Sorry for the late report but all is well here in Northern Illinois and we survived the Blizzard of 2011. With work early this week and digging out of the nearly 24 inches of snow dumped on us Tuesday and Wednesday I’ve been admittedly quite busy. Nonetheless, I was a part of a large group of friends that made it out on Petite Lake for some late winter ice fishing just prior to our big storm.
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| petite lake in late winter |
It was a very busy day on the lake (which we attributed to a recent fishing forum post) we had never seen so many people out on this 160 or so acre lake. Despite the numerous clans of fisherman, we found a decent pod of fish after our 2nd major move to an almost exact mid lake basin area. Fish were in a negative mood and we had a whole lot of lookers and a whole lot of small white bass. After a couple quick scans from the underwater cameras we quickly came to the conclusion that we were on top of fish and the real challenge was just getting the strikes. Knowing we were on top of a mixed bag of crappies perch and small whites we decided to stay put. I’m becoming a believer that it’s better to stay on top of negative fish rather than prospecting barren water or finding another pod of fish just as negative. The real key is finding a good combination of bait that will induce the strikes and that could take many combinations of jigs, live bait, or plastics. The real key is to keep trying something different and also to be on top of the fish when they actually start to turn on and the feeding frenzy begins...
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| a nice crappie for neal |
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| petite lake mixed bag of keepers |
Nice catch! I was out last time on Pistakee and fishing was tough. I kept moving seeing fish on camera but couldn't get them to bite.
ReplyDeleteIt's that elusive magic combination the tackle companies are counting on to turn us into "tackle junkies". You seem to have found your's. Nice catch Blake.
ReplyDeleteKirk- Pistakee was rough for me the last time as well, I think by this time of the year those fish have seen it all!
ReplyDeleteJohn- I think there alot of truth to what your saying. Sometimes nothing works ;)
Is that lightening in the first picture? Looks like someone had a nice dinner courtesy of Petite.
ReplyDelete-stephanie
I agree with you guys, "Sometimes The Fish Win"!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a ray of sun light sneaking out from behind the clouds. A few seconds earlier and it was a whole lot larger...
ReplyDeleteI hope you kept those carppie and gills. They would be good baked. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteWe have been stocking up slowly on fresh fish this winter, thanks guys!
ReplyDeleteTearing up the hard water....nice work!
ReplyDeleteNice group of negative fish! Lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys!
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