Hickory Grove- Dec. 28th

With reports of ice up to 5 inches thick, I just had to get outdoors and try some of my old stomping grounds at Hickory Grove.  Packed real light for day, as I only had about 2.5 hours to fish.  With the Vexilar 22hd, rod case, power auger and GPS in hand, I quickly found my first "can't miss" spot on the lake.  Well, miss was more like it.  Not a fish was to be seen.  Off to spot #2.  Another zero.  Spot #3 paid off though.

Spot #3 was a brushpile in about 17 feet of water, deeper than the previous two.  That may have been a piece of the puzzle, and it was located on steep drop-off as well.  Although I was after bluegills and crappies, only bass were coming through the hole, and they were light biters to say the least.  Numerous fish were being marked on the Vexilar, so I decided to give them a little something different.  I changed my jig color from black and red to pink and white. 

A nice gill, just shy of the 9 inch mark.

First drop down the same hole, BOOM, a nice hit and round and round my line went, I just knew it was a bluegill.  Sure was, and a nice one too.  Things continued in similar fashion, catching some gills and bass.  Then the Vexilar went blank for awhile.  I decide to try another brushpile, just 20 yards away. 

A quick move, and another dozen holes or so and the action was on once again.  There was about a 30 minute time period when there was always a fish moving into the view of this brushpile.  Fun, to say the least.  I ended the day there with totals for the day at; about a dozen bass, 20 bluegills and two of the famous Green Sunfish.  Many of those fish came on plastic baits, the rest on live bait spikes.  A great little trip, with a lot of fish coming to the ice, just what I needed.