Snowy finish.

[lowaccord66]

Saturday was my last trip of the year.  I was happy to make it to April and probably could make it another week but the boat is calling.  Fishing was slow.  I landed one, a chunky 22"er and my buddy Ed landed 2.  When the snow stopped so did the bite.  Was happy to have fished ice in April with no plank!

[Jschumacher]

Nice Jon. Getting into April is always nice when it happens. And no plank to boot. Get that boat ready. The big lake is calling you for those Browns

[Knot there yet]

For a year of bad ice you really put the effort in. Nice laker.
 Question I have for you is.
Everyone is caught up in the circle hook now. Do you use on lakers and salmon?
 Trout I like to hook in tongue or roof of mouth. Jaw hooks seam to bleed more with the trout. Making release almost impossible. I think that circle hooks are great at what they do but not sure they're good for trout and salmon.
 Reason is that smallmouth lake we fished. Guy caught a brown trout that bleed so much I thought better to keep than release to die. Hooked in corner of mouth. Is wide gap circle enough to prevent the bleeders?

[lowaccord66]

Knot there...the circle hook has no place in my fishing either ice or open water.  I had a brief stint with them surfcasting for stripers but thats it.  They have their place in competition billfishing... All of the 57 Lakers I landed this year were on the jig stick...single hook jig.  Once in a while a fish will bleed but its rare.

[bogtrotter]

Very nice laker.  Glad to see someone managed to icefish right into April.

[lowaccord66]

Very nice laker.  Glad to see someone managed to icefish right into April.

Thanks bud...I could probably go again but have a lot of chores to do after ice fishing every weekend since 11 December!