The new ice fishing season has started on Bremer Pond. Jeff and I ended up in a bass hole and got 22 bass, from 14 inches on down to 7 inches. Jeff got one of Dwight's WE. We snapped a picture and sent it to Dwight, but neglected to measure it.
The two of us have caught a few WE and both put it at 15 inches. I'll get it together and remember to measure the next one. We only pulled out one crappie after dark, so we were not in the right location for them. Wind came up and it started to snow. Thanks Dwight, perhaps you could post the walleye photo.

So are you guys noticing alot more bass in the 14" and under range in the lake in general???? Also when was the last big pike sighting....

Also since the renovation, how old is the lake again? I jumped on Dwight pretty good at the last conference about taking action to plan for the future years in advance, but your fishing report is making me think its time to start removing lots and lots and lots of bass immediately....did you release all those bass or did you eat them?

We were set up a yard or two away from a tubal structure unit that Dwight sunk. We were also in the neck of the bay on Bremer Pond with large rock points on either side of us nearby. I think on this particular outing we just were in a very bassy area. I doubt that one sample makes any particular point. If we see mostly bass all winter long, then it could be a problem. The bass we caught all looked very healthy, and yes they would look good in a frying pan but that is against the pond rules. The NP were last contacted during ice fishing last year. Standby for further reports.....

I have been ice fishing my entire life and have never caught more than 10 largemouth in one outing....so one report of someone catching 22 of them in one outing does have some serious merit for consideration.....other species of fish we routinely catch hundreds of while out on the ice....

Whats ice?

wait till morning it is going to make an appearance that may be very lengthy in its staying around.

ice.......exists?

Not the best photo, but here it is:

Still barely any here around the edges

None here at all, and is a nice sunny day out. Snow from yesterday all melted.

Repeat of last winter?

One of those big NP stripped off a lot of line and broke off this afternoon. It could have been Darlene though the look of the line mangling was NP-like.

How old do you think Darlene is now?

How old do you think the NP are?

It is only an estimate since these fish arrived in unknown age and size by swimming the shallow channel from the Rock River during pond construction. The channel was closed off in October 2005. 8 years+

Ice was 9.5" at 1600 hours CST today.

10 inch WE caught by the stick this afternoon. Ice fishing; 8-15" WE so far. Apparently some grow a lot faster than others. Why the excitement over these little WE? October 2011...Additive Fish

Male WE typically grow slower than the females thus your fish was probably a male and Stick's was probably a female. It is good that they are surviving and getting enough to eat to grow. Have you seen any evidence of the stocked smallies?

Nice to see a well thought out plan work !

I have caught a few of the SMB during the open water season. They were in the 6-7 inch range.

I got one last year ice fishing It was about five inches. None so far this year. Soon will have ice thickness good for vehicle traffic. That will be nice to scout around more.

I thoroughly enjoy your ice fishing reports, but what have you guys been working this week or what? Take some pics this weekend!!

What did you catch the WE on? Jigs with bait? Unbaited lures?

Fish still frozen from last night. I will take a photo and post on Saturday.

Thursday's catch and keep:

Largest BG:

Walleye was on a red Frostee with a #6 hook and a two inch minnow. So was the BG above.

Decent sized LMB don't bite in the winter. This one and others weren't told this rule. 01/07/20113

Good work D! Loved the WE photo - that's very encouraging to see.

Another 12" Walleye caught last night. It is beginning to look like quite a few of the new WE survived.

01/09/2003 catch and keep fish.

Your crappie population seems to be healthy and not stunted, or at least not too stunted.

Some of them have eggs already.

Back on the pond today. Kept 14 crappie, 2 sunnies, and 1 perch. Released 15 LMB, 2 WE, and a 36" NP. Pictures forth coming.

you boys better start eating them bass....18 predators to 17 forage items is not a good recipe, especially through the ice.....

one thing that is very encouraging is that your predators are active this late into the winter, means they are happy and not stressed!!!

More LMB and less YP than other years. All the LMB look very healthy to me, although we did catch one today that looked like it tangled with one of the NP sometime in it's life.

Man them crappie would look real good fried between some white bread..

Here is the thing to keep in mind, even though the largemouth bass look healthy you have to always look a couple years out and be proactive as much as possible. The largemouth bass may always look healthy, but even healthy bass will have a huge dramatic impact on your entire population of fish....

If you were catching 100 bluegill/perch for every 15 bass I wouldnt be nearly as concerned, but when your catching 3 bluegill/perch per 15 bass during the winter I would be thinking about a new game plan....you will never run out of bass in that lake, so the catch and release thing for them is actually your biggest enemy towards the future....

It is virtually impossible to hold onto a perch population in a pond that has an abundance of largemouth bass. I havent seen it yet. Has anyone out there seen a 10 acre or less body of water hold onto a high perch population consistently along with a high bass population???

n8ly, your comments should be a good wake-up call for the Bremers! Great analysis.

I have a sustaining YP population with an abundance of LMB. Don't know how it happens, but it does in my pond. Not 10 acres though.

Here is Mike's 36" Northern Pike. She is one member of my pond management team.

Ironically, she's one member who cares not for your goals!

Probably chowing down on BG, YP, and a certain size of LMB.

Of course, if she's eating your smallies, we'll have to kill her!

Are you catching those crappie on the same thing that you caught the walleye on? ""Walleye was on a red Frostee with a #6 hook and a two inch minnow.""

Also do you catch very many smaller crappie than those in the pictures? For the smaller crappie, do you C&R them or remove them?

And can we assume that the crappie are more abundant in the pond compared to the YP and BG based on harvested fish in the picture?

Pretty much stick with a Frostee Jig in glow red, chartreuse, or blue. I keep all the crappie, there were two small ones that did not make the picture. I am not sure about the numbers, if you go to a tiny jig and waxworm, you can catch one bluegill after the other. Perch seem to be lacking numbers this year, but I have been fishing structure piles. I get the feeling when I move off the structure and fish the main basin of the pond the perch will show up.

Stick - Very interesting information about catching success and fish location. Can I assume that the pike are not caught on the small Frostee jig?
Do you catch more perch on jig minnow or jig waxworm? Thanks.

Stick

Keep us in the loop RE the YP. I would like to know location, qty and size of fish if you don't mind sharing. If you are noticing a drop in catch frequency, I'd also like to know. This may help me understand YP location and population fluctuations in my fishery, too. I can't seem to find them regularly...

Yes, 90% of what we have down the hole are the Frostee Jig, with #6 hook in glow red, blue, or chartreuse. We use direct sunlight or a million candle power spotlight to "charge" them when rebaiting or if action slows. The YP like these with the normal 2" minnow. The BG like the waxworms on small jigs. This is typical of pond fishing in these parts. If you want BG, use the waxworm on a small jig 3 to 36 inches off the bottom jigged slowly and slightly. I will keep you posted on the YP. Bill, we get our NP on the Frostee and 4 lb line. I think it is a case of curiosity kills the cat on why these large NP hit our tiny jigs. Either that or Dwight trains them to do so.

Stick -Very informative info and advice - thanks. I too see bluegill catch rate much better with waxworms and perch catching best on minnows 1.2"-2.5" long. I've found that yellow perch will readily bite a larger lure compared to bluegill which is probably due to mouth size and general feeding habits of esp the larger perch who frequently eat minnows. The light attracts zooplankton and crappie love and thrive on zooplankton during winter - neat trick. Hooking onto one of those northern pike with 4lb test line would be similar to hooking onto a lawn tractor underwater. That can be exciting. I am suprised that the big pike are not cutting the line more often. Pike are much better at cutting nylon line compared to walleye who rarely cut your line due to differences in the teeth configuration between pike and walleye.

2 guys in the ice fishing house - live cell update - catching a few.....

Final Score for Saturday afternoon/evening: 61 Crappie 4 Bluegill 2 Walleye 11 Bass.

Crappie to be cleaned...

Wow nicely done Dwight! You have a strong population in there, and they look very healthy. No YP?

Any size on the WE? When did you stock them and at what size?

Dwight - how big were the egg sacs in the crappie from MN this time of year?

No, we did not see a perch all day. Do you think they could be dwindling as the preferred prey for the NP, LMB, SMB, and WE? We measured both WE, 14" & 8".
The egg sacs in the crappie are about the size of a dime.
There is a thread by Dwight called "additive fish" on the forum, pictures too, about the stocking of the WE and SMB

It is very probable that the YP are being selected by the predators esp NP and LMB that IMO are 'hard' on YP populations. When WE get larger 18"+ you may notice even fewer YP. Are there very many weed beds in the pond to provide refuge for YP.

Maybe time to supplementally stock YP - cage grow out to 8" or maybe more and release in the Fall. That's what I'm doing again this year, but instead of stocking 100, I'm doubling or tripling that order.

Weed beds cover 30-40% (mostly submergent) of the pond in the summer. Weed bed size is very dependent on water clarity and water temperature. Last summer water temperatures were higher than the norm, but since the clarity was down, so was plant growth.

Where are the YP? I don't know, but there were plenty of them in the fall. YP seem to be segregationists, schooling only among their own (if possible). When the holes are bored, the light shines down from several "suns" and the FHs starting dropping down the sun beams; YP move off. I think they move off because the BCP and large predators are attracted to the light and activity. YP avoid the crowd. They also seem to avoid moving up the water column for a meal when there are plenty of bottom organisms to feed upon.

These are not universal truths but only my observations on Bremerpond.

Some of Saturday's catch. High winds caused an early exit!

Another nice bunch of panfish. Harvest is a key component to maintaining a quality fishery. Do you keep records of the number of fish that you harvest each year?. The data would be helpful for numerous other members interested in how many that can be harvested per acre per year.

Good slaying Dwight wish you was closer I'd come help control them craps..

Why does that lady need a coozie when ice fishing?

keep here beer from freezing..............
or her fingers...........

Was just going to reply. Same reason for coolers up there. Keep drinks from freezing.

Glenda sips her beer so the can cooler keeps the beer cold in the warm ice-fishing house.

Coolers may sit outside or inside depending on ambient outdoor temperature and do keep the beer from freezing on cold winter days.

There is a delicate balance to maintaining the beer within prescribed coolness parameters.

I might add this to my "things i need to say more often" list. Right above contacting an ornithological professional and right below "I'm wrong" and "I'm sorry."

It is one of the most important things.

Ice fishing again yesterday. More later. YP caught.

Looking forward to seeing them. What's the ice thickness right now Dwight? I think we're done here. Will have to travel for it now...

Ice was 20 inches last Saturday, probably 18 after warmer days.

Dwight you guys got involved in discussing the proper temperature of beer and forgot to answer my query.
"" Do you keep records of the number of fish that you harvest each year?. The data would be helpful for numerous other members interested in how many that can be harvested per acre per year.""

Lol I'm always happy if I catch atleast as many as I drink..

I think it's the stick who drinks the Hamms. I could be wrong though.

Now if there was a flask in the picture....

"From the land of sky blue waters, Hamm's the beer refreshing."

That Hamm's can has to be an antique. Haven't seen them around for 30 year. Can still remember the commercials and the signs in the bars while growing up in Wisconsin.

Sorry Bill. I am easily distracted when beer is introduced into the conversation.

Records are kept. With 5 acres of water and under 200 hours of total annual fishing time per acre, their value is minimal.

I figure 25% of the fish in the pond may actually have seen a fishing presentation. Maybe 10% of those have responded to the presentation, under 10% of those were actually caught, and maybe 25% of those have been harvested.

If there are 300,000 fish (16,000,000 total gallons of water, one fish per 50 gallons of water) in the pond, then 75,000 have seen a fishing presentation. 7,500 have responded. 750 have been caught and under 200 have been harvested per year.

Note to self: Go fishing more often.

Thanks for sharing the catch records. So can we assume those are average annual numbers or just this ice season 2013 catch so far? Do you harvest any other fish besides the black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, and those predators that are bleeding?

It would be good to have some harvest information of a pond similar to yours since you have posted weekly water quality perameters, especially water clarity (secchi disk readings). by my quick calculation our average water clarity during the open water season was 39.9".
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=14101&Number=320227#Post320227

This year so far you harvested about 40 panfish per acre (ave secchi 39.9"-3.2ft; Lo 1.6' hi 6.5') or is the 200 harvested include the December catch-harvest?

Hamms beer is available in about twenty states. Miller Brewing bought out Hamms. You can read all about it at their website. It runs about $16 a thirty pack in these parts. It is a good ice cold beer.

Ah yes, the 30-pack. Back in high school, we thrived on the Stroh's 30-pack.

You could have five friends each with six beers, or six friends each with five. Good times for all.

I remember the night before the SATs. We had four on a 30-pack. Damn I wish the SATs were graded on a curve. I know I collectively brought down the score of any poor soul sitting withing 15' of me. I was dropping Stroh-ski bombs the entire time.

Don't we all wish it was graded on a curve. Since I had quit high school and was laying sod on I-55 when my classmates took the SAT, I had to do the one they gave at college. To my immediate right was a good looking girl with large attributes(the kind that gets your butt whipped in a country-western bar),she was busy until the math part was wheeled out. She then dropped her pencil and put her head on her desk until the test was over.

Maybe she was involved with part of a Stroh's 30-pack???

She could have cast an awesome shade over them.

Hot from the pond this afternoon (10 minutes ago), the stick catches this 34" NP.

Nice! We're going to have to gut one of those soon and see what it's been eating on.

stick should have put a can of Hamms in the pike's mouth for reference.

No need, they eat what ever they want.

Now you know that's a cop-out.

Don't you wonder if it's eating any Black Crappie? I know you do.

That photo causes real serious envy.

IMHO, their just isn't any prettier fish than a NP. There also just isn't any fish any more fierce, except maybe a big fat musky.

Fantastic!

Catmandoo

I agree with your sentiments re pike and musky
If we are talking freshwater fish

However, tie the tails of a 10 lb tarpon and pike together
And see what happens

Awesome stick!

Nice NP Stick ! Details ?

Stick looks really happy

Fishing basin near the deepest area in the pond. Once again on a #6 red glow Frostee jig. Kind of slowed crappie action before and after, but I would not hang around NP either. We also have gold, glow blue, and glow chartruese Frostees on, but the NP definately prefer r-e-d, red.

Nice NP, and on a rig with no leader. Impressive hookset and managing him thru the hole!

Also from Friday.

Dwight and Stick....looks like some nice BCP actions for you guys this winter. Those pike are awesome as well.

Question from another MNer...Would you attribute that great fisherery to Hamms (the beer refreshing), Coors Light (frost brewed), or another brand not pictured? I am not over looking ANY details as I Boss my ponds.

Corona
The Corona Reef is dominated by Corona bottles. There are many other brands of beer bottles represented, but Corona bottles rule the reef.

The Corona Reef is a unique structure consisting of thousands of spent beer bottles. Each bottle that ends its life as a beer container lands on Corona reef and is reincarnated as the home for numerous organisms. Some of the organisms live on the outer surface of the bottle and others live inside of the Corona Reef homes.

Out of pure nosiness how many cappies smaller than those pictured do you usually catch to get those 17 harvested in the picture? Plus are the smaller crappies discarded or C&R??
Also more nosiness; did you ever measure the gape width on one of your larger northerns? I'm curious as to what the gape is for a 34"-38" NP.

The rule is to keep perch, bluegill,& crappie. I clean almost every fish unless it is really a runt then it goes in the gut pile. Have never measured that. Catch-measure-picture-release. I think it is pretty stressful for them so we always feel good when we shoot them back down the hole.

Those be some weird rules, stick.

I can see, and agree with, taking all crappie, but the bluegill and the YP are great forage species.

Dwight.

Oh, we know!

He's a stubborn and crusty kind of dude!

I may write a paper: Creating an ecosystem based upon a beer bottle substratum.

until my perch and bluegill numbers go back up, they are catch and release in my lake...the bass however are the ones we are currently harvesting...

It's like Bizarro World up on Bremer Pond.

Dwight- Thanks for the info. Maybe some here with NP mounted, they could make some measurements of total length and gape of the mouth. Cecil could also provide some of this sort of information from fish in his shop. He always has a pike hanging ready to paint. I am interested to see what size of fish these larger pike are capable of eating. If you are able to provide some data, I am making a thread in Types of Fish To Choose to put the data. Thanks.
Link to the thread about NPike data:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=5

This from the guy with the snapping turtle in his outhouse?

Well, while both my pond and I are in PA, that snapping turtle had a big West Virginia assist.

I find this a little hard to believe. There wasn't a stew pot in sight.

Only after the fact did I realize that two of the WV crew were trying to 'store' the snapping turtle.

First, they tried to 'store' it in the back of Ken's pickup truck, but it kept crawling out.

So, they ended up putting in the Port-O-John.

They kind of laughed it off like they were playing a joke on me, but now I realize, they wanted the turtle!

Sunil seems more giddy than usual today. It could be anticipation of the evenings 12-Peroni event.

HaHa.

I probably won't have the TV on (or the radio)(or the laptop).

I thought you would be watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on USA Network. A lot cool dogs....

Here's our bigger dog of two brothers, Boone clocking in at about 160lbs:

Who buys his shoes?

It is going to be a two house day out on Bremer Pond tomorrow. Bad news for the fish!

Let me post this pic of our other dog for no reason:

Is that Supper Dog ready to take off?

Ridgeback?

He does look like a Ridgeback, but both he, Milo, and his brother, Boone, are Great Danes primarily. We don't think they are pure.

Milo is 110 lbs. and can catch a bird in flight.

That is an impressive looking dog!

Yeah, Milo is a bit crazy too.

He bites people, including kids. But he thinks its funny. When the landscapers are here, Milo will start acting aggressive to the ones who show the least bit of fear. Then, Boonie will approach the same guy from 180 degrees away, so the poor guy can't keep his eyes on both dogs at the same time.

It's pretty funny.

Good for you Sunil. If he was a Rhodesian Ridgeback, I might have gotten a bit crazy too. Their our dogs of choice, but not a particularly well known breed.

That is a very handsome dog.

Tell me that isn't how your lawn looks right now.

Jesse caught a 10 inch smallie this afternoon. Remember the ones that went in at 3 inches.

So are those the biggest smallies you have now? I thought you had some larger natives.

The lawn is currently snow covered.

Several weeks ago, that's what our lawn looked like. (in the pic)

Wish the darn Lake would turn off! Sheesh, winter is getting like normal again.

If this keeps up, I'm getting a snowmobile next year

We barely have any snow on the ground here. Maybe 1/4". JKB, wait 'till the end of next week. That storm is supposed to be bigger than this one. I know all you are seeing is lake effect now tho.

the stick just caught his personal best NP at 40 inches. Photo to follow.

Nice!! What would that weigh you figure?

Have a Hamms & a smile!

I was gonna say, it's gotta be the Hamms

17.7 pounds

Dang! That's pretty skinny. RW only 85%. Sounds like a good cantidate for a fish fry.

15.7? Jeff's email said it kicked axe. I think there was some excitement down there!! I don't recall a fish kicking axe. We'll get it sorted out in the morning. The photo looks good.

? updates.

From the stick:

New personal record for me, and new Bremer Pond record 40" NP.

Don't let the blood bother you, I cut her a bit with the gaff, but she was ready to go when released. Dwight, I believe your scale is shot, much like mine did, it weighs less than right as the batteries go south. The scale weighed it a bit under 13, but the conservative chart at the shop puts a 40" NP over 16 lbs. It sure seemed heavy while I was holding it for the picture.

Yes, it was casught on a #6 red frostee jig, fathead minnow and 4 pound test line.

The fishing was pretty much over after this fish at about 6:30. Too much commotion in the water for the crappie to hang around. We did get nice perch, a bluegill, and about a dozen crappie before this.

It's decision time for Dwight!

You mean keep one of these big fish, clean it, see what it is eating and change it into four jars of pickled northern?

You guys have something interesting going on up there.

Catching a lot of crappie, but not so much YP or Bluegill. Crappie are not such a good forage base, and they are abundant. YP and BG are great forage base fish, and the pike may be eating on them.

Also, no culling program for LMB.

One pike should be sacrificed to see what it's eating, so yes.

There are a lot of BG in the pond as evidenced by video, and when you target them with a waxworm and tiny jig you catch one right after the other. YP numbers do seem to be down.

Good to hear about the Bluegill.

How many pike do you think are in the pond?

Talk to Cecil about YP and NP/Muskies in the Bass Pro fish tanks. BP decided that the large YP that they were buying from him were no more than expensive fish food when stocked in tanks with NP/Muskies.

I'd sacrifice a bleeder like that in a heartbeat.

Just guessing, but from what I have seen over the years, I would say a dozen or so that are 28" and larger.

Would that be like 2/acre or so then?

Yes.

Got up this morning and noticed a cut in my hand. I was wondering where I got that. After close inspection it has that shredded NP bite look. Some of that blood was mine. I hope I don’t grow long nasty sharp teeth and develop a slime coating from our bloods intermingling.

Remember that old movie from the late 70's called "Ssssssssss?"

If you notice your overbite turning into an underbite, drink a six of Hamms and call Condello in the morning.

I figured Hamms had something to do with this thread, and the injuries

Stick, I chickened out at the last minute 11.99 +deposit for a 30 pack!, and then we need Bloody Mary chasers to boot!!!

I'm just not as tough as you!

First -- not only did the turtle have a West Virginia "assist" it also had a WV accent. The whole thing was a really bad situation that may yet end up on "60 Minutes."

Of all things, it was a WV lawyer who arranged (a boot in the butt) to give the critter complete freedom without a trial!

As for a stew pot, as Sunil's post mentions, there were two pots 25-30 gallon pots at my place, ready for the taste trial!

cat, you're giving false defense. You were at the palatial Knight's Inn with me and Todd. Those guys could have caught that snapper anywhere between 11PM and 9AM.

I am hoping that our big NP die of old age at 40 plus pounds. They can eat anything they want.

Thanks for the tips, though.

That is how I feel about my big bass except for a person that wants to mount one. No mounting for me.

Very nice NP Stick and Dwight! Thanks for the pic. Small ones are good to eat - don't know about big ones.

Stick be glad you did not lose any appendages. A slime coat might help with fishing.

Standard weight for a 40" northern pike is 16.4 lbs. Nice fish and some of its weight was no doubt produced by eating yellow perch since perch and pike like to hang out in the same type of habitat. It is neat how you often catch your pike on a small No6 red jig with minnow.

Dwight,

Have you caught any in late summer and noticed if their weights are down? I ask this because I get some to mount here from lakes that are semi-euthrophic and the large pike are stressed in late summer due to a lack of a good refuge of cool water with good oxygen levels. They seem to hang there though and wait it out until the turnover, not feeding much which accounts for their weight loss.

Deflect much?

Mostly these pike are caught in the winter and spring/early summer. I don't recall catching them very often after June. Maybe they are lying low after that. I really don't target them (ever) so my data is lacking any credibility.

The oxygen levels have always been good as evidenced by my weekly readings. I am not sure what water temperature a NP would consider too warm to grab a snack when desired.

What do you think would be a stressful water temperature for NP?

What was that method of pumping the fish's stomach? Lavage?

Would that work for a pike?

We all have this curiosity as to what these pike are eating, and we can't find out!

Can we assume they are not eating the crappie?

Just look here for what NP eat (world wide survey).

http://www.fishbase.us/TrophicEco/FoodItemsList.php?vstockcode=272&genus=Esox&species=lucius

FWIW...I stocked 10 NP in my 1/4 pond last year. This little body of water had BCP,BG,YB and BH before the NP went in. As soon as the ice comes off (some time in April) and I can get a trap in the water or hook and line, we are going to catch and cut open as many of the 10 pike as we can catch.

Its such a small body of water not sure what can learned but we will see if there are any trends.

mnfish, I can't wait to see what you have in there.

I think you would have more reliable results if you waited until 2-4 weeks after ice-out when they are feeding actively.

How big were the NP that you stocked? If they are old enough they will make an effort at a spawn immediately at ice-out so that will affect the results early on.

If you give them a chance to "get going metabolismly speaking", I predict that they will have BCP,BG,YP and BH in their stomachs.

Ask me (Dwight), I know what they are eating. They are eating all available fish species (including crappie), turtles, muskrats, mink, baby ducks, snakes, frogs, crayfish, leeches and other tasty items.

They will be targeting the "menu of whim" on a particular day. A snapshot of stomach contents of a 40" NP wouldn't tell you much about the over-all diet of these fish.

The studies of diets of larger NP that I read to date many of those collected have empty stomachs. IMO it would be wasteful to sacrifice a large pike to see what it was eating and have its stomach be empty. Mnfish's project of diet of NP should give some good information based on the size of the pike. I wonder if the diet changes as pike get larger than 32"??

Dwight's predictions on what I will find in the bellies of my little pike are probably spot on.

I have so little time or money invested into the 10 NP and have an almost unlimited supply to draw from to replace, that any information gained will be in essence...Free. The best kind of information don't you think.

I wouldn't want to kill a 40" NP for the chance to gain some knowledge. That is a very special fish if you ask me.

I agree on all the love for the big pike, but we are also talking about them in a 5-ish acre BOW with some previously stated goals of a trophy LMB.

There seems to be a huge crappie population.

My pond has a lot of similarities to Dwight's. I now have one 30"+ pike that somehow got into my pond. I don't know what I'd do with him if I caught him.

Trophy NP and trophy LMB seem like a nice combination in this situation.

There are known large fish of both species and there is huge supply of "forage" fish including the small and mid-sized LMB.

There are plenty of nice sized fish (multiple species) for catching and the frying pan as well.

Outside the box situation; outside the box thinking.......

Sunil - ""I don't know what I'd do with him if I caught him."" Okay when you catch your 30+" NP sacrifice it to see what it has eaten last - do it for PBoss science. Catmandoo will advise you on how best to clean it so you end up with the fewest bones in the fillets.

I'm not even sure how I'm going to handle the thing if I catch it.

In my case, that pike is most likely the only one in there, and I have an intrigue in it's role in my pond.

I'll bet you could find another one to take it's place!

Perhaps react the same way you did to the snapping turtle in your outhouse?

Best thing to do when you catch one from shore with no landing net or gaf is just 'play it' until it is exhausted and then beach it by pulling or sliding it on shore. But make sure it is belly up before pulling it ashore cause they can have more ample fight remaining than you think and then they snap your line as they unexpectedly trash. Some will stick their finger in under a gill and lift it, but I don't like that method. For the smaller ones you can grasp it tightly and lift it where the head meets the body. My dad always lifted them by putting the thumb and forefinger in the eye sockets which still seems cruel to me, although the fish did a lot less thrashing when we held them that way. They are quite toothy so jaw lifting like a bass is not a wise option. Dwight and 'crew' use a gaf to bring them up out of an ice fishing hole, because they are using 4 lb test line and lifting a 5-16 lb pike with light line does not work for very long. The gaf when used correctly imparts no blood, little damage and the fish does not have to touch the ground which removes lots of body slime from the fish. Body slime protects the fish from fungus, parasites and other stressors.

Do you mean the girlish scream, or the complaint to the West Virginia Bar?

Listen, Man. If I had to use the port-a-john as badly while interacting with the pike, as badly as when I was encountering the snapping turtle, then YES, I will react the same way.

I must be honest. The disappointment quickly overshadowed the initial fear/shock/surprise.

Well, that would explain the resolute look on your face as you slowly trudged to stand beside Ken and me and then how you quietly asked us to accompany you. Yes, I would have to say disappointment in not being able to achieve your obvious goal of a quiet portajohn visit was clear!

Forgot to post these from the weekend.

Time for lunch !!!

Very Nice Indeed!

If you don't mind me asking, how many BCP thru the ice, on average, per outing, to you guys catch? Are their size ranges evenly distributed? Have those trends changed over the past 3-5 years or have they stayed pretty much the same?

We did a seasonal study of northern pike diets in Lake Thompson, a large natural lake about 40 miles west of Brookings. It was under the ice in the winter that we really saw the northern pike eating the biggest prey items -- black crappies, that year's common carp (~10 inchers), etc. During the open water season, they ate a lot more smaller fishes and even a lot of invertebrates.

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/thesis/Sammons-Steven-M-M-S-1993.pdf

On the BCP, our catch per day varies wildly, but probably averages about 20. Catch all sizes, been that way for quite a while. Biggie so far this winter is 11". Our best day we caught 61.

I duplex printed it for evening study. Thanks

The stick commentary: The four on the upper left won't make the knife. That is typical of the crappie you get if you stay too long after dark. I would give $20 to know what is going on down there that consistently moves the bigger crappie off and just the small ones bite slowly.

May be predation. LMB and NP have better night vision than BG , Crappie etc. As it gets closer to dark the bigger forage fish stop and hide while some of the small forage fish , with less competition from their larger siblings , get brave and keep feeding

Dwight, please send the $20 bill to me....here you go---
The new generation of crappie teenagers sleep all day and stay out all night....party animals

I don't have a clue about your time deprivation BCP but looking up to the right side of the picture...I will have a red beer with 2 olives please.

Once again..nice catch of BCP.

ewest, I like your answer a lot. Do you have some ewest knowledge to point me where the larger BCP move? Structure, specific bottom areas, hovering well off the bottom in mid-depths? I am clueless to their movements. One other question; although I have caught quite a few NP at night (ice or not). I have always read that NP are poor night feeders. Is this wrong?

I like the Daily's (Thick and Spicey) plain with just vodka and ice. A nice varient is a 1/4 tsp. of prepared horse-radish, and squeeze of fresh lime. For those that like them hot, a dash of Choluha and a dash of Chipolte is pretty good. Daily's spent a fair amount of time coming up with the mix, so hitting it to hard with anything is a sin.

I will dig around and see what I find.

I do have a suggestion. Get Dwight's underwater camera (it should have IR) and look for the big crappie around structure at twilight/first dark. Another option which I don't suggest often is catch a big one just before dark and attach through the dorsal fin a 30-40 ft piece of very small line 2 lb test with a very small bright float/cork/bobber on the other end. The line must be long enough so that the float never stresses the fish by being pulled under. Wait and follow the float. Gently take up slack to see the exact spot and mark it. Then harvest the fish or take out the line and release - your choice.

I've heard of that trick before, but hard to do with 20 inches of ice and snow cover. Maybe a few tiny transmitters and a receiving device so we can track those fish under the ice!

That will work well and would be a good project. The students from SDSU could do that and it would be a good project for them to write up. Telemetry tracking of crappie feeding and movements in small impoundments. Could also do YP and BG etc..

I agree with ewest about the SDSU telemetry study at Dwight's pond since Dwight is already gathering a wealth of chemical data. Why not use some of the Jesse West foundation money for telementry implants? The range finders are probably already available at SDSU. When I did my MS thesis I had to fund it all myself. Times change.

how much do you guys think one of those tagging/tracking systems costs?

Bill I know they have a bunch deployed in LMB at Eagle's Nest as we speak. Next step may me to move them north to Dwight's to track crappie , BG , NP and YP = fish community movements in Bremer Pond. That would be one neat study with a wealth of info for all of us to contemplate.

Rats, I started a long reply, and then lost it. I hate when that happens. Now it's going to be a shorter version, that's for sure!

Costs? It all depends. Transmitters can be sonic (need to put the receiver under the water or under the ice to get the sound wave signal) or radio (signals will go through the ice, but range is limited). Costs -- I haven't looked for a while. Sonic transmitters maybe $150-400 depending on size, power, and battery life. Receiver systems maybe $2,000-4,000. Couldn't find radio transmitter prices on short notice, but the sonic prices give you some idea. We do have some receivers here. Not sure of their condition.

Crappie don't take handling very well, as I'm sure most Forum readers know. We have done three previous crappie tracking studies. In the two below, one is white crappies and one is black. Technology at that time allowed us to only implant large crappies (10.5 to 13 inch white crappies; other study is 12-13 inch black crappies).

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/154-F.pdf

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/123-F.pdf

Then, we did one study of nesting male black crappies that were 9-10 inches because the transmitter size had decreased. Paper link below. I don't know how much smaller they have made them since then because I haven't looked.

http://pubstorage.sdstate.edu/wfs/246-F.pdf

We did these studies with surgery to implant the transmitters in the body cavity. On a later study for sauger, we actually used external attachment of radio transmitters, which might be something to try on crappies in the future.

How's that for talking around the issue??

Why will these not meet the knife?

I believe I have cleaned fish much smaller than these.

Acoustic transmitters and a receiver is now on my list!! Dave, any recommendations for a name brand?

Nate, i havent looked into this for a while and not sure i should give advice. However, we have always used sonotronics for sonic transmitters with good results and service.

It is easy to find fish locations but hard to know fish depth at a location.

I fear the ice fishing season has ended on Bremer Pond. My buddy and I were out on the ice yesterday and we did catch about 10 bass before the water on the top of the ice started running down our holes. The hill getting down to the pond was slick when we came so we packed it in. Tried to get up the hill twice with my old Ford, but to no avail. Dwight came down with his Mule and pulled us up the hill. Thanks Dwight.

Gettin' time to break out the Barge!

Stick did you fill in the ruts or leave that for Dwight ?

So it ends......(Ice Fishing-Spring 2013 that is...)

Since the ground is frozen under the top inch of super-soaked soil (er, mud) there are no ruts. There is a cool set of of slip and slide tracks documenting the fact that 4WD isn't of much use on mud covered ice.

Need a heated 12 foot wide cement landing built from pond edge to top of hill. How many crappie, bluegill, and perch did we take this winter? Everyone of them are in the pictures.

Don't forget these.

Porker crappie !!!

Can I get a Crappie Sandwich??

Totals:

KEPT
YP = 7
BG = 34
BCR = 281

RELEASED:
NP = 4 - 28" - 34" - 36" - 40"
WE = 10 - 8 to 15 inchers
LMB = about 120 various sizes

I like the number of BCP removed. They taste great too!

Those are some pretty crappie numbers.

Congrat's on the winter harvest. Those numbers look like a darn good ice fishing season to me.

Now lets get this ice and snow off our ponds for the start of the 2013 open water season!

Roger that. Fun while it lasted, most impressive were the looks of Dwight's fish. I don't recall a bum in the lot.

Dwight reports 2.5 inches of ice on Bremer Pond. Spending the Thanksgiving week doing prep so I can get out after the December 1. New rules this year are to keep only crappie, and any NP under 30", although I have doubts that there are any that small in there.

I could probably make 2.5" of ice in my freezer. Not outside tho, unless it would be in a bucket, and wait for a long while.

Lake Michigan tossed in a few flakes, and a bit of wind today.

Air is cold, but the ground is being exothermic, and that will carry on for a while. Usually get's covered pretty good with insulation before it can freeze.

Sure am glad I didn't get stuck in Minnesota on my two previous trips there.

A good ol' cast iron pot belly stove that's glowing red, sounds to be the ticket for good warmth on a really cold day.

I kinda miss the day's of old.

Getting some lake effect showers here with a little accumulation. Roads are slick though.

I was up on a ladder in the howling wind replacing soffit pieces the wind tore down the other day. My fingers got really numb even in gloves and I had to come inside to warm them up. As they warmed up they hurt like hell!

Brook trout are only being feed every four or five days now until ice up.

Found a dead large perch in the big pond the other day.

Dang! It is cold here -- for us. Supposed to go down to 16F tonight, and we've had nasty howling winds since mid-morning. Snow flurries predicted for tomorrow, and possibly ”significant” snow late Tuesday, into Wednesday of next week. I hope not.

Late yesterday afternoon I went down to a neighboring creek to get some creek chubs, in hopes of pulling the last of the big CC out of my main pond.

Nothing happened on my overnight lines. But, I got two very nice LMB late this morning on two of those creek chubs. Both times, I thought I had a bunch of leaves, or a sunken tree branch. The LMB looked very healthy, but they were just about lifeless. I threw both of them into cages at the end of my dock, and both swam off vigorously. I don't know what my water temps are, but even the trout in the smaller put-and-take pond quit feeding over a week ago.

Sometime next week, if we are ice-free, I plan to pull the cages. I figure there must be at least enough fillets for several large neighborhood winter fish frys.

I use to say that I don't mind the cold, just hate getting dumped on with snow.

Now, I'm not too fond of the cold, must be getting old!

Dang, it is cold here--for us. In the 30's around the clock. On Turkey day it will still only be in the 50's. If this stuff continues, I'm gonna have to buy a jacket; maybe even a coat.

My normal gear for winter is just an insulated flannel shirt. I keep a spare in my truck during winter, along with a couple pairs of gloves.

I have some heavy duty Carhartt and Mossy Oak stuff, but trying to move around with those rigs, eats a bunch of energy and limits your motion.

If need be, I'll suit up, but have a point to point mentality tho.

Still not eating any bass??

Nope.

So it doesn't begin. Too friggin' cold for an older person like myself. Looks like next weekend before warmer temps and first time out. I am ready though.

I can't believe the cold temps your having, and it's not officially winter yet.

Abnormally cold here too, but not that bad!

I was out there boring holes measuring ice thickness and taking dissolved oxygen readings. If I recall I am quite a bit more geazerly than you. Geazerliness is no excuse for not going outside to play on a nice winter day.

Was the stick running low on anti-freeze?

Yeah, but is The Stick participating in your bod and brain aerobics?

I was going to send this report directly to the stick, but decided to put it here in case anyone else has an interest.

Pond report:

1. The circulator is keeping the perfect size opening in the water. Before the cold weather set in, I set it to run for 2 hours four times a day spaced evenly. The temperature must be below 20 degrees or it won't run at all.

2. The drive on point to the pond is full of snow. I drove through it with the Mule 4 or 5 times but it will still require having a shovel available. It seems like the hump there is bigger too, though I could be wrong because of the snow. I don't know why it would have changed. The water level could be a little lower than last year.

3. Snow on the way down to the drive on point is 8" and soft, lying in the alfalfa.

4. The ice is 11 inches thick.

5. The snow on the pond itself is not problematic.

6. The fish were hovering under the holes I drilled with that look, "where are the minners man?".

Now I have the flu that is kicking my butt. Hope to get out on Friday.
And yes, I did have a flu shot.

Bremer Pond zero-effort Flu/Cold Fix:

Think positive.

Put 2 ounces of vodka and 1 ounce of lime juice in a glass, no ice. Give it a little stir. Sip or guzzle (patient's choice).

Repeat until you are cured or pass out.

If you pass out, repeat until you are cured.

Sometimes that's the best way to get a good night's sleep.

Dwight, what type of control do you have in place that the aerator only runs when the temp is below 20 degrees. I would like to do the same on mine. Also thinking of running it less than 24/7. It costs around $35/month to run and would be nice to reduce this.

Think I answered my own question, is this what you use?

http://www.dockbubbler.com/Thermostatically_controlled_outlet.asp

I use the one on the bottom of this page. Kasco

Thanks Dwight looks like a nice unit.

I like having full control of the size of the opening in the ice because of drive on ice fishing. If the circulator were on 24/7 the opening would be much larger and I would worry about "thin spots" showing up at large distances away from the open area.

Also by controlling with both time and temperature you can cut operating costs significantly.

What concerns me is my lycopene input has been zero since last Friday night!!! Bouncing back very slowly. On the bod and brain aerobics, I am definitely in there on the bod, reading PBF keeps my brain sharp as a tack.

The warmwater model thermostat seems to be bass ackward for use in a trout pond if the intent is to only have it kick on for instance when air temps are below 70 F. Or am i reading that correctly? Not that it's designed for that.

I trust this big NE wind is blowing the landing area clear for the winter so Point #2 about a shovel has become moot.

Kasco doesn't have a warm water model, at least on the page I referenced. The object of their controllers is de-icing.

Are you perhaps looking at lassig's link?

That area is protected from a northeast wind so your trust is ill founded. If a northeast wind were strong enough it would concentrate snow there just like a wind from from any direction 225-90 degrees. It is a bad spot for a drive-on but it is all we have.

I just need to win the lottery so we can go shopping for a pay loader with attachable rotary blower for you. Probably should have a nice skid loader for light clean ups too!

It must have been as that makes more sense.

The link I posted had cold water and warm water models. I order the 10 model from Kasco since I already have a timer.

Finally got out on Bremer Pond yesterday. The access to the pond is snowy, but got the house and equipment out on the ice no problem. Slow fishing day. 2 LMB, 2 BCR, and had one of Dwight's walleyes in the hole, but it was a capon. Looked fat, and I would put it at about 16 inches, I'll get one for pictures and length the next time out. New ION ice auger worked great, and I like the new Frabil rods I got. Got stuck on the way out, but fortunately Jeff was there with his new Ford truck and pulled me clear. I killed one of Dwight's access markers while stuck so I will endure any fines. Cold this weekend, so should be able to drive on shortly. Then I can take a run at the access, and be conundrum free.

How thick was the ice ?

Eleven inches. Good ice with little snow cover, should get thicker nicely.

Two ices of snow ice and 2 inches of clear ice on the big pond with some water in between here. I'll stay on the pier for now!

Dwight it's colder than normal for even you isn't it?

Yes colder earlier and longer periods between above freezing temps. Isn't it the first day of winter today?

Did you get any warmer temps in the last few days? Any rain?

Not much warmth and no rain or snow.

I drilled around twenty holes today to check the ice thickness and pinpoint the deep spot on the south end.

This year the deep spot is 12.3 feet as manually measured and double checked with the Barge Sonar. Yellow and black marker placed there.

Red marker placed at the Goose Light.

Yellow and black marker placed at the most southerly X.

The ice is 11.5 to 12.5 inches, mostly 12.

Snow depth averages 4 inches over the entire pond. There are areas with 12". Those are not areas frequented for ice fishing.

I didn't drive the truck out there because we are basically at the minimum ice thickness for driving-on plus the weight of the snow.

I think we should play it safe and wait with vehicle traffic until after the next cold weather that is coming late this weekend.

Pretty much every year around here, you'll hear a story on the news about a Michigan Red Neck who takes his truck (or someone's else) out on crappy lake ice and it ends up on the bottom with a big bill to remove it.

Usually kid's with no common sense that are following parental guidelines

Fishing on the pond today. Click on Bremer Pond Weather to see for yourself.

Nice day for it. Students supposedly have first draft done of your long-term trend set paper. Hopefully will see it soon.

Looking forward to seeing it!

19 inch. Largest LMB so far, today.

nice fish...what was the bait/lure?

I wanna see Pike!

Working on that JKB. Zep it was a Lindy Techni-Glo Frostee #6 Jig. Glow red. I use them a lot. Minnow was about a 2 incher.

Cormorant or Pike? (the gash near it's tail)

We think NP since it is a shallow gash rather than a stab and tear type injury.

I thought it was a Tattoo!

Any markings on the other side?

I've had GBH do that when it's a large fish and they almost miss.

That one pond that had a cormorant problem had fish that looked like that. The gash sometimes was only on one side of the fish, other fish had it on both sides. But, only one gash on one side, not 2 gashes side by side like it escaped from a pikes jaw, or 2 gashes on each side of the fish.

The bass had a more serious gash on the flip side so I held that side away from the camera. Do cormorants swim under fish and whack at them from below? Why wouldn't the marks be in the back instead of the belly? I have seen a number of fish over the years with marks in a similar location. Pretty healthy bass for whatever misnomer it ran in to.

We are having another cold arctic blast as I imagine many of you are. Delays to ice fishing for the stick. I like 30+ degrees and light breezes. We are a far cry from that. A week from tomorrow looks promising on the long range forecast. It is going to be chilly for that San Francisco-Green Bay game!

Got out on the pond Saturday. 9 lines down between the three of us, got 2 one pound bass, one 10" crappie, and one small bluegill. Action very slow. What happened to Dwight's fish? I think the walleye ate them all. Going out on Wednesday, moving away from the X structures and over to the deep hole.

"Why wouldn't the marks be in the back instead of the belly?"

Turtle????

If it had marks on both sides I'd suspect a pike. Most predatory fish will "fish" up vs. down.

Out last Wednesday with Mike D. He caught 3 crappie, the stick was skunked. Fishing reports from the area are very grim. Big hard drift in access to Bremer Pond now. Fishing suspended for a couple weeks. I love this sub-arctic cold weather!

I think the low catch rate of harvestable yellow perch is due to the presence of northern pike. Crappie which seem to be caught more frequently in Dwight's fish haven are less likely to be eaten by NP due to body shape of crappie. I would love to know the list of all fish eaten in one year by a 34"-37" NP.

The pike have been in there about 15 years, and never seemed to be a problem. They should be towards the end of their lifespan.

Dr. Dave said that a northern pike lifespan is about 10 years, but could be up to 15 in a pond such as Dwight's.

There was a sharp decline in perch angled through the ice last year compared to years previous.

My guess would be pike. Looks like pike tried to bite and the LMB moved so that by the time all the v teeth hit you had a single line mark followed by the actual v jaw bite mark.

I believe that a Northern Pike can live much longer than 10-15 years. If you look at the Northern Pike record catches you will find that the 40"+- we have here are quite a way off a record. If NP are unmolested and have plenty of forage, 20-25 years may be possible.

I talked to my friend who is a fisheries biologist in northern Alberta and he said northern pike up here get to be 30-35 years old. I think the cooler the water the slower they grow and the longer they live.

They are a fish of mystery.

Blair - I think the Alberta fisheries biologist is providing some good information. Others also see that same trend with fish, average annual water temperature, and growth rates.

With addition of those 50 walleyes 2 years ago, maybe it would be wise to harvest any NP we catch?

NP are notorious for trying to eat walleye while angler's are reeling in smaller WE. I would not be stocking 8"-12" WE in ponds with NP unless my wallet was thick. I don't even like stocking 5"-8" WE in with bigger LMB. Ample weed cover in a pond will help increase the chances stocker WE surviving. Problem is, WE stay very slender bodied and easy to swallow until WE are 16"-18" long. The other part of the problem is NP have a big mouth and long stomach. NP are nature's machines designed to eat slender bodied fish including other NP.

Stick- are you guy's catching any of those 50 walleye stocked two years ago? They should be 12"-15" maybe 16" by now.

Had one almost out of the hole, it looked like a 15-16 incher. Fat. Only saw one so far this winter.

After about seven weeks of intolerable weather and access conditions, I finally got out on Bremer Pond. Fished though the thickest ice I have ever encountered at 28.5". I was thinking it would be a wet arm and a long reach to get one of Dwight's NP up the hole.

Action was slow as it has been the earlier times I was out this winter. Got one crappie at 10 inches. Also got one LMB at 20.5 inches. Picture to follow. Had about three other bites.

When the river starts to flow next to the pond the water table comes up, and makes the ice pack float up. Any further action may only be by walk-out.

Is that 10# Darlene? Will you finally win the wager?

Standard weight of a LMB 20.5" long is 5.0 lbs or pretty close to it +/-.

Bill,

Northern midwest bass in Minnesota, Northern Michigan, and Northern Wisconsin are stouter than ours.

I've got some lenght weight charts for Minnesota and Wisconsin I'll have the wife scan and I'll post them.

Opening up this post for the 2014-2015 ice fishing season. Jeff and I are heading out to Bremer Pond for our first trip on the ice. Dwight puts his ice at about 8 inches so good for walk on. We have a great weather day. High 48, winds SW at 5-10. Results later.

Fished from about 1400 to 2000 hours. Ice 9.5 inches. Got a 10.5" crappie, and nice fat bass, and a bunch of gills. Collapsed my house and left it on the ice. As soon as it warms up, I am back on the ice.

It sounds like it will be a long winter up there. Here my pond opened up again today. It is 100% ice free. With temps supposed to be in the 20's for a high tomorrow, I expect it to freeze back over quickly.

My prediction for winter is that it is going to be cold, dark, and long. Usually 4" of ice around the second week of December. Yikes!

Nice pictures, stick.

The ponds around here were still open today, but if the wind dies down, I think they'll refreeze tonight. At 5:30 p.m. it was 21°F. Pretty windy tho!

Been out twice on Bremer Pond. Today I cleaned 20 bluegill, 1 greenie, and 4 crappie. Biggest crappie was 12", but all nice. Also got a few bass. No NP, WE, or SMB yet.

Good update. 9"-10" of ice already, Yikes is right. Keep us advised on your angling adventures this winter on Bremer Pond. Only a skim of ice on about 30% of the pond in NW Ohio today. Very interested to see how those recently stocked walleye and SMB are doing.

Nice from the Ice!

My 'nice pictures, stick' comment was not genuine.

Do ya think it might be the cheap beer?

I don't know. The guy doesn't want to snap a picture!!

As Mr. Spock would say, "Poor photography."

How long did it take to catch all those and were they sorted? Did you tip the ice jig with live bait? Did you toss any small crappie back?

Total of 10 hours??? No sorting, and no smaller crappie. I used a red #6 Frostee jig and minnow for crappie. Dingbats caught on wax worms, also on small plastics.

I think Spock might say "lazy photographer...."

Well done, gentlemen. Happy for you, not so much for myself. 14 day forecast calls for 40-50s - no ice in sight.

Better pic:

Nice pic - You made Sunil proud. Your management methods seem to be working well so far. I'm jealous you have good ice for fishing.

Out last evening, action slow. Got a few fish, but need to get them pinned down better. Fished over a structure tree. Got a couple more nice crappie. Next time I clean fish they will be in the picture.

Out on Saturday and got 6 crappie from 10.5 to 11.5. They were nice and fat. Two had eggs in them. Next time, going out of the box and switching from red glow Frostees to regular glow. Thought maybe some new bright glow ones may increase activity. We had a big thaw, then at least a half inch of rain. Now it is cold so there is a whole new surface on the pond.

You are doing something right to be growing those nice crappie. Did you check any for stomach contents??. If contents were mostly unrecognizable mushy stuff it was primarily zooplankton most likely Daphnia.

Yes, that's what it looked like.

How'd that Hamms go down?

M-m-m-m-m! I have a friend that brings me a quantity over the neutral zone now and then. "Hamms, the beer refreshing"

I need a Hamms - been too long. PBR also sounds kinda good.

Well Stick, no one can say you had a Crappie day, those look great!

Hamms still use the bear in advertising? Ya know, another famous company uses a bear in their advertising. I'm just wondering if there is some sort of connection here, ya know, with the bears

Gail asked me why so many men wear caps. I told her that Crappie prefer biting on the hook of a person with hair on the head. She said, "Crappie are stupid to think that a cap is hair".

Mabel, Black Label Beer! I miss Strohs as well! In college PBR was the good stuff. We could buy a case of Fox Deluxe long necks for $3.60 and that included the bottle deposit!

"Whupped 'em again, Josey!"

PBR is good beer too. We used to get returnable bottle cases of Bud for less than $4.00. I am showing my age here. I just like good old fashioned American beer. Although I rarely shy away from trying something that is recommended. A Corona/Lime is good with a Bloody Mary.

Actually, it's because you don't wash your hair in the morning and the cap is to cover up that social faux. No one really cares unless you really smell.

Yep, been around a few ripe people

Me as well

Hey, whatever happened to that favorite flannel shirt that has more bug's in it than the CDC will allow? I like it, and maybe they will scratch my back.

Anybody recall Fallstaff? It was brewed in Ft Wayne, In

I think they squeezed squirrels to make production.

That stuff came from the north end of a south bound cow!

Pat W

It was definitely nasty and that's why I figured some of the guys on here lacking good taste and judgment would probably recall it. When yer very young or very old, bout anything can be adjusted to. Just look at the folks on here that tolerate me.

Bob-O
We don't tolerate you we enjoy you! You add flavor to the mix. Keep it up

Pat W

Weidemanns was my sweet old grandma's beverage of choice..

Falstaff was above my budget!

I remember Falstaff very well....and dont forget Pearl..

You guys have now started me on a mission. I will seek out these nectars from our younger years, and if still available, will enjoy a cold one on all our behalves.

Do they still make schlitz beer?

Mr Williamson, you are kind beyond words. Your comment may be my best Christmas present. Probably my only one.

Haven't seen that one in a while, but they are stocking Old Milwaukee now. A while back Hamms became available.

Every so often I see two different guy's at the party store, or the gas station. (they are not with each other) They go in and get a half dozen 24oz. One guy get's Bud, the other Steele Reserve.

They both duck when they get in their car because they are blowing into their ignition lock breathalysers. Once fired up, the guy with the SR cracks one open and takes off. Never saw the other guy do that tho.

There is a billboard on 31 north with a cop giving a kid a breathalyser test and it say's "You just blew $10,000.00". (I think it says 10 grand), and they ain't kidding!

If we talking quality beers, let's not forget Blatz.

Back in the mid 80's, Stroh's came out with the Liberty Pack. 30 cans of beer. 6 kids could have a good time each getting down 5 beers, or....5 kids could have a better time each with 6 beers.

We had a case the night before the SAT's. There was only 4 of us.

I really wish the SAT's were graded on a curve, 'cause I was dropping Stroh-ski bombs the entire time, and I know I brought down the scores of everyone in a 10' radius of where I was sitting.

Ahhhh......17 is such an innocent age.

That's just brutal! You did not by chance stop at a fast food joint en route to the test?

From my college days, Point Beer.

I remember a lot of these. Some of them tasted worse going down than they did coming up.

There have been plenty of bad beers over the years. All these beers were available in Minnesota as 3.2 bunny-p---. The 3.2 versions of the bad beers were the absolute worst!!!!

North Star 3.2 and Falstaff 3.2 came from the same pipe to my recollection.

If you had frozen 3.2 beer that sat under the booze bridge over night on a -20F night there was tough duty ahead. You could place the frozen beer on the intake manifold of your 57 Pontiac, drag main for a few hours and have 3.2 beer slushes. Bad.

You guys bring back my memories of growing up in Okla. where all beer was 3.2 due to Oklahoma laws. Back in the 60's and 70's we would go to Texas for the stronger stuff and bring it back in the trunk risking bootlegging charges if more than 3 cases on board. Coor's was the choice beer but pearl and Falstaff was the cheapest I remember.

I loved those Falstaffs in the short/fat little bottles. I "think" we had a brewery here in New Orleans, as well. The vertical tower with "Falstaff" in neon letters still stands even though they've turned the brewery into condos.

Dangit that does bring back memories from the 60s and 70s, wow what an era! Some good some not. But a simple time.


Pat W

Beer is good for you.

Went to Bremer Pond to check out my house and minnows. We have had a warm spell with two days of rain mixed in. The ground water rose and lifted the ice pack up with it. There is at least a foot of open water around most of the pond. The ground water level will fall and the ice will go down to it's proper position. Found a spot where I could get on the ice with my auger.

My portable house was not full of ice from the rain. The minnows in a sinking minnow bucket in about 3 feet of water are alive. Ice is down from a high of 10.5 inches to about 6 inches.

A "breather hole" developed about 20 yards from my house. There is a kitchen table size hole in the ice. Told Dwight so he won't go out on ice with the Mule in this area.

No fishing, just a reconnoiter.

"No fishing, just a reconnoiter."

And a few Hamms?

Too early in the day for any of that! "You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning."

Question: After reading on this forum about "super cooling" a pond from too much aeration and that fish don't do well in near 32 degree water, I was wondering why my minnows in a sinking minnow bucket in 2 feet of water less than ten feet from Dwight's circulator are all alive and ready to go fishing? The water can't be much over 32 degrees in this spot. Heavy ice all around except for the open water area created by the circulator.

Different fish species have different cold water tolerance. What species are the minnows?

Stick - you might be surprised if you measure the water temperature in or around the minnow bucket in the circulation current. It might be warmer than you think. Fish can live in 32F water but they are stressed to some degree but usually not enough to acutely kill them.

I remember these...kinda.

"Not enough to acutely kill them" That's a classic.

Sounds like a research project stick.

Drop a thermometer in the minnow bucket the next time you go fishing. Inquiring minds want to know!

Maybe for PBF discussions we need to delineate different degrees of being dead. We could come up with a whole new series of acronyms for it.

For example:
acutely dead = AD
damn near dead = DND
wish they were dead = WTWD
etc.

They are fatheads.

"Acutely kill them" means a rapid kill as opposed to a slow dying over several days or weeks. It came from the concept of acute and chronic illness. We are all chronically dying the day we are born. Dying just takes longer for some compared to others.

Hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

For Texans we need

FTBD = Fixin' ta be dead

for the hipsters;
shitd

sure hope it's Totally dead...

Been out to the pond four times in the past couple weeks. Action slow, but improving. Picking up some nice 11.5 - 12 inch crappie. Got 4 nice healthy bass yesterday. Water is clearing so hope for a good late season abounds.

There's something very, very wrong with this picture, Dwight.

Those are the crappie I cleaned from several trips to Dwight's pond.
Also cleaned 12 bluegill and a perch that would not fit on the cardboard. Lost a rod down the whole a week ago, got it back last night. No fish, but I even got my slip float and jig back. We have been catching some nice healthy LMB too. The crappie all measure between 11-12 inches. About a third of fish cleaned had eggs already. Sunil I will drink the beer on the next trip out!

Dwight is doing something right in producing 11"-12" crappie. I think he has a good mix of predators including some NP and a good number of LMB.

Those are healthy looking WP. It would be good to see if you can id the age by scales.

Had John and Seth fishing with me yesterday. I happened to set up on a spot with one of the old structure trees under it. Fished all afternoon with only a couple small bites. Could not figure out why there were no fish in this spot that normally turns some action. The reason there were no fish came to us. Before it got dark John happened to see my rod go shooting out the hole. Too late to grab, it was a goner.

About dark Seth got a big fish on. I was clearing the other lines, and John saw it go past the hole and said it was real big. Seth’s line snapped before we could get the gaff going. We retied the line and settled in for some after dark fishing. About 30 minutes later John set the hook on something, and it was big too. Got it up to the hole and it was a big Northern again. Snap, lost it again. I told the boys it was probably the same fish, but at least it should be spooked and go away so we could get some crappie. No, after another retie and settling in it came back on my line. I got it parked under my hole and was set to gaff it but my spot light went dead. Could not get an accurate gaff attempt with the small flash light we had. It broke my line too. As I am reeling in a spare bobber comes up in my hole, it was the rod I lost earlier.

John got one nice crappie a few minutes later. We decided to leave on a positive note. I was tired of re-tying lines, it was misting outside, and getting to be that time.

Looking at that fish’s head, I would put it at 15 pounds or better. The usual fish were scared of that thing hanging around. That’s what I call a persistent NP, or possibly a real knot head.

This YP (caught today) is 10.5" long, 3" wide and 3" tall. It is resting on 16" of ice on 38 degree day.

Beautiful perch. Very nice to catch through the ice. That 15 lb northern probably eats 2 or 3 of them on a good day or would like to, which is probably why you don't catch numerous 10"+ perch. That NP probably also likes your 10"-13" LMB.

Ice fishing has been mostly slow this winter.

The stick reports, "Jesse had his flasher running all night. There are a lot of fish cruising the bottom not interested in biting. We think that since all your fish are so fat and healthy that there is plenty to eat; they are not looking for something to eat."

Dwight, I've never caught, or seen one in person for that matter, a YP. But, is that odd that it is the same height as width? That is one "stocky" fish!

Last ice fishing trip of the year yesterday. Highs in the 50-60's here for the next week. Driving on 16 inches yesterday, but I would not be surprised to see the pond open by this weekend. Spent the morning putting my ice equipment away. Taking my boat in Thursday for some minor repairs. Come on spring!!!

You can loose your ice at 15" thick that fast in 4-5 days? It will take my pond about 2.5 to 3 weeks to get the 11" of ice all melted.

Near record highs and lots of wind here in MN. The pond is about 30% ice free this morning. Dwight has his circulator on 24/7 so that aids in melting the ice. Supposed to be 70 here on Sunday.

We are seeing the same here. Ponds have a lot of ice but it's going fast. My buddy and I have a friendly "ice off" date for a case of adult beverages. He set the date at Mar 31st and I took the over. I'm with you Stick. Oh how I love this time of year...bring on the open water!!!!

Wild Bill, interesting ?. I am very curious as to the condition of my pond and since you and I and Cecil are pretty much in the same Lat-Long, I will appreciate any update as far as ice off. Hint, hint Cecil. Damn it we miss ya !!! Yes, I miss you too Bill. Oh yes, Korn king also, even tho I'm scared of him.

Both on my ponds have a little open water due to some daily aeration activity. Local ponds with no aeration are still in thick ice cover. Most of the snow is now off the ice; wet slush on top. Smaller pond has 14" of ice and larger pond has 11" of ice. When it is below freezing at night the slush refreezes. Whenever there is some open water with sun, the wind action will pretty quickly melt the ice as noted in Dwight's post. I don't think my ponds will be ice free until late Mar. I hope the ice does not last until early April, I want to stock some YP.

Tonight, as you can see by Dwight's picture avatar the pond is about 75% clear. The wind out of the S is eating up the ice.

Bill, why are you lookin ta stock more YP? Seems ta me you stocked lots of WE in the last couple of yrs. I understand your GSF problem and wonder if your introduction of Yp is an effort to get the GSF population down.

Stocking more YP because they are pellet trained to maintain a high percentage of pellet eating YP. With each new generation of YP recruitment the percentage of YP that eat pellets decreases. So to maintain high pellet feeding numbers I frequently add more fast growing YP to compensate for natural mortality and harvest. I regularly remove YP eggs to keep recruitment to a minimum. Plus the WE help to reduce the YP recruitment and I'm learning don't eat a lot of GSF. Niches of WE and GSF seem to be different enough that WE are not controlling the GSF.

OK, for once ya got through to me. I'm lookin forward to getting together with ya as soon I get back up north.

Bremer Pond iced over nicely, then we had eight inches of snow. The weight of the snow broke up the ice. Now we're in for a warm spell, hoping for a total re-start to the ice. My gear is ready, standing by.....

Finally got out about a month later than normal years. Five inches of ice, but also an inch of water came up out of the holes. Fortunately,
the floor in the fishing house was just above the water line, and we had waterproof boots on. Fishing slow, got a 2 lb bass for the first fish of the year and a nice 12" crappie later. Rest of the fish were smaller bass and crappie. It is kind of spooky fishing with water over the ice, and "the stick" does not function well under spooky conditions! We are under a polar icecap now, so next time out thicker ice and no water on top to deal with.

Did "the stick" cull any of the crappies?

And were you drinking Hamm's or what?

The stress of sudden change often gives fish lockjaw !

Yes to all. Kept the nice crappie, everything else is still swimming around down there.

Do you have any pics that you can share?

Yo Stick...not that I don't trust your integrity, but this post just isn't the same without some photos including your can of Hamm's in the background. Get on it, already!

Sorry no pictures. Only made it out four times this year. Late winter,bad weather, and lost an employee to a new job so I have been working part time quite a bit. The water was clear this year under the ice which is the way I prefer, but the fish were not jumping out of the holes. Estimated totals 4 perch, 20 bluegill, 10 crappie, and a half dozen bass.
Took the house off the pond on Saturday, we have a long spell of weather mostly above freezing. Any more trips are on foot sitting on a bucket.