Merry Christmas
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and are able to spend some time with friends, family, and loved ones this holiday season. That and hopefully, you are able to hit an frozen lake or two!
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and are able to spend some time with friends, family, and loved ones this holiday season. That and hopefully, you are able to hit an frozen lake or two!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Central Iowa Ice Report 11-28 to 11-30-2013
Thursday 11-28-13
Fished a pond in Polk county with my brother in law. 1 acre in size and maxes out at 18' in the basin. Old ice from Saturday was 2.5" and new ice was up to 2.25". Fished for a couple of hours in the morning and we only managed one bass in that time. We could only get out to 11' and the water is gin clear so fishing was tough and the bass was the only fish we marked that morning. The bass came on an eighth ounce Custom Jigs & Spins Slender Spoon (Gold/Glow) tipped with wax worms on each treble.
Friday 11-29-13
Checked six ponds between Polk and Jasper County with a good friend.
Pond One: (5-10 acres and deeper) Skim ice along the edges which had probably frozen that night.
Pond Two: (1/4 acres and maxed out at 7') 3-3.5" of good solid ice. Fished and marked a few but were spooky fish due to water clarity and didn't catch anything.
Pond Three: (1/2 acre and maxed out at 15') 1-1.5" of ice. Really surprised as this is usually an early ice pond due to it's protection from the wind.
Pond Four: (1-2 acres and maxed out at 18') Old ice was 2.5" and new ice was 2". Really surprised it had that much ice, even though it started to freeze on Saturday and completely locked up on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Pond Five: (1/4 acre and maxed out at 12') Ice was 3.5" but had a little honeycombing due to snow melt. Caught a mixture of crappie, gills, and bass. Missed a nice crappie (10-12") right at the hole, otherwise most of the fish were smaller. Largest bass was around 13-14". Clam Maki Plastic - Maki in glow produced many of the fish.
Pond Six: (1-1.5 acres and maxed out at 18') Ice was a solid 4" with no honeycombing. We were really surprised as this pond is not protected from the wind at all and was pretty deep. Caught crappie, gills, and bass. Nothing real big, best crappies were 9.5". Clam Maki Plastic - Maki in glow caught the vast majority of the fish for me and my buddy was having success with other plastics as well.
Saturday 11-30-13
Fished a pond in Dallas County with my brother in law. 1/2 acre in size and maxes out around 15' in the basin. 3-3.5" of good ice but that rapidly started to deteriorate around mid morning and we left. Caught bluegill and bass. A few of the gills were really nice and over 9", bass were mostly small except for one 14" fish. The fish would not touch any plastics this morning and the best approach was to use wax worms with a more aggressive presentation. Pounding the bottom with an eighth ounce Clam Bomb Spoon tipped with wax worms on each treble worked best for the larger gills.
It was nice to "scratch the itch", but I'm excited to hit some lakes/ponds which offer better fishing!
****Please be cautious with this early ice. I would highly suggest anglers in central and southern Iowa stay off the ice until this weekend AT THE EARLIEST. There isn't enough ice to sustain these warm temperatures and remain stable enough to fish on.****
Fished a pond in Polk county with my brother in law. 1 acre in size and maxes out at 18' in the basin. Old ice from Saturday was 2.5" and new ice was up to 2.25". Fished for a couple of hours in the morning and we only managed one bass in that time. We could only get out to 11' and the water is gin clear so fishing was tough and the bass was the only fish we marked that morning. The bass came on an eighth ounce Custom Jigs & Spins Slender Spoon (Gold/Glow) tipped with wax worms on each treble.
 |
| First fish of the season |
Checked six ponds between Polk and Jasper County with a good friend.
Pond One: (5-10 acres and deeper) Skim ice along the edges which had probably frozen that night.
Pond Two: (1/4 acres and maxed out at 7') 3-3.5" of good solid ice. Fished and marked a few but were spooky fish due to water clarity and didn't catch anything.
Pond Three: (1/2 acre and maxed out at 15') 1-1.5" of ice. Really surprised as this is usually an early ice pond due to it's protection from the wind.
Pond Four: (1-2 acres and maxed out at 18') Old ice was 2.5" and new ice was 2". Really surprised it had that much ice, even though it started to freeze on Saturday and completely locked up on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Pond Five: (1/4 acre and maxed out at 12') Ice was 3.5" but had a little honeycombing due to snow melt. Caught a mixture of crappie, gills, and bass. Missed a nice crappie (10-12") right at the hole, otherwise most of the fish were smaller. Largest bass was around 13-14". Clam Maki Plastic - Maki in glow produced many of the fish.
Pond Six: (1-1.5 acres and maxed out at 18') Ice was a solid 4" with no honeycombing. We were really surprised as this pond is not protected from the wind at all and was pretty deep. Caught crappie, gills, and bass. Nothing real big, best crappies were 9.5". Clam Maki Plastic - Maki in glow caught the vast majority of the fish for me and my buddy was having success with other plastics as well.
Saturday 11-30-13
Fished a pond in Dallas County with my brother in law. 1/2 acre in size and maxes out around 15' in the basin. 3-3.5" of good ice but that rapidly started to deteriorate around mid morning and we left. Caught bluegill and bass. A few of the gills were really nice and over 9", bass were mostly small except for one 14" fish. The fish would not touch any plastics this morning and the best approach was to use wax worms with a more aggressive presentation. Pounding the bottom with an eighth ounce Clam Bomb Spoon tipped with wax worms on each treble worked best for the larger gills.
 |
| One of the better gills from the morning |
It was nice to "scratch the itch", but I'm excited to hit some lakes/ponds which offer better fishing!
****Please be cautious with this early ice. I would highly suggest anglers in central and southern Iowa stay off the ice until this weekend AT THE EARLIEST. There isn't enough ice to sustain these warm temperatures and remain stable enough to fish on.****
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