Last Ice Report of 2008

As reported here in an earlier post, my fishing expedition to Leech Lake in February did not produce many fish. I caught a few perch, enough for a meal, but not nearly the hot-and-heavy action of years past. My less-than-stellar experience just may have been a matter of timing. The usual pattern for fast-paced perch and walleye action is little- or no-snow cover, and warming weather. Sometimes that occurs in late-February, but this year it didn't happen until early-April.

The report from my fishing buddy John Newman is that the perch fishing was fantastic this past weekend. Above is a picture of a sink full of nice jumbo perch, taken by John in his fish cleaning house on the shores of Sucker Bay.

During his weekend of late-season fishing, John also had TWO run-ins with a big muskie -- both times resulting in a snapped line before the fish could be hauled out through the hole in the ice. He also caught a few nice walleyes, which went right back into the water because the walleye season is closed in Minnesota and doesn't open again until May 9.

There's nothing like a great jumbo perch bite late in the season when you can set up camp outside, on the ice, under sunny, warm skies.

Until open water...