North to Nebraska

We decided to cross the border for a short trip in search of safer ice. Went to Merrit and the refuge lakes by Valentine. Merrit was a picturesque canyon reservoir full of 12 to 13" black footballs and a few bonus pike that inhaled the crappie offerings. Nice to get away from the crowds as we only saw four anglers in 3 days. Attachment 145388

very nice

Very cool I used to fish merrit and those sandhill pits but never have ice fished it thank for the post. Just curious how thick was the ice up there and did you get into allot of crappie?

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Originally Posted by skinner80

Very cool I used to fish merrit and those sandhill pits but never have ice fished it thank for the post. Just curious how thick was the ice up there and did you get into allot of crappie?

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Skinner, ice thickness was 8" of good clear ice on the upper 2/3 of the reservoir. We did not fish the very lower end so I have no idea how it was there. Refuge lakes were generally 10" or so. Good #'s of crappie with 3 year classes from 7" to the 12" ers.

Nice

Looks like fun! thanks for the report!

Never caught one of those. How far north is it? Couple hours from KC?

Looks like a fish that would put up a pretty good fight.

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Originally Posted by dester223

Never caught one of those. How far north is it? Couple hours from KC?

Looks like a fish that would put up a pretty good fight.

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It's a good 3 1/2 hrs northwest of Phillipsburg Ks.