelter hopping. And I did some of that during the cold snap with some success, but it can get old fighting the conditions specially on your equipment. Anyway, it was a great weekend of fishing and the fish were definitely active today.

The areas to look are pretty simple, not around the crowds! Staying away from the crowds and vehicle traffic will bring you success even if you have to fish in new areas of the lake. Today was one of those days and the fishing was very good compared to some of the anglers I talked to. There comments were...."It's slow and not marking to many fish". Well, I guess so when your in the crowds and the noise that causes the fish to get spooked. I drilled about 25 holes to find fish and once I found them I pretty much fished out of 3 holes.

The depth that I found them in were 20-22 FOW and the fish were riding 3-5 feet off the bottom. I love this depth because the fish can be released without being harmed. Today was a day to find some fish and get some information, product shots, and to try some new products. Well, it was a success. The best color was red! The Clam Outdoors Mino in red was the ticket today. Now here is the funny thing, I tried other colors and didn't get a bite. But once I put red back on and it was game on. Big crappies and a few nice surprises....bluegills! The crappies and bluegills were in good numbers today and they both were chasing up for the presentation, if it was "red" lol. I guess that is one thing that I live by is finding out what the jig and plastic combo is that will get them to bite. The combo was a white jig tipped with a Red Maki Mino Plastic. After 45 crappies and bluegills, I'd say it was a pretty productive day on the ice.

This upcoming week looks to be stable as far as the weather goes until Thursday when we expect some snow. Whatever snow we get going forward will not affect the ice conditions unless we get two feet but that doesn't look likely at this point in time.

Remember to practice selective harvest and to always take a youngster in your outdoors adventure. Until next time, be safe and we will see you in the outdoors.