WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
November 29, 2007

Well, I hope everyone had a great deer season and a wonderful Thanksgiving. As for me, the deer season was good, I shot a buck and a doe on opening day and moved onto house projects after that. With the deer season gone, now I'm starting to get the ice fishing equipment ready and even though I won't be hitting the ice yet, it won't be long. I am a first ice guy, but not the guy that hits the ice first, if you know what I mean.

I will be getting back to weekly reports now that we have ice. I will be spending most of my outings chasing those Winnie and Pokegama Walleyes and, by the sounds of it, I will have my 5-year-old duaghter as my partner. Since fishing her first tournament last Summer, she is fishing crazy and she is chopping at the bit like me to get out there.

With another Thanksgiving behind us and a deer season, now many outdoors enthusiast are preparing for the ice fishing season and no better timing than now to get those augers ready. Mother nature has brought us some serious ice making weather and those first ice fish are certainly going to be ready to eat.

Even with the recent cold snap, the ice conditions on many area lakes are not fishable yet, but it shouldn't be too long. Most of the lakes have seen some ice for a few days to a week, but most of the lakes have just found that first ice over.

Look for a number of lakes in the area to have some excellent action for Walleyes. Typically that first 4-6 weeks of ice fishing proves to be the best opportunity for numbers and I would expect this year to be no different. With all the large year classes of Walleyes holding in most of the lakes, we should see a number of fish in the 14-inch range, along with a nice number into that 17-20 inch category.

Early season ice fishing for me is all about being mobile. I spend most of my time on Winnie and jumping from hump to hump throughout the daylight hours proves to be the most effective way of putting good numbers on the ice. Keying in on small structures with points or corners increases the action. With the early season action, one can typically sit on the shallowest part of the structure and find the most active fish, but the edges will also produce. More times then not, the top of the hump is key. While keying in on those specific spots, I would recommend buying a GPS system like the Lowrance H2O with the lake contour chip to help with finding those secret hiding spots. The contour chip will eliminate drilling holes in unnecessary water.

As for the presentations, look for those jigging spoons in a silver, green, or blue tipped with a minnow head to be the best producers. Here in the early season one can jig the spoon aggressively and find those walleyes jumping on it as they move their way around the structure. As for line, a monofilament 6-8 lb. is all one should need, but keep your eye on it as the ice can certainly take its toll as you bring those fish up.

So with one season coming to a close, another is just getting started, but please use caution as those ice conditions are changing rapidly this time of the year and I would not recommend getting out there yet. If you are planning on going, wear a life jacket and bring a friend.

Stay safe and let the ice fishing season begin,

Sean Colter
member of NMGL
seancolter@seancolter.com