Pan-Tastic Ice Season Start

Spent a mighty fun day today catching bluegills and crappie with Jeff Sundin and Jon Thelen of Lindy Fishing. We caught a lot of fish, and while the temperature was pretty low (mid teens, I think), the breeze was only slight and it was plenty comfortable fishing on the open ice. It also snowed just enough last night and today that the ice had some snow on it for traction, which is good because I forgot my cleats at home. Mighty good start for an ice season, I'd say.

I used a Lindy Fat Boys jig all afternoon and caught a nice mix of both species. The fish were in fairly deep water, but the most active ones were at least a few feet off the bottom. Through mid-afternoon, the bite got really steady, and the crappie especially were charging hard when they decided to eat. Just before dark, we had to work a little harder to persuade fish to bite.

Walleyes tomorrow and Thursday.