Need to Work

Some days when you hit the ice, the fish are easy to find and catch, and makes for a very fun and rewarding day. Then there are days that you really need to work and look, drill many holes and keep on the move.

When the days are like this, after many fruitless holes, the feeling of satisfaction overwhelms you once you have located the fish. Then comes the jig size, bait of choice as well as the colors that these fish are looking for.

Had started working an inside edge that typically holds these pumpkinseeds, went from 21 feet of water up to 15 feet on the upward slope of structure. There were plenty of perch in the area but that wasn’t what we were looking for.

After a couple of hours of not find the gills, moved to the deep hole of the bay to see if the crappies had moved in yet. Was a bit early in the afternoon for my liking but did find a couple of slabs, but they weren’t around either.

Looking back to where I had started the day, I could see that there were older holes further out into the deeper water and wanted to go back and try to find the gills again. Didn’t take long and there they were, they were holding out in 21 feet of water.

Most of them were holding 3 to 4 feet off the bottom and if you could find several of these fish, they were more actively feeding as opposed to the single fish that you would find. Using a Clam Pro Tackle Swirl Drop jig with a pink Maki Butti, the tantalizing action of the long thin tail was more than the fish could resist.