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Joined: Dec 2004
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There's something very, very wrong with this picture, Dwight.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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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!
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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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.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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Those are healthy looking WP. It would be good to see if you can id the age by scales.
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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.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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This YP (caught today) is 10.5" long, 3" wide and 3" tall. It is resting on 16" of ice on 38 degree day.
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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.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/06/15 08:13 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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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."
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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!
1 ac pond LMB, BG, RES, CC
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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!!!
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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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.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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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.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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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!!!!
Last edited by mnfish; 03/13/15 11:51 AM.
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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.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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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.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/13/15 01:53 PM.
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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.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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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.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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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.
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OK, for once ya got through to me. I'm lookin forward to getting together with ya as soon I get back up north.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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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.....
Last edited by the stick; 12/05/15 09:46 AM.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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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.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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Did "the stick" cull any of the crappies?
And were you drinking Hamm's or what?
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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The stress of sudden change often gives fish lockjaw !
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Yes to all. Kept the nice crappie, everything else is still swimming around down there.
Good morning Dave, I've checked the ships systems, and everything appears to be running normally.
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