Hope it's time

[Illinoisgiller]

I went out and done a little scouting for decent ice on the local Hennipin Canal. The pool below Geneseo, IL looked bad. Lots of open water and was melted out a few inches from any wood.
I finally ended up looking over the pool that runs from the red lift bridge to the Green river. Now the ice LOOKED lots better in that pool. I think I'll finally make time to drag the shack out for a while and check out the bite for the smallish gills there. The vexilar isn't much good in that shallow water , but I take it along. The cone footprint won't be very large at a MAX of 5 ft. lol Mike

[CrappieKeith]

Turn that gain way down.
Be carefull on that thin ice.

[Fishaholic]

went to Geneseo yesterday, took some deer meat up, that canal didnt look good at all, more open water than ice, unusual

[Illinoisgiller]

Took some looking but finally found ice. There wasn't much ice below the red bridge. I moved around a bit and even set up the shack for a while on 2 1/4" of ice. No fish though. :confused0024: drilled lots of holes. The water was 4 1/2' deep. Tore down and tried lots of spots. Some didn't look too bad but the edges were too rotten to get on. Finally found a spot to get on and ended up hanging a bunch .I didn't count the little fellers but will let you know when I get them cleaned. Mike

[CrappieKeith]

Some days action is action.

[Illinoisgiller]

Well I ended up with 84. Should have sorted more though. The place I was at needs more like 84,000 removed. I took some pics. today. One was the result of someone playing in the car. Could see where they were doing doughnuts and got in over their head. lol Was gone when I got off that section of the canal. There is one of my shack. It is the DX3000, little better than I had thought. I was thinking it was a s3000. I bought it at the end of the season last year. I seen this blue shack in the picture, and talked with the lone fell out there. He wasn't having any luck at all, and said the fella in the shack wasn't doing well either. :confused0024: I looked the place over and drilled a few holes that showed nothing on the vex except 4 1/2 to 5' of water. Finally moved out away from the area that all had been working. Drilled out there and dropped a tiny black sparkle jig and 1/2 wax worm. Snagged 5 right off and set up the shack. I was pretty busy from then on.:party0011: I heard the other folks leave, and later on a couple more lads showed up. They were braving the elements without a shack. The temps were on the way down.
This is new ice and there wasn't any cracking going on. All of a sudden a shotgun loud pop hit us and the crack came right through both my holes. I hollered over and asked the lads if they had any paper. lol .They said they needed it for themselves. lol :confused0024: I finally gave up when there wasn't light enough to see my line. By the time we got to the vehicles to was plumb darkl. Hope those lads sign on, they seemed like ok folks. Mike

[Illinoisgiller]

In all that rambling I forgot to mention that the Gander Mountain Guide 24" lite action rod CrappieKeith recomended is sweet to work with. I paired it with a Shimano Sedona 750FB which is probably an overkill, but way nice. lol I loaded it with Stren .005 dia. 4 lb. and used the loop knot he suggested. (insisted lol) What a nice set up!!!!!
I could feel the slightest tap from even the smallest gill. Thanks Keith!Mike

[CrappieKeith]

Gills are a blast.
I'm glad I could help.....who knew!

[Screen]

Mike the DX3000 looks grand but I bet the heater in that maroon model keeps you toasty? LOL

So when we having a winter gathering or is Schoe to bizzy delivering flowers?

[gofish]

carefull giller.....that thin ice ll git ya lol.....aint got nun here yet:mad:

[Soupy_1us]

Funny how you can tell the difference between us guys down here in the South and you guys up North by what we call things......You call 'em "Shanties" or "Ice Huts" and we call 'em PORT-A-POTTIES ! :confused0024:

Ya got ya a good'un there 'giller !

[capt.kirk]

Looks like a mighty fine set up you got there Mike,Enjoy and stay Safe.
Soupys right,does kinda look like a port a pot:icon_razz: Kirk