Took a trip to Indian Lake today to ice fish, hoping to catch some lakers and/or smelt. Didn't catch either. Set up 6 tip ups and my pop up shelter then started to jig for lakers. I wasn't marking anything on the fish finder except a few fish right on the bottom but nothing to get excited about. Since I wasn't marking fish, I decided to go small and see if I could catch whatever I was seeing on the bottom now and then. I put a small tear drop jig on with a few waxies and was immediately rewarded with a perch. For the next 3 hours I could watch the perch come up to my jig and stick right next to it. Every once in awhile one would tap it and I managed to catch about a dozen keepers--no slobs but big enough for the pan. I tried changing up to see if I could find something they liked better but failed to do so.
The wind was brutal. The forecast called for 12 mph winds with gusts to 20 but it felt like they were 25 with gusts to 35 but I really don't know. If I hadn't had my shelter, I wouldn't have lasted an hour.
Accessing the lake for ice fishing was problematic today as all the parking space was occupied. If I hadn't arrived early I'm not sure where I would have parked. I heard others expressing frustration about it as well. Why the state doesn't plow the parking area where the boat launch is, is beyond me. They own a good share of this lake but can't provide reasonable winter access for those that want to use it. There is a parking area north of the boat launch about a mile on the left that they used to plow but not so this year. All things considered, I had an enjoyable day and caught some fish. A sincere thank you to the good samaritan that towed my ice sled back to my truck--it saved me having to pull it up the dreaded hill, so thank you very much if you happen to read this
