Not skunked at Hoot Lake:

[ianwuzhere]

Well dukes69 and i decided to try our luck at Hoot lake today. Decided to bring the black dragon now the snow is not so deep.







We both caught some beauty fish today and lost more then we want to share due to aggressive headshaking
Fuzzy pix on my camera but heres a couple that werent fuzzy:







Always thinkin of Terry when i see fat lakers   




..and this one got a kiss before saying goodbye:



We tried a few different depths but found that the 35-40 foot depth to have the most action.


As the sun went down we caught a few small ling before we decided to head back home:





I never got to see any skunks but a few nice lakers through the day turned out to be lots of fun.. This is some of the best time of year to ice fish- used gloves maybe twice all day of fishing, actually think i got a lil sunburnt on my face..

It definately was a Hoot 

[Ise De By]

Looks like fun,    How many Char did ya get through the ice?   what lengths?

[ianwuzhere]

not as many as previous trips and none that will beat first place unfortunately... I think  the ol dirty bag bertha heard the black dragon breathing on the way in and went back into the depths    ;D

[Ise De By]

That sucks,  keep at it

[Bill Dance]

Very nice fish pics, keep at it! I got a hot tip on a Laker lake that a new trail has just been put into and the lakers that are caught won't come through a 10" hole. I'll have to mickey mouse the 8" holes for sure.  The guy that caught one of the lakers said he was jigging the line with his hand and the laker hit so hard that it cut his hand with the line. I'm definitely going to make this trip happen this year. 

[Drifter_016]

Very nice fish pics, keep at it! I got a hot tip on a Laker lake that a new trail has just been put into and the lakers that are caught won't come through a 10" hole. I'll have to mickey mouse the 8" holes for sure.  The guy that caught one of the lakers said he was jigging the line with his hand and the laker hit so hard that it cut his hand with the line. I'm definitely going to make this trip happen this year. 

Make sure you get some action shots of that purdy big fish rod you have Jim.   

[Ise De By]

Make sure you get some action shots of that purdy big fish rod you have Jim.   

    Hows mine comming along drifter?   If you watched my Video, you know I lost my St. Croix to WALTER,   

[ianwuzhere]

Very nice fish pics, keep at it! I got a hot tip on a Laker lake that a new trail has just been put into and the lakers that are caught won't come through a 10" hole. I'll have to mickey mouse the 8" holes for sure.  The guy that caught one of the lakers said he was jigging the line with his hand and the laker hit so hard that it cut his hand with the line. I'm definitely going to make this trip happen this year. 

Rite on.. That lakes sounds just like Hoot Lake. 

[Drifter_016]

    Hows mine comming along drifter?   If you watched my Video, you know I lost my St. Croix to WALTER,   

Oh, that's right you wanted one didn't you.
I completely forgot.   
PM me and we will talk about your needs.   

[dukes69]

Looks like fun,    How many Char did ya get through the ice?   what lengths?

Well they were all bigger than 31 3/16       we both got a few line cuts on our hands thats for sure.

[Ise De By]

Well they were all bigger than 31 3/16       we both got a few line cuts on our hands thats for sure.

Are you trying to say you are going to bump me into 3rd place dukes,    Go ahead.............   ITS ALLLLLLL   GOOOOOOD   !  wink  wink     

[ianwuzhere]

I just ordered up four Northland airplane jigs, should be here before the weekend.. Lets hope this produces better hook sets and goodbye forever to the aggressive headshake loss heartstopping blues  
-Oh next weekend cannot come quick enuf

[Kozfish]

Taking the trebles off of the canoe spoons ( or whatever you might be using ) and replacing them with good singles got rid of most of our problems......instead of a face full of OK hookup you usually get a good through and through in the corner of the mouth.....as long as one watches that the big spoon doesn't get levered out by the edge of the hole....which is partially remedied by an 10 inch hole, you lose very few...even when over 20-25 lbs and a tight squeeze.

[ianwuzhere]

thanx for the input...
on the single hooks they are all hooked on the upper part of the mouth-the hardest part- and seems to work good if you get them hooked there. I am excited to try the airplane jigs when they arrive later this week.
Have tried numerous locations in Hoot lake, not sure how deep the lake is but have fished up to 70 feet deep. Most success has been around 40 feet so tend to like to fish at that depth. Im not sure if later in the season the lakers go deep or just continue following the minnows and swim aimlessly at all parts of the lake, ohh to have a gps on one of the big lakers..      
 Have always fished near the bottom- have tried half way up but never for any length of time for steady success...
 Soon there will be a lunker taking drag from my reel on the new lures ...  Ohh the excitement

[Ise De By]

How do you know the depth of the water you fish?  Do you use an ice sonar?

[ianwuzhere]

How do you know the depth of the water you fish?  Do you use an ice sonar?

no fishin electronics-fishing blind.. pull up the line approx 2 feet each time until get a hook in the hand

Is it true that deeper in the water the warmer it gets this time of year? Seems like the opposite as summer time..

[Drifter_016]

no fishin electronics-fishing blind.. pull up the line approx 2 feet each time until get a hook in the hand

Is it true that deeper in the water the warmer it gets this time of year? Seems like the opposite as summer time..

Water is most dense at 39* and that is the temp you will find at the bottom in winter.

[ianwuzhere]

interesting.. Ive never checked the temp of the water below whatever the finder shows it at. Im not too sure if it matters that much this time of year..

[Ise De By]

interesting.. Ive never checked the temp of the water below whatever the finder shows it at.

I thought you said you didnt use "finders"   

no fishin electronics-fishing blind.. pull up the line approx 2 feet each time until get a hook in the hand.

[ianwuzhere]

I use them in the summer when using the downriggers. I think most of them have temps on em.. I should spool it out and try it on the ice. Before it was just another thing to carry but now the black dragons breathing its looking more appealing...

[salmoncandy]

fire in the belly of the black dragon.. nice
Ive deceided to call my sled the green hornet

[Drifter_016]

fire in the belly of the black dragon.. nice
Ive deceided to call my sled the green hornet

Then mine's the Batmobile.   

[captdukes67]

What kind of spoons or jigs used for Lakers?
Capt Dukes

[Drifter_016]

What kind of spoons or jigs used for Lakers?
Capt Dukes

Williams Ice Jig.
4" pearl/white tube jig.
Northland Airplane Jig.

There are others but these are the most commonly used lures for lakers.

[ianwuzhere]

i got a few "lucky" spoons that are my go to.
just got in from the post office and picked up my parcel from The Fishing Hole:



Great service and fast!

Heard great things about the airplane jigs, i got one of each color, they are the one ounce size.. I got a good feeling about these and will put em to good use soon... I hope this will increase my catch rate and have ZERO get off.. Like it that they glow too..



Stressful trying to decide on what color i wanna use first

[Drifter_016]

i got a few "lucky" spoons that are my go to.
just got in from the post office and picked up my parcel from The Fishing Hole:

(Image removed from quote.)

Great service and fast!

Heard great things about the airplane jigs, i got one of each color, they are the one ounce size.. I got a good feeling about these and will put em to good use soon... I hope this will increase my catch rate and have ZERO get off.. Like it that they glow too..



Stressful trying to decide on what color i wanna use first

I've worn out 2 of the chartreuse ones in the last season and a half. The black one is good too. 
I actually retied one of my chartreuse ones but ended up losing it to a big pike about a month ago.   
FYI they are deadly for pike!!!!

[ianwuzhere]

Rite on. The black is the only one that doesnt glow.
Do you use the suggested swivel about a foot up the line?? I put a few in the arsenal for the next outing

[kodiak80]

Hey Ian, u thirsty for those beer yet?

[TheDawg]

Nice fish guys, Dukes was telling me about them the other day at work.

[Drifter_016]

Rite on. The black is the only one that doesnt glow.
Do you use the suggested swivel about a foot up the line?? I put a few in the arsenal for the next outing

I just use a snap/swivel.

Don't forget the white tube jigs as well.
Got all my fish on them today.