Minnesota Thanksgiving Ice fishin!!

[MNfisher]

I headed back to MN for the Thanksgiving Holiday to be with my family. Since waterfowl season had closed the weekend before and the temps were cold, we ventured out to find some safe ice!

The first lake we hit had about 4.5-6" of ice, plenty, we jigged with minnows in 18 ft of water and came up with a few crappie and a nice walleye. No pics of those fish.

Then we hit up 2 other lakes that gave us skunks, both had about 3-4" of ice.

After that we hit up a very small 25 acre pond that gets 80 ft deep. We had done well with BIG bluegill in the past, some approaching a pound. Well the gills were not there, but the lgmouth bass were in large numbers, which is rare through the ice. We caught about 30 bass, mostly 10-11", but a few approaching the 16" mark. There is no public access to this lake, but is accessible off a bike path and a 50 yd walk through the woods. I really want to drag a canoe or kayak in there in the spring. At the right time, I bet you could catch 100 bass in an evening!

The following day, we hit up the Minnesota River in search of some trophy walleye, my friends and I used to pull several between 8-12 lbs a winter from this river. It rarely gets fished because the moving water scares people off the ice. It is a bit scary to drill a hole in the ice, drop a 1/4 oz jig down and see it whip down stream in the current as soon as it gets to the bottom of the ice. We marked some good fish, missed a few, and put one decent sauger on the ice.

I will be returning over Christmas and hopefully have a better report. I did get some fun pics though!

[Alphahawk]

Great pics as always Mike. Sounds like you had a blast. I hope to ice fish one day....always been something I wanted to try.





Regards

[tcintn]

I to look forward to ice fishing only if I can stay warm. When you get over 70 and heading toward 80, you look for warm places in winter and cool places in summer.
The pictures are awesome Wayne.
Send pictures of the big ones.

[TNBronzeback]

awesome pics! what camera are you using? im in the market for a really nice camera, im guessing its not a point and shoot is it?
I saw somebody had on a pair of white mickey mouse boots! i havent seen those in 12 years living down here, brings back some great memories ice fishing the Great Lakes. Good luck on the return trip around Christmas!

[Travis C.]

Nice pics man. Looks like a lot of fun.

You guys are all dressed up like it must be cold in MN during winter....

[MNfisher]

Thanks guys!

No, this is far from a point and shoot. It's a Nikon D7000, I used a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens on some and a 18-55mm kit lens with the others.

Alpha, you would love some of the crappie and bluegill honey holes! Nothing like pulling 9" gills up through the ice!

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Man Mike, those are some of the coolest pics I have seen!!, you certainly have a talent!!, my southern butt will freeze on this place but man I sure love to ice fish!!

[MNfisher]

Thanks! I love ice fishin!!

[agelesssone]

Mike, you should have stopped by and picked up my underwater camera/tv. It's the Marcum 825 SD. It would have been great for ice fishing.

I used it Sunday on JPP out by seven points to look into a brush pile. Watched some bluegills and a small LM come up to within inches of the camera.

Did you drive or fly?