12-24 back in the saddle again

[Norm M]

First time out in a bit, good thing I was out in the back end of no where with the first couple casts . Pathetic as a politicians campaign promises .

Everywhere I went was a mixture of open water and ice , thankfully enough open water to fish .

I started out in the back country at a crick that doesn't get a lot of attention and I like it that way . Most of the slackwater be it shoreline, island , snag or weed related was covered with ice. After getting nothing going upstream with jigs/plastics in the open and faster moving water , I figured a change of tactics was needed. I headed back downstream to where I was parked working the edges of the ice cover over the slack areas. I used a small floating minnow , cast it downstream to hang in the current next to the ice cover . I ended up with 1 decent rock bass from the ice cover along a wood jam . Cool, found open water and figured a way to catch a fish . After going thru that medical crap , it was a good feeling to feel something on the end of my line .

I hit another crick, this one has some hold over trout from the fall stocking as well as bass and rock bass . I found a riffle-pool-riffle sequence that had more depth than the rest that I scouted and decided to fish there first . I was casting a size 2 panther martin spinner across and down from the top to the back. I ended up catching an 8 inch trout . I fished three of the other riffle-pools with no fish caught but did have a very small smallmouth flash out and miss the spinner as it passed some wood laying on the bottom .

Last stop was the river , found some places where there was slower but not slack flow that was not ice covered . rock bottom , algae on the rocks maybe 3 feet deep. I used a 1/8 oz darter head jig with a jigspinner attached and a dropshot erie darter swimming it off bottom . Finally get the fish I've been thinking about while not being able to fish, nice fat smallmouth 15 - 16 inches . Kepp working the area and get another hit, this from the head shake felt like a walleye . Sure enough , walleye just over 19 inches. Man just over the slot , no walleye dinner .

Not bad, 4 fish, each of a different species , from three different places in about 4 hours in my first trip back . Back is a little sore , but it's a good sore, I earned it .

[timinmo]

Norm

Good to hear you are back out.  Keep at it.

[Johnsfolly]

Norm

Glad to hear about your first trip out. Also appreciate you posting about the conditions and your thoughts on how to best fish those areas. Enjoyed the post. Merry Christmas to you and your family.