We have been out the past week on many of our ponds that we actively guide on during the ice fishing season and the fishing and ice conditions have been good. We still have a cold weather pattern so the ice will be here to stay and we can confidently book trips without constant driving around to check on conditions. We still ensure your safety so that is always a primary concern for us. The larger bodies of water are still behind schedule, but many should be locking up completely over the next few days.
There were two ponds that we felt very confident running our snowmobiles on and they should only improve over the next week. These ponds offer a bit of solitude with no camps or homes on them and a short snowmobile ride in to round out the experience. Both have decent fishing with one offering a lot more opportunities to chase a lot of flags. If you are not picky on what you catch the possibilities are greater.
If you are not picky and want to see action I always recommend panfish and pickerel which offer an amazing experience. This past week I utilized my new Garmin Livescope while pickerel fishing and the ferocity of these fish were on full display. If there was a pickerel within 15 feet when I dropped a bait down it came over and attacked the bait. That is worth the price of admission for sure. In the other pond there are a lot of yellow perch and when I caught one on a tip up using bait I would drop a jig down and continue to catch these fiesty panfish. The cool thing was that we were shallow enough to see the jig and watch the fish grab them. After 5 or 6 fish on the jig they would move away to another bait and the process would continue all over again. Tons of fun in my book!
Remember, the ice fishing season is very short so do not delay in booking your experience. Weekends go fast and at this time I only have two weekend dates available in February. Vacation week is also very busy and space is limited. It’s a great time to get the kiddos outside for a little bit and try a new activity. Keep in mind that food is provided for all full day trips and that includes the option of the wood pellet fired pizza oven. Can’t beat fresh pizza on the ice so book your trip today!
