Last trip, I jumped from 1 to 2. Today, I doubled up again and landed 4! All 4 were keeper size--this one was nothing to brag about, but it got the skunk out of the boat.


This morning I hemmed and hawed for several hours, called the boat livery for an ice report, and finally hooked up the boat and heading for LCR.

The launch area was ice-free, as was the main body of the lake. I was on the water before noon and for a couple of hours enjoyed full sun, calm wind, and pleasant winter temps. Water ranged from 38.5 to 40 and the level's 2.5' below full pool.


Ice remained in many coves and the upper end of the lake.


As the afternoon advanced, clouds blocked out the sun, I put on my heavy gear, and it started looking like this-


What few fish I located were in small tight schools. Some were suspended over the deepest parts of the lake, and others were close to shore near points. Known spots produced one fish. The closest thing resembling action was a small school in 18 FOW near a point. When I first drifted over it (corks set to 12'), there were a couple of light hits, but nobody got hooked. I worked this general area for half an hour & managed 3 fish. The bite was very soft.

The most interesting thing all afternoon was gulls working bait--not in the open water where you normally see them, but right at the edge of the receding ice sheet. This is a poor picture, but they would hover a couple of seconds and then it looked like they were plunging right at the ice.