Rocked The Final Ice Fishing Trip Of Winter 21/22

7+ Rippin Rap

8.5" Cubby

8" Rippin Rap

6:30-9:00PM Rock Lake 8' at the Cane

36-45℉, PC, 4-23mph NNW

I got on OK. Stepped in slush and soaked my right boot. I then walked straight out. Drilled a hole to the South, wasn't impressed with what I saw and headed to my cane holes, which I could not find. I ended up stepping in two of them later on. I drilled one hole out deep. Then moved in closer to the cane and set up there. It was pretty windy once I got past the hill. Also drilled a set to the South. When I got back, there was a school of sunnies off in the distance that I think had a big bass in with them, but it was too far away to tell. Had a few schools of sunnies and crappies swim through, but not very frequently. Saw one pike. I caught the one sunfish and one Crappie on the Rippin Rap. And I got a couple crappie on the Cubby Mini-mite  I packed up at 9 PM as nothing was going on. Checked the Sullivan access on my way home; it's trash. I will probably hit Rock again in the morning and call it a season.

I did not get up, so this was my final 21/22 Ice Fishing Season trip.

 

Skunked At The GOMH Again & No Suckers at Shakopee

Fished for about half an hour tonight. No bites. Counted 44 swans, saw a couple do battle and a pair do a mating dance, cool.. Was super windy and sleeting/snowing the whole time. About a 100-yards of open water.

Saw two eagles as I rounded the curve to Kathio Bridge. The water is low in the river and in Shakopee Lake. No sign of suck activity. Nobody was fishing the Lake. 
 

Quick Trip To The GOMH Tonight

 Took a quick trip up to the GOMH tonight just to take a quick fishing break from cleaning the house. Didn't get a bite. Was windy, cold and snowing. Quite a few swans around. No bites.

Good Evening On Rock By The Cane

8.5" THE Jig (Chart/Org)

7.5" THE Jig

Should have hand landed it, oh well

Crips started with a double

 4:00-9:00PM 8' and 10' By the Cane 

33-40℉, Cloudy, 3-15mph WNW

 (I started in yesterday's 12 holes, but it was dead there, so after 20 minutes, I moved to the 8' holes and drilled a new set to the south in 10'. Schools of something came through every 10 minutes. Shiners and perch tended to be together. Had a couple of small schools of sunfish quickly come through. Had a good 3 to 4lb pike hit the stickleback when I was fiddling with the camera trying to get a picture. I tried to pull it up out of the hole as it was hooked in the snoot, but the line broke a couple of inches from the dropper; oops. I decided to give the other holes a try. Lost a small pike that came out of nowhere and hit the Cubby. It came off just after I got the camera up, not even a nick in the line. Had a good size school of gills move through and a couple of smaller schools. Right before it got too dark to see, the crappies showed up. I used up my last couple of minnows. Had a hot bite with the Cubby, and then it was looky loo's and pulling teeth. Think I saw a small bass in the 8' hole.)

Three swans were flying around, and as I was packing up, two were calling back and forth. One was to the West and one to the East. The PRO narrows opened up a good bit today.

Slow Evening On Rock, Late Start

10.5" Demon/Minnow

Happy Bullhead

As he took the minnow

7:00-9:00PM Rock Lake 17' fish were 10' and up

25-34℉, PC, 3-8mph NNW

I hemmed and hawed about getting out tonight. Turns out the wheel wobble was due to a slightly underinflated tire. Good thing I Googled it.

Got a late start, put the camera down, and waited them out. The first fish was the nice crip. It came in with a small mixed school of crips, sun, and the bullhead. Everybody left except for the bullhead who harassed the camera. As it was getting dark, the bull ate the minnow as I took a picture. A NICE PIKE CRUISED PAST when I pulled the camera up to ice level. Got a few crips as it got dark and several nibbles that may have been sunnies. Had several looky loo's as well.

1 Bull

Crips

3 Demon/minnow

2 Tubby/maggot

5 Aqua-Vu

Sun

3 Aqua-Vu

Pike

1 Aqua-Vu

 

Another Fair Night at Rock

Rare daylight bite

5:00-8:30PM 10' Perch 14' Shiners 17' Crappies, Sun, Perch, Bullhead

33-41℉, Cloudy, 3-14mph ESE

Perch were all over the place up high in the hole I had been fishing. Shiners were all over the place down the break. I didn't fish either spot. Went out to where I was last night. Extremely slow until about 7:30PM. I had sunnies, crappies, and bullhead come through. Pulled the camera up, and more crappies moved in. Got several nice ones up high on the Demon Minnow. I packed up at 8:30PM. Packed the truck as light rain fell. It poured when I got to the N Platte Lake Drive. Luckily it was still above freezing out.

Had I a do over I would have fished the first two spots.

20 Crips

Aqua-Vu:

Bazillion Perch and Shiners

Sunfish (5 or so)

Crappie

Bullhead

 

Broke Out the Long Rods

 

It was cold and windy, but I needed to fish, so I did with long rods at the Grumpy Old Man Hole. No takers, unsurprisingly. Heard red-wing black birds calling, but didn't see them.

DNF

Stuck In The Slush, Said Screw It

 The wet sloppy slush kept me from fishing tonight. Was a lovely day in the mid-forties. Heard my first red-wing blackbirds of 2022. Also, there were ducks and swans flying about.

Nice Night At the Dog (Dog Sitting Mack)

 6:30-8:30PM The Dog, Matt's Corner, and Last night's holes out from Holy Family

35-47℉, PC, 0-4mph W

The first night of dog-sitting Mack. They canceled the day at Santee Cooper.

Started at the same holes as last night. There was a guy out front of Holy Family. Spotted Pike and Perch in the same holes as last night. Sunnies were out a little deeper suspended. Drilled holes there. Caught a bunch of sunnies. Had a pike prowling around and attacking the camera as I was bringing it up. Got out to my holes from last night just after sunset. Short flurry, and then they were done. Coming off the ice was butter. Don't know how much longer the access is going to last. The water is coming up with the snowmelt.

45 Sun

11 Crip

5 PerchAV

2 PikeAV

Caught Something Other Than Crappies, Got A Few Of Those As Well

 6:30-9:00PM Matt's Corner and Out from Holy Family 

30-41℉, PC, 2-6mph NE

Got the low down from Steve and then headed to the lake.

Pike down in the first hole, I put the camera down. I checked 6 or 7 of the holes somebody else drilled in Matt's corner. Saw a bunch of perch toward the bottom in the weeds, and sunnies were up high. Fished the second Sunny Hole. They were all over. Down Viewed 'em. I got bored with that quickly. Headed out to my area before sunset. It started slowly had a flurry on the Glow Demon and minnow. Good size fish up high. It was a Clown Show, or I would have caught more. Fish shut off for the final hour. Beautiful Moon!

31 Crips

20 Sun

10 Perch AV

1 Pike AV

Late Start at The Dog

7:15-9:00PM Out from Holy Family at The Dog

30-34℉, Cloudy, 

Short trip. Don't remember why I procrastinated on getting out. Didn't get to writing this because the rents left for FL the next day. Deer walking across the lake with me and had one hit me on the way home. Should have listened to John W. closer about the heard in the road N of Club of the Pines. I caught some, but I was a bit of a clown show.

5 Crips

A Little Better, But Not by Much

First fish on the Demon

After the Pike swam out of view.

 5:00-7:30PM Bulldog about 25' to the SE of where I had been fishing. 28.5' of water 

14-19℉, PC, 3-15mph WSW

I was the only person on the lake tonight. Caught the first crappie right away about 15' down. He showed up from above. I adjusted the camera higher and watched a pike swim off. Got the second fish on a Rippin Rap. Had a few pods move through, but nothing stayed around for very long. Fish were on the small side tonight and most were caught 10-feet or under. I forgot the maggies and waxies, oops. It pretty much died by 7PM. The ice seems to be melting from below. Forgot to check thickness, but I am no longer almost bottoming the auger out.

4 Demon/Minnow

3 Rippin Rap

3 Cubby

3 THE Jig

Another Slow Night at The Dog

 

Whew!

10.75" VMC Fly/Maggie

4:20-8:00PM Bulldog

23-32℉, PC, 5-15mph WNW

I drilled a little to the West of where I was last night. Didn't see a thing until about 5:45PM when three crappies came through; I snatched one. Had another pod of three come through before I brought the camera up. A few fish started coming through when it got dark, but it was slow. Only landed 11 fish tonight, but 40% were keeper size and the good fish were 12' and up. I'll try a new plan tomorrow.

8 Demon

3 VMC Fly

Back At It After the Classic, Where Did The Fish Go

1st one was a good one

March 7 GOMH Picture

 5:00-8:00PM Bulldog

24-29℉, Sunny, 2-8mph SSW

Something changed because fishing was a lot slower tonight. It took about 45-minutes for the first fish to come through. I tried two of my old hole locations and didn't mark anything. I was a bit of a clown show tonight getting hooked on things and getting packed up and into the truck. Should have just stayed in place.

Only saw one fish before it got too dark. The size was good on 1/3rd of the fish.

7 Glow Demon

8 VMC Fly

March 1,2, & 3 The Dog En Fuego

March 2nd

Even was catching them on the Rippin Rap

March 1st

4:40-8:00PM Bulldog

21-31℉, Sunny to cloudy, 0-4mph NW

I was the only person in the hole tonight. Fished my holes from last night. Fish ran on the small side and were mostly 15 to 18ft deep. Consistent action all night with it slowing down after 6:30. Was comfortable, Didn't turn on the heater for about an hour and I was only wearing my performance hoodie. Should have gotten out sooner.

72 Crips

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March 2nd

4:30-8:30PM Bulldog

23-28℉, PC, 0-3mph N

Moved slightly to the North. Fish all over the place. Should have gotten out earlier. Fish were on the small side.

81 Crips

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March 3rd

4:00-7:00PM Bulldog

14-20℉, MC, 0-4MPH N

Guys who didn't get 'em were coming out as I was headed out. Fish were in 17' but small. Mostly a Aqua-Vu bite. Hot on THE Jig to start. They would mouth the bait and spit and didn't care for minnows. Good thing I got out early as the bite tailed off at dark. 5 Days in a row had me pretty beat up that final walk-in.

72 Crips

Ended up taking a break to watch the Bassmaster Classic.

 

Trips Feb 27 & 28

 

5:00-8:00PM 

The 27th was a nice day right about freezing little wind. There was a family on the juice and pulling the Trap out was a workout. I set up to the NW of them and had to shovel out a spot. I put down the minnow than the camera and what did I see, but a pike. The dude wouldn't hit my minnow and stayed around all night. I am amazed he didn't snatch the first crappie I brought up as I got all caught up in the spring bobber. I caught some crappies in the first 10-feet, but most were around 20. Action really shut down by 6:45PM. The walk back

13 Demon/Minnow

3 Cubby

3 VMC Fly

19 Crips total

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4:30-8:30PM The Juice

Was in the mid-30's today, with light wind. A guy who had been in the NE Corner came in on his wheeler as I was heading out. He said the sunnies were small. As I arrived where I was going to fish another truck pulled up at the Access. The guy fished about 50feet to the West of me. He said he only got 3 keepers the rest were all little. I got maybe 8 or 9 keeper-sized ones for the evening. With all the snow lighting isn't great right now and there is a lot of junk so visibility with the camera wasn't the greatest. Fish were mostly 18-feet or deeper. The walk out was far less taxing than yesterday. I would have active pods move in and move out all night. If the wind didn't startup out of the west I would have stayed longer. A Sheriff happened to come by when I got to the access and he offered to help me, so I gladly accepted the offer. Not sure if he was Crow Wing or Morrison. It was a white SUV.

23 Glow Demon

4 Cubby

5 THE Jig

10 VMC Tubby

42 Crips

Good Night at the Dog

 

Forgot to take a picture tonight

4:00-8:45PM HouseHole22 Bulldog Lake

16-32℉, PC, 3-12mpn N NE

When I arrived, there was a Suburban parked on the ice at the access. Thought that was strange. There was one guy with a wheeler at the far side of the lake and one permanent over there as well. I got out drilled my four holes, and there were fish all over the place right under the ice. There was also some fish 20' deep. I was an idiot and placed the camera deep. A couple of trucks drove out in short order. When the guys closer to me started drilling, the high fish vamoosed. I talked to the other guy whose son had been out earlier this week. He was told South of the fish houses. I told him where the houses were. I had fish moving in and out all night up high and down low. I did spy one pike up high. Solid night, too bad we are getting a snowstorm tomorrow and may have a foot plus by the time it's over on Tuesday.

37 Demon

12 VMC Tubby

3 Mini Rippin' Rap

1 Cubby

1 VMC Fly

54 Crips

1 Pike

Little Crips On the Dog Today

7.5" Glow Demon/Minnow

4:30-6:45PM NE of the 2021 Spot on Bulldog

13-21℉, PC, 5-20mph NW

Yesterday I didn't get out because the battery on the truck died. Got a new battery. There are 3 perms set up out where I've been fishing and they are on the juice. All three houses were occupied, so they are locals. I hoped maybe there would be fish off to the North, but they were small. Since I was out the last time somebody drilled a bunch of holes in a grid. The little guys were on the minnow to start. I had the camera down ad saw quite a few fish.  The little crappies were on the minnow to start. At about 5:15PM it got slow and never picked up again. The biggest fish of the night was a 9-incher that was about 10-feet down. Because of the wind, my feet were getting cold and the bite was slow, so I called things early tonight.

15 Demon

2 THE Jig (Chart/Org, Pink/Glow)

2 VMC Fly

2 Cubby Mini-Mite

1 VMC Tubby

22 Crips

Nice Night, Better Bite On The Dog

7.50" Demon/Minnow

 4:45-8:30PM East Even 2021 Spot, East Farther Out Bulldog

34-41℉, PC to Cloudy mist, 5-18mph W

Got a later start than I should have aided a bit by the truck not starting. I arrived just after a guy on a snowmobile headed out to the exact area I planned on setting up on. I screwed up by not setting up farther out. I was on aggressive small fish to start. Somehow, my bobber line and THE Jig rod got caught up on one another. Had to clip both lines. The bite was slowed down after that, so I drilled holes farther out. Fish out there were mixed with quite a few 10-inchers up high, but did get a couple lower in the water as well. Plenty of little guys as well. Missed quite a few bites on the minnow and the Fly. After 8PM it really slowed down.

22 Demon

19 VMC Fly

6 THE Jig

47 Crips

February's First Two Trips

 

7" Glow Demon/Minnow

Feb 4th 

5:15-7:00PM, Cold PC, 2-7mph NW

February started cold and windy, so I have only been out a couple of times. The first time was on Friday the 4th. Got a later start than I should have, which was exacerbated by the truck needing to be jumped. I didn't get lines down until after 5PM, and there wasn't a lot of activity. Couldn't hook the bites; I was getting probably due to small fish; I only got 3 on the Demon/minnow.

3 Crips

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Feb 6th

5:15-7:30PM, Cold but warmer than the 4th, PC, 3-7mph NW

Once again delayed by the truck not starting. It turned over but didn't start. Went back to my spot. Pretty much the same results. Catching 3 mini's and missing light bites, At 6:30 or so, I went and drilled holes farther out. More activity out there, and there were some bigger fish. Caught a couple of 9" and lost a couple that felt good. Also caught some 7-inchers. The action was slow, and I drenched my right boot drilling holes, so I called it quits at 7:30PM. No one else was out tonight and recent snows were just enough to mask the worn pathways. PIA.

8 Crips 4 on the Demon, 4 on the VMC Fly

Equipment Note: I got my second Meat Stick by mail from Scheels this week. Amazing it wasn't broken. It was unsecured in a large box. Missed a bunch of bites both nights on the Meat Stick leading me to believe it was little one's biting me on my spot.