John Carlson
01-05-2012, 08:19 AM
It might be early January but with the warmer temps the ice fishing is more like early December. The Walleye bite has been slow in the Phillips Area but the panfish are making up for it. With the thinner ice the fish are more scattered and we are finding them in shallower water then normal. I have been doing my best catching right on the 10' break where there is a mud bottom. You really need good electronics and hole hop looking for active fish right now. I usually fish one rod with plastics and have 2 dead sticks set out with minnows on. The Crappie here really like plastic and White, Black, and Chartreuse seem to be the top colors. If you find the fish looking but not eating switch the color until you find a combination that the fish want to eat. The Ice conditions are behind a normal winter and fishermen are just starting to drive out on some of the area lakes with trucks but there is ATV and Snowmobile travel on all area lakes at this time.