[catman]

Most of the folks staying with us this past weekend struggled. Some of them did mark quite a few fish on their electronics, but could not get them to bite. My wife Theresa and I experienced the same thing yesterday afternoon. We tried for Whitefish first (with no luck).
I need to go back to hook-setting 101 I guess since I had both my fish come off again. Both felt like keepers too. The first one that came off was on a purple spoon tipped with a minnow tail and the other was on a #7 Green Glow Tiger Rapala. Theresa caught her first one (19 1/2 inches) on the Purple Holographic Ice-Darter. Then lost another about the same size on a #7 Green Glow Tiger. Then she pulled up an 18 incher on a tip-up just before we came in. If we could catch all the fish that took a look at our bait, we'd be all set. We had lots of lookers starting about 4:45 pm. But they didn't start biting until 5:15. Oh well, at least Theresa caught enough for our supper...

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[Eric Haataja]

Awesome pics and fish thanks for the great reports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you ever want to download your video you can also do it here......http://www.wisconsinfishingvideos.com/ it's a direct link to our site specifically designed for fishing video's!

Eric

[catman]

My brother Kenneth and I got out again for a couple hours this evening. We were in a slightly different spot than last Saturday. Same 36 foot depth, just a little closer to deeper water this time. Anyway, we get out there and I realized I left my pole sitting on the tail-gate. Crap! It's far too cold to be riding back and forth to shore too many times. On the other hand, Kenneth pretty much had the shack set up and heater going when I got back, so there is always a "positve" I guess. Anyway, after releasing a couple little guys, I finally hooked a good fish but lost it. This was about 4:30 I think. Then a couple minutes later I lost another one! Both hit the solid gold Ice Darter (color code #1 I think?). Now that I think about, I better make sure I took off the hook protectors.... Anyway, then we had a little lull for about 20 minutes where we didn't see many fish at all. Then Kenneth hooked a keeper on a Purple Jigging Rapala. He said "just a little one" so I didn't even get the camera rolling. So he then procedes to slide a 17 1/2 incher through the hole! Anyway, about 10 minutes later, he hooked a really good fish, but this one got off. Then a little while later he landed one about 20 inches on a Red Grape Moonshine Shiver Minnow. For the better part of an hour I would say, we had good numbers of fish moving through. But getting them to bite was tough. Kenneth tried a soon tipped with a minnow again, but even that didn't work. And I never hooked another fish after the first two I lost. Not a great evening by and stretch, but still a fun couple hours!

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[catman]

My brother Kenneth and I tried the morning bite today. All was going well with us having our lines in the water by 7:00 am. Didn’t really see too much on the electronics the first 45 minutes or so. But then we really started marking the fish. Unfortunately, this is also when some guys came out and started drilling holes from here to eternity. I swear they drilled for a half hour. Combine this with them also buzzing all around us on their snowmobile and it seemed to keep the walleye from hitting. Several times I have literally been watching walleye thru the hole and have a snowmobile buzz by a couple hundred yards away and watch that fish swim in the opposite direction. Needless to say, both Kenneth and I were a little ornery while this went on. Anyway, the noise finally settled down and low and behold we started catching fish. Lost half of the “primetime” bite, but at least we started catching fish. Kenneth started it off with a really nice 28 incher. Then a couple throwbacks. Then maybe 10 minutes later, he lost another hog. I still had the camera in my hand when my “deadstick” pole caught the attention of another fish and I hooked that fish and gave the camera to Kenneth. He didn’t know where the zoom button was so the video is a little too close-up. It was one of only 2 or 3 times I have had a walleye hit a Rapala that was just sitting there doing nothing! Oh well, take ‘em any way we can. This fish was a fat 20 incher. A couple more throwbacks and the “primetime” was over. Oh well, it was a beautiful morning to watch the sun rise while catching a couple nice fish. It could have been a little warmer though...

Video:

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[catman]

My brother Kenneth and I hit the ice yesterday afternoon. Actually I was out before Kenneth trying for Whitefish for awhile (no luck). Then Kenneth came out about 3:30. Kenneth started out in 49 feet of water but moved shallower (32 feet) after awhile because he was catching nothing but little guys. We both ended up with two keepers each and several throwbacks. Kenneth caught his fish on #7 Purple Rapalas, Holographic Green/Rainbow Ice Darters, Holographic Purple Ice Darters, and Chartreuse/Orange Tiger Ice Darters. I was in 36 feet of water. I caught all my throwbacks on the Holographic Purple Ice Darters but then switched to a #7 Glow Green Tiger Rapala about 5:15 and ended up catching both keepers plus losing another about 23 inches on the Rap. I had a big school of nice fish below my hole for about 20 minutes. Everytime I would hook one, the others would follow it about half way up. It was a short and sweet bite (5:30-5:49), but alot of fun. I have not seen that many good sized fish on my graph at one time like that in years. The only way I could coax the fish into biting was to jig the lure just about as hard as I could! Anything less, and they would start to head for the bottom. My keepers were 19 1/2 and 21 inches. My brother's were 16-18 inches I'm guessing. For only being 20 inch class fish, I could not believe how chunky my fish were. All in all, a pretty nice evening. It's always fun fishing with my brother. Especially when I catch the bigger fish!!!

Ice Update: Plenty with much more coming next week by the sounds of it! Anyway, from Gladstone north you will find a solid foot in most areas and getting close to 18 inches at the far north end. Between Gladstone and Escanaba you will find 8-10 inches. Many trucks driving on the ice north of Gladstone. Still just snowmobiles and atv's south of Gladstone. As always, be careful near any of the rivermouth areas and the "narrows" at Gladstone. Be especially aware of thin ice off Saunder's, Hunter's, and Squaw Points. Doesn't really matter how cold it gets, due to the currents, it just does not freeze to a safe thickness.

Special weather statement for next week: Colder than you know what!!! The statement I just saw said very cold air coming into the area on Monday lasting thru Thursday with lows of 25 below zero and highs not even reaching zero!!! That makes these 20 degree days seem pretty nice...

[SheHateMe]

Wow Ken you really make the rounds on all the posting sites.

[Eric Haataja]

Ken thanks a ton for the heads up on the ice conditions.

If anyone ever travels to LBDN I strongly reccomend either hiring the Lee's or at least staying at their resort! These guys run one of the best guide services and resorts in the mid west!

Eric

[catman]

The info below was posted on our local fishing reports page. I'm just passing it on as I want everyone to be as safe as possible. The south winds today were rediculous. I'm sure we had lots of ice break up from Escanaba south and maybe even up into the bay itself between Gladstone and Escanaba. Anyway, be aware of the area referred to in the post below.
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I went out with a friend before sunrise this morning, south of the Terrace. We worked the breakline along that side with three inch shiners we got at Bay View Friday evening from Chris and stored overnight. I'll tell about the fish we caught, but I want to pass along a warning as well. Make sure you read it and think about it beforehand.

We landed just two walleyes, one 28" and another 21". Both hit spoons tipped with the minnows in 28' to 30' of water. We took my portable shanty because we were uncertain about the ice, and had trouble with the wind blowing the walls and partially covering the holes constantly. Honestly, the bite was slow even though we managed a couple nice fish.

Anyway the warning is this: The strong south winds apparently blew water up under the ice and caused several heaves. The first major jolt we felt (and heard) shook the shanty fairly hard. Later, another sharp jolt ran a six inch open water crack running right between the wheels of our ATV parked alongside the shanty. When we went out to investigate, we found that we were on a piece of ice about twenty feet by thirty feet or so that had broken free from the surroundings. Several other pieces were around us. Picture a jigsaw puzzle. We were on one of the pieces and surrounded by other pieces. There was no danger of drifting away, but if one of the pieces broke into smaller fragments, there could have been real trouble. We gathered our gear immediately and rode back to shallow water close to shore, crossing several open water cracks along the way.

That being said, I would advise against pulling a permenent shanty out there. I'd also avoid the area with a snowmobile or ATV. Going there during hours of darkness is probably not smart right now. The ice was about 8" to 10" thick, but certainly not stable. I think it is better to stay farther north for the time being.
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Kevin Lee
www.icedarter.com
www.sallmarresort.com
www.baydenoccharters.com

[catman]

I'm new to this board, but will try and post updates for Little Bay de Noc from now on for those that might be heading up to the Bays de Nocs.

At the present time there is 3-12 inches of ice on Little Bay de Noc with the thickest at the north end of the bay. Overall, pretty good ice from Gladstone north. Just stay away from the rivermouth areas and also the Saunder's Point area as there is some bad ice because of a barge that came into Gladstone not too long ago. Lots of current in the bay too after that warm-up. The rivers are flowing like they do in April just before the spring break-up. That said, if you use a little common sense, there really isn't anything to worry about. The conditions on the ice were horrible for a few days after the warm weather, but all the slush has now firmed up and it is very easy to get around again. The ice gets thinner and thinner as you go south from Gladstone towards Escanaba. There is only 3 inches in some areas, so extreme caution is highly recommended anywhere south of Gladstone.

The bite has actually been pretty good with walleye being caught on all the the reefs (1st, 2nd, and Center). The best bite has been at first and last light. Though some keepers are being caught on the deeper mudflats during the mid-day hours. I have not had the chance to get out since my wife and I were out on the 19th. We ended up with 4 "eaters" and a bunch of throwbacks that day. It's nice to see all the little ones since they haven't planted the bay in several years. So it looks like natural production is pretty good. Here is some video from that day and a picture of our "eaters". Happy New Year to Mr Haataja and all those on this board...
Kevin Lee

Video: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ZFswHiPIJWU

www.sallmarresort.com
www.baydenoccharters.com
www.icedarter.com

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[msolberg621]

I know its a little late in the season to be starting a thread on little bay but gotta start one sooner or later.... Finally got a chance to get away for a few days so i talked a buddy of mine into going with up to little bay with me. fished friday night into sunday morning and ended up with 19 walleyes. they ranged from 17 to 30 1/4inches with most in the 19 to 24 inch range. it was the free fishing weekend for michigan so it was a zoo in most places with the mornings being a wash do to people drilling hole 30 yds from us during primetime.. kinda sucked but thats weekend fishing. both jigging and tipups produced fished. suckers running in the 5-6in size seemed to work a little better. maybe going back up for the last weekend of the season so we'll see what happens...

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[Steve White]

Wolfy,

End of Jan is still a long time away. Ice will change big time by then. As for right now you can forget about it. Was told today that a guy checking out the ice by the kipling launch had one of the city cops pull up to him. He was told if he went out on the water that he would be ticketed for tresspassing. Not sure how they could do that. May have just been a scare tatic for safety reasons. That should say something though.

Then like I said, end of Jan is a long time away. Will try to post updates as they come to me. As I too will be waitng to go.

Tight lines,

Steve

[Wolffy]

We are heading up with a group the end of Jan. Looking for updates and thought I would seek information from guys that have been up this month.

Wolffy