Last Updated: Friday, March 9, 2007 2:40 PM CST
Meal Time: Ice fishing trip rewards twice the bounty
by Roger Sabota - Northwoods Notebook
The morning dawned with patches of blue sky, a relatively mild temperature with a powerful wind out of the northeast. When we took our lab, Bert for his daily morning walk both of us appreciated the hoods on our “dog walking coats.”
Following our walk a sandwich a can of pop and an apple were thrown into a small cooler and it was time to go in search of a meal of crappies. Our good friend and long-time neighbor, Don Trembath, was my companion for the day. We headed for a Rhinelander Area lake that had been kind to me for the previous two weeks. On the ride out to the lake my doubts began to come to the forefront. My thoughts went something like this. I had been fishing alone and doing quite well; now with Don along will the crappies let me down?
We drove onto the ice at the public landing and had to be cautious since there was an ice buckle at the landing. We had the entire lake to ourselves but knew from previous days that others would be out near mid-day. After a brief search we located the holes where I had fished the previous day.
The portable Frabill shelter was slid out of the rear of the pick-up and the assortment of fishing gear was removed from the tent. The auger, which some of my fishing friends say should be donated to an antique display, started on the first pull and three holes were drilled. Don scooped out the holes while I pulled the top of the Frabill shelter over us. The shelter blocked the wind and the Mr. Heater took the chill out of the air.
We lowered the transducer on our well-used Vexilar and confirmed that we were over eleven feet of water. Don noticed that there were blips on the screen about two feet above the bottom.
A crappie minnow was hooked on a tiny, gold treble hook and lowered into the hole. The slip bobber was set to suspend the minnow two feet above the bottom. We were able to watch the minnow slowly descend on the Vexilar screen. Just as the bobber settled it began to go down. Don set the hook and reeled a very nice sized crappie to the edge of the hole and slid it onto the ice. Neither of us had a chance to rig our jigging rods and already Don had a nice crappie on the ice.
As I re-baited the tiny treble hook our son's words rang in my mind. Craig always says, “When you get a fish on the first cast (first drop when ice fishing) you are in for a long, slow day.”
Don and I each hooked a waxie onto a small jigging spoon and before we were able to drop them through the ice he landed another crappie on the minnow and slip bobber rig. For the next half hour we were kept busy catching some very nice sized crappies. They did not seem to show a preference and hit the waxies or minnows with equal regularity.
After that first half-hour of action, we had turned off the Mr. Heater and heard another truck stop near us. The crappie action slowed and we poured some hot coffee. While drinking our coffee Don set the hook with his light jigging rod. When he set the hook the light rod bent double and we were able to hear the drag giving line. Immediately Don said, “This is no crappie,” and the battle was on. I reeled the other two lines in and got in position near Don thinking I might be able to grab the fish if Don could get it into the hole. Three or four times I was able to see a northern, which was about three feet long, but Don could not get it into the hole. After a give and gain battle the tiny hook popped loose and the northern was gone.
As the northern swam off Don said, “Now maybe the crappies will start to hit again.” He was right and the action picked up. Another time Don set the hook and his little rod bent double. As he was reeling the bobber went down and my jig rod began to move. Don landed a nice sized perch that tangled in the other two lines. I had to put my glasses on to untangle the mess with four-pound line. We saw the excitement of fishing three lines that were close to each other.
We continued to fish for several hours as the action slowed. It seemed as though several fish would swim past, then it would slow down again. There were many small perch that were caught and released, quite a few bluegills and a lot of crappies.
We had agreed that we would only keep two meals of fish and return the rest for another day. The day was comfortable and enjoyable with the wind stopped by our little Frabill shelter.
Tail Feathers
Remember that ice-fishing shacks on area lakes and flowages must be removed by March 15. With deeper snow on the ice, that may prove to be a challenge on some lakes.
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