You can find anglers all over the lakes now. With ice thicknes averaging anywhere from 5-10 inches of ice, you can expect to find anglers sitting over a hole on one of your favorite Metro Area lakes. However, still use caution when on the ice, as every lake/body of water is different and don't risk it.

The Chisago Area is kicking out a lot of nice panfish. Bluegills and crappies are coming out of the south bay on Chisago Lake, as well as the shallows on Green Lake and South Center Lake. Northern Pike can also be found on all of the above mentioned lakes and in the same areas. Walleye fishing has been decent as well.

Lake Minnetonka has been hot for all species lately too. If you're looking for panfish then you can find them in most of the bays. Look for green weeds or else deeper holes/depressions throughout the bays. A lot of reports of fish being caught in 8-15 feet of water, and a few reports of fish being caught out in the 25-35 foot holes. Walleyes are also reported on Tonka, with the most popular depths being 12-20 right now. Look for fish holding off the first break.

Forest Lake is another lake that seems to be hot right now. While you'll find yourself dealing with a lot of small panfish and perch, you can still expect to find walleye and pike cruising the underwater points and humps. The sundown bite for walleye has been consistent and should stay that way for the next couple weeks.

For those of you in the south Metro, I would look at giving Prior Lake a try. Reports of both crappies and walleye have been fair. Look for the steepest breaks leading into deep water and set up on the shallow side once evening hits. Also pay attention to underwater points and saddles.

The ice season is just getting underway. Go out and have some fun!

Fished yesterday morning from about 7am-1pm and the target was bull gills. Went to a lake where we knew we were going to sacrifice quantity for quality but we were ok with that

We started off firing off a group of holes over the first break leading to a shallow shelf in about 10 feet of water. Right off the bat we located a few fish on the LX-5 but they were smaller crappies... but we did manage a nice 8.5 inch gill mixed in so we knew we were in the right area.

We worked over about 40 holes for the next hour or so and managed to land a few more gills in the 8-9 inch range, but still no brutes. So, onto a few more holes over a different area...

Now we relocated over a hard bottom ot in about 12-13 feet of water. After punching several holes and checking each hole with the flasher we realized that there were fish using this area, so it was time to slow down. We started dropping down size 8 Ratsos (pink head and blood red bodies) and sure enough we came toe to toe with the "bull." We managed to land several over 9-inches with some topping the 10-inch mark...



They were definitely not aggressive, and if it wasn't for a spring bobber you wouldn't have detected most of the bites. A lot of up-bites today.

All of my fish came on size 8 Ratsos (no bait). It was a one or two fish per hole day. We had to work hard for the fish but we ended up with some beauties!

A great day to be on the ice. Weather was nice, although the fog this morning was interesting

Spent the morning out chasing pannies. Looking for monster gills but settled on crappies instead. Had a hard time finding any gills over 9-inches, and not too many numbers either. The crappies on the other hand decided to come out and play.

We targeted depths of 7-13 feet and marked a lot of fish and caught a lot of crappies in the 7-10 inch range. Out group did manage 7 fish over 12 inches with the biggest coming in at around 13 3/4 inches. Most of the fish came in on plastics (Ratsos and Power Minnows) but a few came on Marmooskas and larva. I caught all of my fish on either a Glow/Chart Power Minnow or a Pink head/blood red body Ratso.

Bottom content seemed to be mostly hard with a little bit of stick in some areas. Fish seemed to be cruising through and you could intercept a few before the school moved on. Just about drained an entire tank of auger gas today

The key today seemed to be the game of cat and mouse. If you had a fish on the flasher that wouldn't eat, all you needed to do was tease it a little and start to lift the jig away from it and the fish would almost always take the bait. Overall it was a fairly aggressive day.

Here's a pic of one just under 13-inches...




Tomorrow we plan on hitting a different lake in hopes of finding a few more larger gills.

Don't know why, but I have bull gills on the brain :grin:

I took a large group of people out on the ice on Saturday for their Father/Son Retreat weekend. Many of the participants, both fathers and kids, had never been ice fishing before and some have never even caught a fish! We targeted mainly panfish but found our way into a few bass as well...


Working over a finicky bluegill...


... and his first fish!!!


Father Richard... from Africa and his first time on the ice kissing his price catch!


Bass!!!


Another first!!!


The weather on Saturday was a little windy, but when we started to get cold we brought out the soccer ball and football and played a few games

Most of the sunfish we caught were in 7-9 feet of water on the weed edge. Maggots and waxworms tipped on a little teardrop seemed to be the ticket. By the end of the day these kids were catching fish without a bobber and were hole hopping like the pros!

I sat down with the group at their church before we ventured out on the ice. Once I found out that most of them had never ice fished, and that some have never even caught a fish, I realized it was going to be a fun day! This was one of those days where you really get to see why ice fishing is such a great sport! One of the more fun days I've had on the ice in a long time!