Enjoyable Day, But No Fish

Fished with Joe Pennebaker at Lake St. Clair. Temp this morning was in the upper teens and as the day progressed it made it up to the lower thirties. A breeze out of the southwest of 5 knots with lots of sunshine made for a perfect day of ice fishing.

The ice was over a foot thick. Started fishing around a mile out from the Salt River in approximately 8 ft of water. We decided on this spot because when we arrived it was daybreak and there were already about 25 people here. Visibility was around 4 feet and we only picked up a few small fish. Decided to move so we headed back towards the Salt River a half mile and fished in 6 ft. of water. Visibility was still not very good. Didn't pick up any fish, so we headed towards the yellow seawall and started fishing 500 feet from shore, in 4 ft. of water. Visibility here was excellent and we could see the fish on the bottom. Fishing wasn't hot and heavy but the fish were agressive on the bait. Minnows were the preferred choice, although after an hour the fish were totally disinterested in our offerings. Fishing is a lot more fun when you can see the fish in the hole.

We kept 7 perch between 7.5 and 9.5 inches. I did catch a large rock bass and Joe lost a largemouth bass of at least 18 inches at the hole. Talked to several other fishermen on the ice, one of whom had a couple perch over 14 inches fishing in the shallow water. Guess we shouldn't just follow the crowds.