Hi again, everyone.
Been busy with ice fishing, so I'll make another post while we still have some good ice. And man, what a strange winter we've had up until now. Tee-shirts till January, then polar cap temps till March. Kinda gives both sides to the global warming debate equal time. The places I've been fishing on the Bay, have put on an additional 5 inches of ice in just one short week. It went from 9 inches last week to 14 inches this week. No big surprise really, with temps still in the teens every night. The wind is the only fly in this ointment, with a weird persistent SW wind being the norm most of this winter. Luckily the Bay has frozen all the way across now and will stay intact for the most part under moderate wind conditions. But still, the cracks are changing from day to day, and I've had to adjust my waypoint crossing areas on virtually every trip. Sometimes even from going out to coming in. I caution anybody who heads out before daylight or in after dark, to approach theirs marked crossing areas with care.
Now for the political portion of my fishing report. These of course are my views and I hope are not taken the wrong way by anybody. I've started to notice people being more friendly on the ice recently. Everybody waving to each other as they pass on the trails, sharing info and helping each other out. This is usually more the norm in southern States and has not been seen by me much in the 54 years I've been a Michigan resident. I like how it makes me feel when strangers give me and others that small jester of friendship. I feel safer out there for some reason when this happens. I was feeling all warm and fuzzy with this in my mind, as we headed out yesterday. Then I happened across the party area. You know the spots, where there's 25 beer cans and 3 or 4 propane bottles left on the ice. Well, that brought me back to reality as I stopped and put as many as I could in my dog sled, while hoping I didn't get checked by a DNR officer and having him think they were all mine. Then on the way in last night, I first saw an abandon snowmobile, and then a guy walking back towards shore a mile or so from it. Several others had past this guy before me, yet nobody offered him a lift. I took him in. And finally, I'd like to talk about fishing spot courtesies. Like many of you, I mark my fishing spots on my GPS. Especially if they are good ones. But if I return the next day and there's somebody fishing close to that spot, I try to keep a civil distance from them. So what is a civil distance? Well, I know it's more than 10 Feet. If this was the Saginaw River, it would be a different story. But there is no one area out there on the Bay that's any better or worse 25 yards away. Rant over.
The fishing on the Bay was the same this week as last, Great. But more places are starting to produce now. Those 16 to 20 foot zones North of the State Park have been on fire the last few days, especially from 4:00pm till dark. The same goes for the areas off Linwood and Ericson roads. And I'm finally seeing some bulging females showing up in the catches, (not mine of course) but signaling the walleyes southern migrations towards the river mouths. I fished the Black Hole area (24 FOW) Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th, with good catches both days. No monsters, but good eaters. The river fishing has stayed steady in Bay City, with a few more keepers showing up in the catches along with the mass of little ones. Please handle and release these little rascles with care, no matter how frustrated they make you. These will be the keepers next year. It looks like the weather is going to moderate this week. Even though we have a good ice pack right now, it is still thinner then in most years past. That means it will not take the prolonged abuse that both warm and windy weather can have on it, like in recent years. Please stay aware of this if we are suddenly thrown back to warmer temps. In the meantime, I'll keep reporting when I get out. Be safe, fish smart and tight lines. Capt. Dan.
