Ice is gone!
 

Any one chasing crappies this week end?

I'm gonna try and between some more shed hunting I have about twenty more maple trees to cut down.
Looks like a nice weekend to be in PA.

Have a great one, Jim

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I'd think water temps would still have those delectable little slabs still kinda lethargic. Let us know how you do!

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You get a sense that Jim is chomping at the bit for some fryers. Some shallow darker water with some stumps or brush,he just might do alright. Any particular body of water you planning to hit Jim?[/align]

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I start on Conneaut Lake ,then move to Pymatuning.

The key this time of year is a shallow dark bottom near some deep water,and of course a stick or two doesn't hurt.

The first time I go out I take my own sticks,it makes the second time I gomuch more productive.;)

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It could be productive the first time out iff'n those "sticks" were made of dynamite;)

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Enjoy your day tomorrow;)

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Actually a red # 6 eagle claw hook on 4 Lb ultra clear and a small fathead work just fine.

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Seriously, good luck out there and please give us a report!. I got a shallow water honey hole with a mud bottom and lots of brush but it's truly an ordeal getting in there and I'd love some encouragement!

YUM!!

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The name "crappie" just doesn't seem very appealing to the appetite, but they are!!!
Good luck Sir Jim!

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Hey Ed your ice is probably still good for a few more weeks huh?

How about some ice out northerns? They should be feeding like mad!:)

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I am getting them every day now and I am not targeting them. I go mainly for gills but old paper mouth seems to be there lurking. I post my catch at the bottom of my sig line every day. Today is a family bday party so tomorrow I'll be right back at it. Our ice is getting bad though and between the warm day and bright sun today with rain forcast next week we will probably be putting the hard water stuff away next weekend or with luck the following week.

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Your ice is off enough to be fishing and here I just wish the ice were all off our back roads. As of Friday there were still roads snowed shut in the northern part of my district. Some of the roads I was on yesterday still had enough ice in places you had to be careful driving on them.

R.S. Bodenhorn

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Frank you guys kill me. Thats a weeks catch around here. I was fishing my ponds because of time restraints, I'm working now, but I will get out this afternoon.;)
Yesterday I had to fish around a large piece of ice that was moving around in the trees.
But on a high note the wood ducks are back,hitting my boxes already, over all just a great day in PA.:)
No snow left here just some ice in the cold spots,maybe I'll get some pics later.

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The pan fishing here on Champlain is really amazing. Early in the year I targeted gills then switched to perch. The end of the season is always back to flat fish due to the sheltered weedy bays that keeps the ice longer than the broad lake where we get perch. Most flat fish spots we fish are from 3' to 8' deep so safety is a factor too. The end of the season always brings huge catches of very large fish. I usually bring 3 seven gallon buckets(they each hold about 50 pounds)with me and a 100 pound grain bag on the sled. When I use my wheeler I can carry 2 sevens a square 5 and keep a grain bag in box. I gage my successful days on pounds since we commercial fish here. A great day of flat fish brings from 150 to 200 pounds of them. Average days are from 50 to 75 pounds. 3 days ago I had a 130 pound perch day with 120 pounds large and 4 days ago was a 155 pound flats day with several crappie to boot. Before I started this in 1991 I talked with state biologists about taking too many of them. They said harvesting them actually would improve the fishery since they are such prolific breeders and the lake is so large. There are hundreds of us fishing for them right here in the islands and the fishing is better than ever. Selling them is just a hobby for me and is fun since I can fish almost every day and not have to clean fish. I just drop by the neighborhood fish buyer, dump the buckets on his sorting table and he weighs them and pays cash. I never had a day where I couldn't get all the fish off the ice in one trip but am looking forward to that problem.

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Here's one from this year...
My wife bought me a new ATV so I've been doing a little more riding than ice fishing.
Also just got back after 8-days in Hilton Head, SC

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Here are aa couple of the "jets" we put in one of my ponds about ten years ago.
He was catching a few rays through the ice yesterday.Lucky for him the heronsare not around yet.[:@]