3-15-13 Fri

3-15-2013 Fri. 12:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Weather:
(1553) NE 8, overcast, 25 ˚, 29.91 falling, 22” ice
Location:
Chippewa Flowage
Caught:
(combined) Lots of crappies, and two bluegills, kept approximately 25 crappies between 9 and 10”
Partners:
Scott & Jake T.

Comments:

We were on our annual ice fishing trip up to the cabin, and for the first time we were doing some fishing on Friday. I had scoured the internet looking for some information that may have pointed us in the right direction someplace up by the cabin, but no secrets were to be found! I had remembered watching an outdoor fishing show several weeks back, and it was based on crappie fishing the Chip. The show bragged of the fish growing qualities of this body of water and it was apparent in the number and size of the crappies they caught. The only tidbit of information I was lacking was an access point for the beginning of our adventure. I emailed a guide that I had chartered last summer for a fishing trip on the Chip. and he happily responded with some much needed info.
We reached our destination (Deer Foot Lodge) around 1130, got the scoop on the fish, loaded our bellies with a Bloody Mary and a burger and were fishing around 1:00PM. We were fishing in about twenty feet of water in an area that is known as shear pin bar. The marks on our locators were fairly numerous all day, and the active fish were also fairly numerous, the only drawback was that the size of the crappies averaged quite small.
It was a fun and successful start to our weekend fishing trip and we did end up with some nice fish up to 10.5 inches in length.

Observations:

The area we fished is a fairly popular ice fishing destination, but when I say popular it is by northern Wisconsin standards. There was probably four other groups of fishermen in the area we called home for the afternoon. Whereas if we were back in La Crosse at such an area that held so many fish we would have been accompanied by fifty to one hundred additional fish whores. The ice conditions were very good, the thickness was twenty plus inches and the snow cover was not thick enough to hinder our vehicle.