Stick a Fork in It?

[Pete Stoltman]

Had good intentions of taking the Allison Jean out for a row today but have to admit I wussed out. Freezing rain just took the allure out of a day paddling around. I know, I know Tom Gelb was probably out there but hey I'm a pantywaist compared to him ok? We'll see how the week shapes up and I can yank the boat out of the garage at a moments notice but with ice forming on most of the lakes I just may have to concede to Mother Nature for the 2010 season. We'll get 'em next year.
Bring on the ice!

[Jim L]

Pete.

Remember those jigs i bought to use with those little suckers. Manthei used the same set up and caught fish vertical jigging. It was filmed on Gillespes show.
Anyway here is my report.
Fished 3 different lakes on Friday and Saturday. Fished with suckers and caught 1 36' and had 2 short hits. Water temps. ranged from 33 to 36. All 3 lakes I fished won't be accessable by Monday. The lakes may be open but the launches will be frozen.
If you are going to go out yet find a lake with deep water right by the launch. All kinds of interesting things go wrong when you fish in 20 degree temps. Boat frozen to trailer, livewell frozen shut, trolling motor frozen in socket, boat line frozen into a 20 ' stick, line and guides freeze instantly when you reel in the line. Then you have to be careful to not pull up your trailer too quickly or you will leave a trail of water which turns to ice instantly. I bring a bucket of sand to help with traction. Thanks to Pete and matt for this tip.

Even larger lakes had some skim ice along the shores so if we get some still nights, ice will be covering the lakes by the end of the week.

[Pete Stoltman]

Good report Jim. Have to agree a lot of the launches are locking up quickly. Cold temps in the next couple days with a wind chill in the teens will definitely put a hurt on the number of lakes that are still accessible.

[Jim L]

Being a masochist, I'd like to try to get out one last time if the wind dies down. I've got 3 nice suckers in my aerated livewell in the garage that hopefully haven't turned to popscicles. Do you know if Big St. or Plum landings have locked up yet? We won't be back up til Thursday.

[Pete Stoltman]

Pretty sure that Plum is still ok. Not sure about Big St. Germain. Will try to find out.