Zach caught this 11" perch on Saturday, note the Lamiglass hat Jeff. We were very disappointed in the fishing as it was slow, other phrases could be used but as this is a family site.....SLOW will work. We heard too many you should have been here yesterday stories for a lifetime. Also breaking news from the fishhouse....it's sold and will transfer to new owners this Sunday. The memories will be many over the last 3 years and will be reviewed through the archives. There is also rumors of a new and improved unit in the future. Stay tuned for further fishing and rumor reports.

Merry Christmas to all readers,

Steelheader

This ghostly fisherman is ME of course. There is no fancy photography here just a fogged up lens on the camera, it was -15 degrees on Sunday morning up at LOW. These were 2 of the 3 keepers we caught that morning.

Last weekend we had to get the snowmobile and the portable up to Lake Of The Woods. It took us awhile to get everything right so we could travel safely.

Rigging to get all the equipment you need to go fishing. It can get creative at times.

Fighting with your catch to get your jig back. It can be a battle

Zach caught the first walleye and it was a dandy....19 1/2" of Winnie eye. This fish was caught when the heater was working, note the next picture when the heater was out of gas.

Yes , by the time we finished fishing the portable house was COLD! We fished for about an hour and a half after the heater ran out of propane. I did catch this 18" eye just before we left.

A Great Crappie Bite

Yesterday was a day to be on the ice, the sun was shining and the fish were biting. Z and I went to an old reliable crappie lake and weren't disappointed. We had to drill 20+ holes, but once we found active fish it didn't take long to fill the buckets. We left the lake about noon and went for lunch then off to Winnie to see what was happening there. We walked out from Denny's resort on the SW end of the lake. We thought that a half mile walk would do us good....IT"S over rated, it sucks, and is tiring. Well once out there we made the best of it and caught fish, we landed about a dozen perch and Z caught a 15" eye. All in all it was a very productive day on the lakes, but anyday fishing is better than a good day at work. ENOUGH SAID!

Next its off to LOW again and hopefully a better trip than last weekend. OOOPS we won't talk about a disaster, but it was good to get away.

Later,

Steelheader

Zach bought a new one man portable, an otter fold-over sled....nice easy to pull.

Home sweet HOME!! A nice place to spend the day on the ice........FISHING of course.

I found two nice jumbo crappies along with dozens others....a great day of fishing!!

A true fisherman concentrating on his vexilar and the fish below his portable. It does pay off to have the graph to entice the fish at different depths with the best bait you have to offer.

Fishing is much more fun when your the only ones on the lake. It took a hike to get there but its easier to find biting fish....Nice fish Zach.

Yesterday we found some nice cooperating crappies, we drilled about 20 holes before we found the school and then the catching began.

The walk off the ice means that a long day of fishing is over. This year so far has been a matter of how much exercise you want. Driving on the ice is not possible yet so you must take a hike....HEHE!!

ICE FISHING HAS STARTED AMEN

Well the ice came fast this winter but unfortunately so did the snow, right now we probably have more snow than we had all last winter. Ice conditions around the area are going to be tricky because we are already seeing slushy conditions. Most lakes are safe to walk on with ice of 4" to 6" on most lakes. We need some really cold temps to get the ice over a foot thick to make for good driving conditions.

Monday we hoofed it out onto a crappie lake and sloshed through slush for 150 yards but were rewarded with very active fish. In 2 hours 3 of us caught over 50 crappies, nice fast action to start the year. It doesn't get any better than that! Zach, Bart and I were met on the road by the MN DNR who said very nice catch....Thank-you very much.

This weekend its off to LOW with Bruce and Bill for early ice walleyes....

Till then.....go fishing!

Steelheader

Bart didn't stand still long enough to get a good shot for the blog. He was jumping from hole to hole catching fish. In some respects tho this might be a shot of his best side.

This was the average size fish caught today, alot of nice 11" fish.

Here's is Zach the guide doing the action shot of the day....looks good Kiddo!

This is the goofed action shot of the crappie wrapped around the vexilar transducer cable. TOO FUNNY!!

The fishing was so good that you only used one hole, two lines were to much hassle to keep a line in the water.

Zach and his new winter fishing gear. Nice stuff!!

After a couple of fast and furious fishing we had 3 limits of crappies to take home and clean.