More Ice fishing

Nice outing Dave. I can't wait to get on the ice. Just curious, it appears that you have a mix of blacks and whites? Blacks seem to dominate here.
 
Crappie are indeed fun to catch and even better table fare. I enjoy fishing during open water but winter will find me in a dark house spearing for pike. It is a peaceful pursuit so long as you build no larger than 4'x6'.
 

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RM Anderson said:
Crappie are indeed fun to catch and even better table fare. I enjoy fishing during open water but winter will find me in a dark house spearing for pike. It is a peaceful pursuit so long as you build no larger than 4'x6'.
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I wish Iowa would allow winter spearing for game fish. I've used a portable hub style but a solid wall shelter is much nicer. This was from 2021, the next morning. Lucky there was not damage and the snow was easily cleaned off.20210115_095703.jpg20210115_101400.jpg

Just some of the decoys I've made.

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Dave, whats the size limit on crappie up there? I believe ours is 9".
I need to dig out the photos of the 2 pre-spawn slabs I caught back in 1995, 17" & 18".
 
Carl said:
Dave, whats the size limit on crappie up there? I believe ours is 9".
I need to dig out the photos of the 2 pre-spawn slabs I caught back in 1995, 17" & 18".
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We don't have any size restriction on Crappie, just a 25 per day limit. A crappie 14 inches or better earns you a "master angler" award. State records are; Black is 4.08lbs/ 18 inches; White is 4.56lbs/ 21.25 inches Here in my local waters a 12 incher is about as big as they get.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
They were awful finicky this morning. I had to keep switching up between a black jig with black plastic or a white jig with a maggot. Took all morning to get 24 keepers. (topped out at 12 inches) Probably threw back that many that were too small to keep.
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I always enjoy these posts Dave, good to see you are getting out there and bringing home some good eats!
 
tod osier said:
I always enjoy these posts Dave, good to see you are getting out there and bringing home some good eats!
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This particular spot is a senior person's top choice. Unload your gear at the edge of the road, drive 100yards further to the parking lot. Walk back to your gear, walk down a 20 foot sand beach, then 80 yards on onto what is now bare ice. Community hole, sweet spot is about a 40 yard diameter. Most everybody is considerate and allows a decent amount of elbow room on the ice.

I do plan to get a bit more adventurous on Monday. I'd like to find an alternate spot that I can catch the same quality of crappies. Same river system, about 1 3/4 miles upstream. I talked with the landowner, back when I was duck hunting that section of river and got permission to access the ice this winter by traversing his property with my ATV. His home has a nice elevated view of the river. Which means there is a long, steep hill which must be overcome to get back to one's vehicle. It is a tough climb even for a younger individual, when you consider getting gear up the incline.

During my earlier talk with him, while getting permission, he indicated that past experience has lead him to believe the crappies would move out of that section of the river, during the winter months. I replied that I was a slow learner and would still like to confirm or disprove that for myself. 😁
 
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