The End to the 2024-2025 Ice Season

 

What a season!  After last winter...if we can even call it a winter, I was so eager to get out on the ice this year.  The year started on December 6th at the Mississippi River and came to an end yesterday on West Lake Okoboji, March 9th.  Three months of ice fishing in the state Iowa has become more rare in the past few years so I am happy that we had a nice long winter this year.  My group was able to explore many lakes and river sections throughout the season, I was able to make it out 27 different times (including several short little trips).   The weather and ice conditions were great along the Highway 20 region and north, however the southern part of the state did not have very good ice most of the winter.  Unfortunately, I did not travel south of Hwy 20 very much at all with the unpredictable ice they had.  

Ice fishing is a great sport and I like how it can be done in large groups, not just one or two people in a boat.  It is a great social activity and my group had a lot of that this winter.  Catching fish in fantastic, however when you can do it with a bunch of friends or family, it just makes it that much more enjoyable.  Not only does ice fishing allow time to talk and be with friends it allows for some great food to be put in the freezer.  Several fish frys, fish tacos and fish cake meals have already happened in 2025 thanks to ice fishing, and several more to come as well.  

A huge thanks to a few of my sponsors for allowing me to use the best equipment on the ice.  This year was the debut year of the Vexilar FLX38.  This was really fun to use and fine tune to make catching easier.  This year I also used the Lew's SpeenSpin reel.  With 10 ball bearings packed into this size 10 reel and a drag system that let the big fish run, it was a delight to say the least. Last but certainly not lease is the Cedar Falls Scheels Store.  When it comes to fishing, if you need it, they have it.  Stop on in or order online for everything outdoors.

It is always a bit sad to put the gear away, but the anticipation of floating in the boat and swinging long bass rods makes it a little easier.  

Pool 7 Mississippi River PERCH

 

I finally did it...I went out on a fan boat for some perch fishing.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a few years now.  I have been able to catch some perch on Pools 8 and 9 of the Mississippi River and this trip took me a little further north to Pool 7.  The air boat experience is something else, literally there is nothing like traveling on a boat over ice, then open water, then back onto the ice to catch some fish.  It was a weird feeling, for sure.  The fishing on this particular day was good, we caught quite a few eater sized perch and couple real big perch around that thirteen inch mark.  

I utilized a 36in Jason Mitchell Dead Meat Stick the entire day with my Lew's Speed Spin reel.  A smooth drag is so important with these perch.  Another key piece of equipment was the Vexilar FLX38.  Most of the day we were in water less than five feet deep.  With the adjustable depth on this unit, I was able to use the whole screen and adjust it to as little as five feet.  This was key for early detection of these perch as they cruised around the large flat.  A variety of spoons worked, I really didn't see much difference from one color to another on this day.  When perch fishing, I always go with a spoon, bigger the better.  I have learned that these hungry river perch feed heavily on 1 year old bluegills, so a spoon is the perfect size to trick them. 

This was a trip to remember, hopefully this can become an annual thing to explore unchartered Mississippi River perch.

Go BIG or go FINESSE?

Ice fishing has always been about using the smallest of jigs, small worms and small plastics.  Sure, they work, and at times they are the only things that work.  However, on a recent trip to catch some crappies it was proven again that big baits can, and will catch more fish than smaller presentations.  I was using my favorite ice combo at the time for bigger baits.  I have the Jason Mitchell Black Meat Stick in the 36 inch version.  I have paired this up with a Lew's Speed Spin reel.  I like to use spoons or the new Tika Flash when hole hopping for deeper crappies.  I can fish this combination so quickly moving up the down the water column as well as from hole to hole finding the next group of hungry fish.  This day, like many this year, the bigger baits are what the crappies wanted on this day.  The catch rate was so much higher on the bigger baits compared to jigs.  There was one stretch of the morning that I did not even need to tip the baits with spikes...they were that attracted to the larger baits. Another thing that using larger baits does is to keep away the smaller fish.  Smaller crappies and bluegills didn't' mess with me for the most part, allowing me to focus on the bigger marks and catching fish that I wanted to catch.  On this day the crappies were holding about three feet off the bottom of the lake, utilizing my Vexilar FLX38 in the zoom mode made it so easy to pick off these crappies.  Medium power 1 with the 180 frequency was fantastic for seeing nearby crappies and getting my bait directly above them.  Give it a little shake and gentle ride up...the crappies couldn't resist. 

It was a fun day on the ice, my equipment made it so enjoyable to fish, almost too easy?  It was great and everyone in the group had a great time that day.  Don't forget to think BIG when ice fishing, it might just get you a few more bites, and bigger ones too.

Keep Looking for the KEY

 

Recently a friend and I visited a lake we had never been too.  We were in search of bluegills, as the lake had a good population of them.  The lake has numerous brushpiles, which are magnets for panfish in the winter.  We had a game plan to attack the lake on this morning which included looking at some main lake points, many brushpiles and a few "flats".  After a couple of hours our game plan was not producing very well, a few fish here, a few fish there...did I mention is was below zero???  We were getting frustrated with the lack of fish we were seeing with the Vexilars, as well as the negative mood of the fish, probably due to the massive cold front.  After covering our game plan...which was unimpressive at best, we decided to spread out and try a couple different areas before we headed home.  After checking the lake map again, I decided to go shallower than we had fished all morning, David went to try a deep drop-off.  After drilling several holes and checking with the Vexilar, I found some movement.  I settled into the shack, as I could barely feel my fingers at this point.  

I was using the new Vexilar FLX-38 on this day.  I had settled in about 12 feet of water.  Like always when fishing bluegills I had the zoom feature turned on to the bottom 6 feet of the water column.  I had noticed an irregularity in the bottom reading when looking at the zoom.  It was not solid, so I began to fine tune.  With a couple clicks I had figured out quickly why bluegills were swimming around a foot above the bottom.  I changed the power to the Medium1 setting (there are 3 settings for each; Low, Medium, High) and increased the frequency (or cone angle) to 190.  This allows you to see a wider picture of what is below you.  This allowed me to see the fish coming in and rise above the weeds to hit my jig.  A few different colored jigs worked, plastics worked well, as well as spikes.  I knew I had weeds below me by the reading on the Vexilar, however I really wanted to see what was down the hole that had so many bluegills swimming by.  I dropped a mini camera down and it was as I suspected.  Nice tall weeds covering this shallow flat.  This discovery of weeds with he Vexilar turned our day around, and placed a lake onto our regular schedule.  What was an "OK" day of fishing turned into a GREAT day of fishing.  The FLX-38 has been great this year, I really like the fine tuning an angler can do quickly to find structure as well as focus on the smaller details that fish pay attention to.

There is a lot more information on the Vexilar site about all the great options they have: www.vexilar.com .  You can purchase directly from them or take a look at the Cedar Falls SCHEELS store to get you on the ice quickly with all the gear you will ever need.

Okoboji BLUEGILLS

 The Okoboji Lakes are a treat no matter what season it may be.  This past weekend I traveled north with four ice fishing friends to chase down the big bluegills that make their home in West Okoboji.  This lake is known to be a tough one to fish because the water can be very clear, giving the fish the advantage.  We did not know what to expect as there was little to no information on the ice conditions or what the bite was like.  Come Saturday morning, we were on the hunt for bluegills. 

When fishing West lake Okoboji in the winter, one thing has been a constant for the past 20 years, find green weeds and you will find bluegills.  We were in Emerson Bay, one of the first places that freezes in this large lake, matter of fact, a lot of the lake was still water.  We searched and searched and finally settled in an area that was about nine-feet deep with plenty of weeds.  The bluegills were on the prowl and they were activity feeding throughout the day.  There were lulls here and there, but for the most part the bite was fantastic.  Sight fishing is a blast, and if you want to maximize your catches on West Lake Okoboji it is the only way to fish.  Those that have fished the lake know exactly what I am speaking of, those that haven't it is really hard to explain.  Imagine looking down a hole in the ice and seeing every grain of sand, pebble, and leaf of coontail weeds that are nine-feet below you.  That is West Lake Okoboji.  You can see very fish come up to your bait and watch them suck your bait in.  I do like to use my Vexilar to give me an early warning that fish are in the area, once I see the fish on the Vexilar then it is time to watch hose crafty gills come and eat.  It is truly an experience that is hard to imagine...one really needs to experience it.  The water this year may have one of the clearest I have every seen it.  With this water clarity comes some challenges too.  The fish can obviously see everything.  Your jig, bait, and line are all easily detected by the fish, so anglers that want to catch a lot of fish must adapt or they will be left behind.  If you can figure things out, it can be pretty easy to get a bunch of panfish to enjoy for dinner, remember that there is a 25 fish limit on bluegills per day, when they are biting you can really sill your bucket quickly! 😃

Two large Pumpkin Seeds

TIPS: a few tips for those heading that direction this winter.  One-pound test line is a must when fishing for these clever bluegills.  Using a proper "sight fishing" rod is another thing that is a must for your own comfort.  I prefer a rod that is between 14 and 17 inches long.  I always use a "schooley" reel for this finesse presentation as well, it minimizes line twist. Small jigs...use the smallest of jigs you have, most days a 3mm jig is too big, smaller the better.

We all got our fill of sight fishing on Saturday and decided to try Spirit Lake for perch.  We were only able to catch a few smaller ones and I did land a nice walleye.  We ended the day back sight fishing for more gills, they were still very cooperative, it was a fun way to end the day.

The Okoboji Lakes are a great place to visit, between all of us we caught the following species: bluegills, pumpkin seeds, black crappie, walleye, perch, largemouth bass and northern pike.  It was a great weekend with wonderful weather and cooperative bluegills...I can't wait to get back there and do it all again!