Ice Fishing Crappie Motherload

By 2 pm on Thursday, we had quite the motherload of crappie laying on the ice! This pile of crappies we caught between noon and 2 pm all in the same spot.


We were ice fishing at Otter Creek Preserve. Overall we had the best day of ice fishing any of us have ever experienced, and collectively our group has over 150 years of ICE FISHING EXPERIENCE under our belts. For this trip, we were joined by professional fisherman Steve Ryan, Dave something (sorry Dave), fishing guide Steve Everetts, Ryan Pudik, Justin, and my Dad. Otter Creek lakes have never really been ice fished before, so I brought in the professionals to see what lurked in the frigid waters below.

Here is Steve, Steve, and Dave with our mess of crappies from just one spot!


Otter Creek is my biggest project I have been working on to date and is hands down the very best fishing property in Illinois. By this time next year, the lakes at Otter Creek will rank as some of the best multi-species fishing lakes in the nation, let alone Illinois! Trophy walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, yellow perch, bluegill, crappie, trout, and muskie all are world class!

The fish charts for each lake are quite simply through the roof! We have more than 200 acres of prime habitat spread across 3 specialty lakes and forage wetlands. Unlike most strip mine lakes and farm ponds that were created for water retention or mining operations, Otter Creek lakes were created for the sole purpose of recreational fishing. Every square inch of the lakes are created for various forms of fish habitat! There is no dead water. Here is a link to pictures and videos of Otter Creek during construction, fishing trips, and general property information: Otter Creek Info

On with the fishing pics and rest of the story, eh? So we got started first lake at 8 am and we fished there until noon. It is a 15 acre lake with superior genetic bass and bluegill from Arkansas. In those 4 hours we caught some really nice bass, 25 crappies, and 140 bluegill. 40 of those bluegill were over 1 lb and 50 of them were about 3/4 of a lb. We were pumped up about the awesome fish we caught at the first lake and the action was one right after another.

Ryan is a bass fisherman, but look at his smile with this monster bluegill!

Dave's biggest bluegill caught through the ice!

Ryan caught these fatties one right after the other:

These guys have more ice fishing gear packed into their SUV than the whole Gander Mountain store in Peoria. Literally. Here we are getting setup for the day:


All those gizmos and gadgets did pay off though, here is a really fat bass caught on the automatic fisherman rig.

At noon when we decided to leave the first lake we tried, we were real proud of our pile of crappie for dinner. We keep all the crappies caught and trapped out of these lakes, because we don't want them to get overpopulated.

So after having an insane morning of monster fish after fish, we pulled up to our first spot on the big lake and that is where we really hit the motherload! We only fished there for 2 hours and just caught crappie after crappie after crappie. This spot was off to the side of the old road bed and had some nice structures strategically placed in the major fish travel route and boy were the fish stacked up! It was 15 feet deep and we caught crappies from the top to the bottom and all the depths in between. Here are some fun pics of this incredible fishing spot. Also we have created 12 more fishing spots like this throughout the big 145 acre lake, we just only fished one of them!

Lots of photo shoots, otherwise we would have caught twice as many fish.

Ryan Pudik with a really big crappie he caught through the ice fishing a lindy jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head.


He soon got a partner to update the photo with:


Here is a pair of crappie I got using a dead minnow on a plain hook with a split shot about 6 inches above the bait. I bet your wondering why I was using dead minnows for bait? Well, we ran out of 4 dozen live minnows at noon, and for some odd reason I had a small bucket of frozen dead minnows in the back of my truck from a previous fishing trip. I am not big on using lures (way too much work to jig em) so I just stuck dead frozen minnows on my hook, dropped em down and let the rod sit on the ice. Occasionally if I wouldn't get a bite in the first minute I would then jiggle the minnow just a bit, but only when absolutely necessary. Most of the time I enjoy taking photos and helping other fisherman more than actually aggressively fishing.

Justin scored on a pig crappie as well to go along with his pile of fish. He was using some sort of northland jig tipped with minnow parts.

Dad was pulling em in left and right with just a round jighead tipped with whole minnow.

We fished there at that spot till 2 pm and then went down to fish the 53 acre canadian lake for some yellow perch and walleye, but the ice wasn't safe down on that lake. The warm weather and rain really zapped the strength out of the ice. We packed up and headed for my place in Norris to finish the evening, clean fish, and just hang out for the night. Altogether we had a day of ice fishing that we will not soon forget! Actually we had so much fun and so many stories and photos we will never forget that day.

Here is an image I kept seeing last night while I slept.

Here is a sample video about creating these lakes and fisheries. Lots of good fish structure pics before the lake filled and lots of fishing pictures from this year in this video. More videos about the property are available online at Timbercreekblog.com

Steve and Dave have tons of pictures too that I will post once they send em over to me. The weather was 48 degrees and the fish were on fire!

some new ice fishing gear

Christmas was good to me and I found myself with a few extra bucks to spend. The final decision was made on my first ice fishing flasher. I was looking at the 3 entry level units from Vexilar, Hummingbird, and Marcum. After much thought and seeing it action I opted for the Hummingbird Ice35 unit which was purchased yesterday from Cabelas. I normally don’t find myself shopping there due to the distance from my house but Cabelas had the largest selection of ice gear still in stock. Bass Pro Shops and Gander Mountain were picked over and I was looking for instant gratification. There was no time for online shopping because the plan is to break it in this weekend.

hummingbird ice35

While shopping I also was able to purchase a Cabela’s brand pop up shelter which, compared to the other brands pop up shanties of similar sizes, seemed like a steal for only 129$ Here are it’s specs and expect a review after I break it in.

cabela's ice team hub shelter 6 x 6

Cabela's Ice Team Hub Shelter – 6' x 6'

• Accommodates two to three anglers  
• Covered in durable, 600-denier, 100% polyester
• Absorbs solar energy and retains heat
• Internal pocket for gear and bait
• Four windows with covers
• Dual doors for easy entry

Dimensions: 72"L x 72"W x 78"H.

Packed dimensions: 56"L x 10"W x 16"H.

Weight: 27 lbs.

Z Fish Report (12/29/10)

The terafin.com satellite photos show the blue water moving out and away from Zihuatanejo Bay to the north to about the 15 mile mark. But, on a 200º to 180º heading to the south, it is still within 6 miles from the lighthouse.


And, the fishing has been excellent. We are coming out of the full moon period, and going into our most productive blue water time of the year for sailfish…January.

Each boat is averaging about 3 sailfish a day released in the blue water. High boat in the fleet this week was Martin on the cruiser Gaviota with 9 sailfish releases.

Mike Bulkley had this to say about the fishing:
The offshore fishing improved dramatically this week with multiple strike and hook-ups every trip. Tim Shmalhofer from Pennsylvania fished with Capt. Francisco on the Super Panga "Huntress" twice and released 7 Sailfish. Zef Padovani from British Columbia, age 13, caught and released his 1st, 2nd, 3rd. and 4th. sailfish on his first trip on the Huntress and added another Sail and two Dorado on his second. He also expertly set the hook on sails 3 and 4 under the guidance of Capt. Francisco.

Zef and Francisco wiith one of Zef's 5 sailfish he released.

But, the biggest surprise is the roosterfish have come back. Actually, I don’t think they came back, as our local fish headed south for warmer water in early November, but we are getting a great showing of a southerly migration from parts unknown to the north of us.

Adolfo with a small rooster taken on a surface popper

Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos went 1½ hours north on Tuesday and raised 28 roosters, hooking and releasing 10. He was using surface poppers and slow trolled live bait. Per Adolfo, they varied from “fairly small to medium to large”. Cheva, on the panga Dos Hermanos II, worked the areas to the south to the antennas and below, doing well on 3 roosters and lots of large jack crevalle.

Jose Pino, in Puerto Vicente Guerrero, where I am going tomorrow, told me there are lots of roosters and jacks. Hopefully, we will get into some of the action with the fly rods.

Ed Kunze

happy new year

The production crew is behind closed doors this week in full planning session. In these year end meetings, there’s usually some celebrating the end of the year, brainstorming for ideas and marking the calendar for events coming up in the New Year. While they are tied up with all that business stuff, we’ll take a page from the season finale and continue to look back at 2010.

The year started out with a chill in the air much like the one we are experiencing this week. The temperatures dropped and the body count rose as the snook population took a hard hit from the bitter cold. This sparked an idea put into motion in the Spring of 2010 and Project Snook was born. The fund raising project enabled Addictive Fishing to directly contribute to Mote Marine’s snook research facility. By bringing together both sponsor and fan participation, Project Snook was able to turn a project that was on the verge of closing its doors to keeping the pumps running. Throughout the year we were able to see first hand the importance of our donations. A batch of snook was hatched around the same time the AF project was launched and we were able to bring the Mote facilities into the homes to our viewers in a four-part segment shown in episodes during the season. With sponsor donations from Star brite, Dick’s Sporting Goods and TrueFlies Apparel combined with donations from fans & fishermen wanting to do their part, the final tally for 2010 was $17,750.00! Project Snook isn’t over! We will continue to provide our support and give back to the fishery that has provided for us all these years.

The cold spell also caused production issues. The reality of this TV show is the difficulty in shooting an episode when the stars don’t show up. Slow fishing forced a reschedule of air time. When the water started getting back to average, the shows started pumping out and they looked better than ever! 2010 brought some anticipated changes when the show was aired in full HD format. We were finally able to show off the true capabilities of a new VariCAM thanks to network upgrades.

If the frigid winter wasn’t enough, an oil spill in the gulf threatened the livelihoods of everyone that made a living in, on or around the Gulf of Mexico. As the spill pushed closer to Panhandle shores, AF shot another amazing cobia episode in Destin, FL. It would be weeks later that the hole in the bottom of the pond would be plugged but the water was a brilliant emerald green during our shoot.

We saw great new products come out this year (some of which we cannot talk about at the moment; hint, hint). The Capt. Blair Wiggins signature series rods from Wright & McGill took on an overhaul. The grips were switched to a new split grip, the rod took on an unmistakable look with its camouflage blue paintjob. Best of all, the prices were lowered! The S-curve technology gives the new stick plenty of backbone but still has the sensitivity to feel a redfish looking at your bait. A perfect match to the “Flats Blue” rod is the new FINS XS extra smooth braid. Available in a matching blue or contrasting orange really compliments the AF colors of your outfit. FINS adds extra Spectra fiber to their XS braid making it rounder and smoother for better performance.

Who can forget all the products we gave away this year? Every month we had the pleasure of calling an unsuspecting winner of the Minn Kota/Humminbird Giveaway. Minn Kota trolling motors and Humminbird 385ci Combos were shipping out to winners on a monthly basis. We also showed up to Mogan Mania with a truck load of prizes from all of our sponsors that were raffled off for donations to Project Snook.

We usually run into a few celebrities in our travels. We hung with Skeet Reese at ICAST, Blair was a guest on Bill Miller’s Hooked On Fishing, Manny Puig showed up at the DSG Mogan Tour and we bumped into Vince Neil in Vegas. The highlight of the year was having bass legend Bill Dance on the show. We shared a lot of laughs working with Bill and look forward to fishing with him again.

The year wouldn’t have been what it was without the support of our fans and sponsors. The Dick’s Sporting Goods Mogan Tour traveled the state visiting each DSG in Florida and a few in other states. The tour allows us to have one-on-one time with the fans and show off some of our sponsors’ new products.

Stick around! We will have more flashbacks, more sneak peeks into what the New Year has in store and many more Mogans. As we close out 2010, we thank all of our sponsors and fans for their support. May 2011 bring prosperity and tight lines to us all.

Always popping the cork a little early,

BillBird

Muskie and Insane Bluegill Ice Fishing!

I have never seen a muskie caught through the ice before, but we got one today! The line broke right at the hole, but Brett and I were somehow able to grab the fish and squeeze her through! We got lucky!!!


This is a monster female bluegill! Brett caught two really awesome fish today!


The first two pictures are about as good as it gets for ice fishing anywhere in the world, let alone here in Central Illinois! Brett Erickson caught that muskie and huge bluegill while fishing with a large group of people today with Herman Brothers guided ice fishing service.

We had 14 people out on the ice today and we caught some unbelievably huge fish, ate a gourmet Chef Todd shore lunch, and fished in warm 35 degree weather from sunrise to sunset. Just a picture perfect day that was capped off with a goose coming in and landing 30 yards from all of us fishing- I guess he just wanted to come hang out cause he landed and just walked around us for 10 minutes!

I got lots of pictures and also Jonn Graham the stream stalker has pictures from our day over on his blog as well. Here is Katy Watson holding up a nice rainbow trout caught on a minnow in 5 feet of water:


Kelly Presley from Presley Outdoors came out to help drill holes, set minnow poles and help eat lunch. We made him reel in one fish while he was out. We were hoping for a trout, but ended up with this nasty green carp instead. Kelly opened his bait shop early for me this morning so I could get all the bait and gear needed for todays ice fishing trip! We talked him into skipping a good portion of work today to come hang out.


Chef Todd cooked up perhaps the best lunch of 2010 today, and he also got into some fishing action as well. He is always trying new funny looking jigs and the latest and greatest from the TV shows and one of his contraptions actually even caught a fish today!


Here are a couple pictures of that lunch I keep raving about. This is my first plate. The burger was 3/4 lb ground filet and steak trimmings, with pepper jack cheese, homemade chipotle sauce, onions, avocados, lettuce and tomato! We also had shrimp, crab claws, smoked salmon, and some seafood dips from Dixons Seafood!





We all stuffed ourselves to the brim and then had to decide if we wanted to go back out fishing or curl up for a nap. Everyone chose to go back out so I didn't get my nap that would have felt so great!

We caught 2 bluegill today that werent legitimate keepers. It actually takes a real good fisherman to catch a fish this small! We used it for bait.


These fellas were more along the lines of the size of bluegills we were catching. They were beasts. Here are 2 male regular bluegill.


Another male bluegill


Another one of Chef Todds contraptions caught another fish! I think he tied on 30 different jigs today! Here he is holding a female bluegill.


Here is a monster female bluegill!


Boy bluegill being held by an old man.......hehe couldn't refrain from that old person joke.

Just a picture perfect male bluegill.

Jonn Graham SR. holding up one of the very few trout caught today. Usually we slam the trout ice fishing, but they weren't biting today.

Another big male bluegill

Here is part of our pile of fish just before I started cleaning em on the ice. This sounds kind of crazy to most fisherman, but in lakes I am managing for monster bluegill we actually let the monster bluegill go. We eat the 8-10 inchers, but let the 10-12 inchers back in the lake to keep our best genetics pumping out future boone and crocket bluegills! I also take out all the skinny largemouths that are over 12 inches long. This particular lake is not just a typical bass/bluegill lake. Predators are muskie, pike, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and walleye. Small bass are actually forage, so I don't need to remove them, but the larger bass who are skinny are just wasting space and we remove them.

Here is a hybrid bluegill. Their only purpose is to catch and eat so we keep them regardless of how big they get. We don't need or want their genetics, just nice to have as a bonus big bluegill! This hybrid did his job perfect, he ate alot, grew big, fought a nice battle, took a great picture, and will taste very good very soon!

Another Boone and Crocket gill!

A nice bonus crappie. We caught 6 crappie in the first 15 minutes and never caught another one the rest of the day.

This green carp smoked a waxworm being jigged aggressively 2 feet off the bottom.

It was an incredible day of fishing, but let me just say that even though we got lots of great pics and caught some amazing fish, that we had to work very very hard to get them to bite! We put in over 100 man hours of fishing today and only caught a total of 58 fish. That calculates out to less than one fish per hour per angler.

Fishing for trophy bluegill is alot different than just regular ice fishing. You have to be determined and really work these fish with some finesse jigging and a vexilar. This type of fishing is not possible without electronics.

Of the 58 fish we caught today, only 2 of them were less than 8 inches. We all had a great time hanging out, eating great, and reeling in trophy fish! About as good as it gets is how I describe a day like this one. Don't forget to pop over to Jonn Grahams blog to get his account and pics from the day.

Happy Holidays

As the 2010 fishing season reaches its final few days Neal and I wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks for a great first year. As we move into the new year we have been doing some planning. We have some exciting trips scheduled, new videos in the works, and some interesting product reviews on the way.

In the last few weeks we have setup a Facebook fan page and are hoping that our return visitors will take the time to click the “like” button and subscribe. On the fan page we will have more photos, stories, and videos and not just the ones that make the blog. It will also be a great place to network as well as keep in contact with some of our returning readers. If you have ever enjoyed our site or found it useful then “click this link” and sign up as a fan.

Happy Holidays and have a great new year!

Absolute fishing 2010....