Christmas Mornring On Rock

 

Double to start the morning

6:30-10:00 AM Rock 17'

28-32℉, Cloudy, 4-20mph ESE

I was the first one at the lake, and I used the permanent for a wind break just as I planned.  I set up about 25' to the West of the Perm. I do think it helped some when the wind was at its worst, and it never seemed to be as bad as forecast. I immediately marked fish, but by the time I got my lines down, they were gone and didn't come back for almost half an hour. My action for the day started with a double as I had a pod of fish move through. I think I must have caught 8 to 10 before they disappeared again. I then occasionally had aggressive fish move through. My bite-to-land percentage was way up this morning. As it got light out, things slowed down. I put the camera down. And got to watch a few fish, including my big one of the morning, take the minnow on the BF Rod. The heater ran out of propane, and Mother Nature was calling, so I started packing up for the day a couple of hours earlier than I had planned. Wouldn't you know it, but a couple of people from the permanent showed up as I was getting packed up. The guy was grumbling loudly to the girl about how I must be from the cities and how rude it was for me to fish so close. I decided to explain that I was using his house as a windbreak.  He wouldn't hear anything about it and thought I was the one who was out of line.  I arrived there first in the morning and had every right to fish where I was.  I have been fishing that area for the past 10 years. He has every right to fish there as well. He doesn't have the right to give me any flak or to demand more space than he is legally entitled to, especially if he isn't there when I get to the lake. Nobody fished out of that house two mornings ago.  I was the only one on the lake that morning. I was quite torqued. I kind of got the feeling that he just wasn't happy about sharing the area; that isn't cool with me.

26 Crappie 

Morning at Rock Lake

 

1st Sunfish through the ice

1st Crappie of the morning

Sun came out as I was leaving the Rock Access

6:45-11:15 AM Rock 17' and 8.5' 

22-30℉, PC, 5-12 mph WNW

Wind was out of the WNW, so I drilled new holes, rather than use the ones I drilled last night. It was on the slow side, with fish coming through occasionally when it was dark out. They didn't really want minnows. I put the Aqua-Vu down a bit early; Visibility isn't great anyway. But having the Aqua-Vu down did seem to keep fish around. I caught a few small sunfish. I caught one crappie on the deadstick. It took the minnow and swam up to 9'. I could see the fish sitting there on the Vex. I fished a half hour longer than I should have out deep. I went to the NW Corner and drilled a hole, then looked in the Aqua Vu. I drilled  8 to 10 holes before settling on a spot along the deeper weeds. I saw a pike on my last drop about 20 feet away from where I decided to fish. I switched to the Sunfish color Chicken Nugget and immediately had a pike come through, but it didn't hit. That was the last thing that I saw. Visibility was better around the weeds/shallower.

7 Crip 

3 Sun 

Crappie and Pike On Rock Lake

 

7" VMC Fly/Maggot
1st Fish

Almost respectable

4:15-7:00 PM Rock Lake 17'

30-34℉, Mostly Cloudy, 0-3mph SE NW

I arrived at the Rock Lake Access around 3:45 pm. No trucks at the access and nobody on the lake. As I was getting the car unloaded, a truck showed up pulling a wheeler. It was a group of 3 or 4 that were heading out to the one permanent on the lake. Basically, about 50 to 75 yards out, further than where I usually fish. If they didn't show up, I was planning to drill a series of holes, bit South of the permanent and set up when I saw life. As I was making my way out, they passed me up, and so I audibled to fishing in my normal area about 40 yards to the NW of where the Permanent is sitting. I drilled three holes and got set up. There were fish down there immediately, but I didn't get a bite. I figured there was enough light, so I sent down the Aqua-Vu, and I saw a nice crappie and a couple of good-sized sunfish toward the bottom. A guy with a wheeler headed north and was back off the lake well before I quit. I took a picture of the pink sky after sunset. I got a 7" and a 8" crappie on the pink VMC fly and maggies. I got a few bites on the Glow Demon and Minnow, including the pike after dark; the pike made my night. I tried the baitfeeder rod and caught three crappies on that, including the night's big, 10". I think only one other crappie was 9" or bigger. I think I missed about half of my bites, give or take. It's not like the Vex was lit up and there were a few 10-minute stretches when I wasn't marking anything.

9 Crip 

1 Pike 

Sully Scouting with the Aqua-Vu

  

9:00-10:40 AM Sullivan Lake

24-36℉, Cloudy, 8-25mph

I went to the NW Access in Sullivan. It was about 36 degrees out. I had plenty of water in the Fish Trap, but no way to get it out. I wasted some time trying. I then went over to Jaimen's Corner and drilled holes from deeper to shallower.  I then started in the deepest hole with the Aqua-Vu. I didn't see any life, so I jigged the camera a couple of times on the bottom and that called in a decent-sized walleye. I then scoped the rest of the holes with Aqua Vu. I didn't have any confidence in a single walleye sighting, so I kept covering ground and checking holes with Aqua-Vu. I did that until I started getting cold and the wind came up. With the cold front and heavy winds moving in, I called it a day.  I never did open the rod case to fish. I'm amazed, I only saw one fish. I worked the break and weedline, also the break with rubble.

Shakopee Lake, At Least I Didn't Get Skunked

 

Took pic after drilling my second set of holes

 

Didn't Get Skunked!

Took the pic and then the phone died

3:45-8:30PM Shakopee Lake 8' and 9' just a little south of the access

-2 to 18℉, Mostly Clear, Calm

Unfortunately, not many people had been out on the lake since the snow dump this week. Not so much an issue getting out. Going back, I had to carry the auger and minnows and then go back for the smitty/Fish Trap. I got out to about 8 feet of water and drilled holes. I could see weeds. Not a whole lot going on. I marked a couple of disinterested small fish and saw one sunny on the camera. My Eddy's hat fell into the slush puddle. After sunset, I drilled another set of holes about 100 feet farther out and fished there the rest of the time. Around 7pm, I ran out of propane for the Little Buddy. I caught the first bullhead before I got the propane changed out. I had trouble getting the Little Buddy to fire at first. I had to unscrew it completely and put it back on, and that did the trick. I lost something that bit on a minnow. I put the camera down and saw bullheads. I caught one more small bullhead. Bullheads were still down there when I pulled my lines up for the night. On the way back to the car, my phone died after I took a picture. My bad for not having the second Mophie iPhone case along. I need to get with it, keeping the iPhone charged up. The second time this ice season, my phone died. It could just be that it gets too cold

Erskine Ice and Snow

  

1st trip with Little Buddy Heater

2:45-6:30 PM Erskine Lake 12'

5-18℉, Cloudy/Snow, 6-16mph WNW

There were a couple of trucks at the Access. One had a snowmobile trailer, the other was a pike hunter. The guys with the snowmobile trailer helped me load up in the snow. I went out toward the area where the guy this Spring said he got into a school of bass, which was beyond where the guy with the snowmobile set up. I drilled four holes over about a seventy-yard stretch, then went back and looked with the camera for signs of life. There was only 3 to 4 feet of visibility with the camera, quite a bit of suspended sediment. I saw one small perch in the second hole and a couple of sunfish in the 4th hole, so I set up shop. The Little Buddy fired right up. It wasn't as warm as I expected it to be. I caught a bunch of small perch and saw a crappie or two on the camera, possibly a walleye as well. As it got dark, I caught some small crappies and missed a few as well. It started snowing. Thankfully, the guys with the snowmobile didn't take off, so I had their truck lights to guide me back to the access. They helped me get the smitty up the hill. We talked about the area lakes. They were not really familiar with this area.

4Crip

19YP  

Rock Lake Trip #2, The Next Day

 

An Actual keeper 11"

3:15-7:15 PM Rock Lake 17'

12-18℉, PC, 0-3mph NE

Visibility 3' with a lot of crap in the water

2nd Trip, 2nd Day in a row on Rock. A group was coming off as I arrived. I didn't get to talk to any of them. Nobody was in my area. I put the battery on at the access and had the battery bag with my old battery inside fall off as I passed a fish house by the reeds. Fortunately, they were honest people, and an older teenager brought it back to me. I didn't ask them how they did. I drilled holes where the other guy was last night. I spotted a pike quickly on the Aqua-Vu but couldn't get it to bite. Visibility wasn't good. I drilled about 12 individual holes and fished through them, not marking anything. As the sunset, I had a good bite on the PB Switch, but it didn't hook up, that was by the Cane in the shallowest hole I drilled. It got dark quick and I drilled holes out by where I got fish last night. A few crappies moved in. I got one that was 11," and the other five were 7" to 9". I couldn't get the sunflower to light after I turned it off to make a video. That was the last straw. I went and bought a Little Buddy after the Vikings Game the next day.

6Crip 

1Pike 

First Ice Fishing Trip of 25/26, Rock Lake

 

 4:00-8:00PM Rock Lake 17' of water

12-25℉, Cloudy, 3-9mph NW

I wanted to be out of the house by 2pm, but I couldn't find some things, so I didn't leave until 2:35. I went to Bear Trax and got minnows. There were two trucks at the Rock Access. Then, when I got to the lake and had the car almost unloaded, I remembered I hadn't grabbed the Ion batteries. I thought about using the spud to make my holes, but no. So I drove back home. I stopped along the Rock Access Rd to talk to a couple of ladies with kids. Turns out it was one of J&D's cashiers from a couple of years ago. There was a big flock of turkeys I had to stop for going both ways. So I didn't get back to the lake until 3:15 or so. The ice checked out. I drilled 3 sets of 3 holes in 17' of water. I didn't mark anything until the 3rd set. A guy came out in Fish Trap and set up to my NW. He stayed late and only drilled a few times. I wonder if he had ffs. I should have gone over and talked with him. I lost one small crappie at the hole, but wasn't marking much. I drilled 3 more sets of 3. I didn't mark anything in them, so I headed back to one set where I did mark fish and spent the rest of the night there. I got a few crappies and lost at least 2/3rds of my bites, even on the bobber rod. It was slow with fish down there occasionally. They seemed skittish for the most part. There may have been some sunfish and perch down there as well after dark. There were also a couple of bigger red marks that I didn't get to bite. I stayed way longer than I should have. Lots of Russian Gremlins, and I was stressed out because of it, and not in a flow. I would say I fished at level 3 out of 10, so not good. I was the last one off the lake. The other guy left at 7pm when I should have.

9 Crips