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Ah Eloika, we've had some good times this season, but like a high-maintenance girlfriend, you made me work too hard for too little. Now that Silver's iced... hasta la vista, baby...
Got out late this morning and missed the morning bite, so thought I'd head over to Silver to see if 2 days of sub-freezing temps had generated enough ice. Was pleasantly surprised to see the parking partly plowed and a bunch of anglers on the ice. Fished from 11:15-16:45. Ventured out to 30' of water and wandered around drilling holes around 20-25' of water (6"+ of ice). No hits or even any interest on the sonar. Bite had turned off from the AM, so everyone began to peel off for lunch. Finally it was just me, sitting out there by my lonesome. Set out a tip-up for the first time since I've got a 2-pole license and jigged in another hole. Flags kept coming up, but no fish on. I was sorta using it as an indicator for fish. Eventually come ~1:30-2:00, the bite turned on. Picked up all my fish out of one hole (25' of water), not of my own drilling - came from one of the morning crew. Took home 37 perch and only had to release ~2-3 small ones. Even when I left there were still a ton of fish on the sonar.
First hot lure today was a 1/8oz clown jigging rap. After I got my first fish and switched to eyes, the bite got consistent. Good 'ol Silver Lake perch love eyes. After the jigging rap got them all turned on, switched to a 1/12oz silver/chartreuse kastmaster and began getting 'em in earnest. Caught a few on a #12 diamond eyes and a few on a #10 chartreuse Genz worm, but most came on the kastmaster. You could tell when the eye'd come off, cause they'd all just stare and hover around the lure, but no bites despite it being tipped with a Berkeley power wiggler as well. Perch were sitting on the bottom.
Filleting was a chore, but I was quite happy to fill the freezer. Found one fish with a coiled 6"+ tapeworm... grossed me out... Gonna make sure I cook those fish well. Anybody ever eat the eggs?
Looking forward to more days on the ice at Silver. Wonder when those herons are gonna show up for handouts like last year.
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from Jay K.
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