Ice season winding down

But we're still making it out to chase some fish around.
Got a call from 870 mid afternoon yesterday inviting me to join he and a buddy for the afternoon/evening bite on the water he fished earlier this week. Since the customer that was supposed to call me around 1pm had not yet called and it was 2:20, I had an easy choice and chose to get in another trip before the big warmup next week and the potential end to the ice fishing season.
We were drilling holes about 4:15 and it didn't take too long for find a few biters. Pics will be posted late as my camera is in my bibs at the shop; I didn't take but a few but we didn't get skunked, that's for sure.
I was mainly looking for perch and bluegill but the crappie just had to invade my hole and a few good ones came topside to make the trip home with either me or one of my companions.
I had drilled a few extra holes once we got out to the deeper water of around 10' but they went unused as i spent the entire evening in one hole. It was a cornucopia of fish of various species; 'gills, bass, crappie and last fish of the evening was a nice yellow perch.
870 was the last to arrive and he made sure we were catching and happy before he set up and got his lines wet. We all caught plenty of fish for some future meals and I was happy to share my crappie with him at the end of the night as he had scored mostly 'gills and had returned them all.
Our friend Todd had invested in MegaLive for his setup and it was amazing to see in person. We could see fish well off to the side in the down view, even in just 10' of water. Watching the fish come for his lure from way off to the side was inspiring. Seeing the response of the fish to his lure or cadence of jigging was eye opening and provided a great learning experience. I'm trying to resist the urge, LOL!
Even at the end of the evening as we were picking up, the Live was still in the hole, a nice mark showed up off to the side, 870 dropped down "one last cast" and another nice crappie went in the bucket.
We're hoping to get back after them on different water today and we'll see what happens with that.

This pic is about 3/4 of the way through our trip. More keepers would be added to the pile before the darkness came to end the trip. Bass, bluegill and crappie were all scattered across my area at this point. I kept a few bass this trip, from 9" up to about 12", too. Quite a few more 'gills would get tossed back for some more growing as the trip went on. I think I had 7 big crappies on the ice when I snapped this pic and a few more would be added later.



I swear every crappie in this place is 11-12" or better. I don't think I've seen a small one come out of here although they must be here. Maybe all the same year class or something? I lost a big one at the hole, broke me off actually. Probably my fault as I should have played him a bit longer before trying to force him up the hole and he was not ready to give up yet apparently.
While my screen was not as crowded as 870's was a few days ago, I had very little blank time when nothing was the sonar. I had interested fish the entire time once I got to the spot. Sure puts the fun in it with a capital F when the screen is busy like that.



The keepers for my companions were the same general size as well.
We fished right up until dark before calling it a night. I had a 30 minute drive ahead of me and would have liked to have stayed longer but I had fish to clean. My partners were less than 10 minutes from home but they had fish to clean, too!

This pic is about 3/4 of the way through our trip. More keepers would be added to the pile before the darkness came to end the trip. Bass, bluegill and crappie were all scattered across my area at this point. I kept a few bass this trip, from 9" up to about 12", too. Quite a few more 'gills would get tossed back for some more growing as the trip went on. I think I had 7 big crappies on the ice when I snapped this pic and a few more would be added later.



I swear every crappie in this place is 11-12" or better. I don't think I've seen a small one come out of here although they must be here. Maybe all the same year class or something? I lost a big one at the hole, broke me off actually. Probably my fault as I should have played him a bit longer before trying to force him up the hole and he was not ready to give up yet apparently.
While my screen was not as crowded as 870's was a few days ago, I had very little blank time when nothing was the sonar. I had interested fish the entire time once I got to the spot. Sure puts the fun in it with a capital F when the screen is busy like that.



The keepers for my companions were the same general size as well.
We fished right up until dark before calling it a night. I had a 30 minute drive ahead of me and would have liked to have stayed longer but I had fish to clean. My partners were less than 10 minutes from home but they had fish to clean, too!