February 7, 8

I went ice fishing at Swanson Lake with a friend and we caught good numbers of white bass and crappies up to 12 inches in depths of 14 to 20 feet along the dam areas. The fish were caught on dropshot rigs using small plastic baits and a small jigging spoon. The ice is approximately 4 inches thick.

February 6

I went ice fishing at Swanson Lake with a friend and we caught good numbers of crappies up to 13.5 inches, and white bass up to 12 inches along the dam areas in depths of 14 to 20 feet. They were caught on a small jigging spoon and a dropshot rig using a 1.5-inch Tiny Shad Assassin. The ice is approximately 5 inches thick.

I went ice fishing at Red Willow Lake with a friend, and we caught crappies up to 11 inches and bluegills up to 9 inches on a small jigging spoon and a dropshot rig using a 1.5-inch Tiny Shad Assassin. We fished in depths of 15 to 20 feet next to under water brush piles on a secondary point in a bay. We also caught crappies at the mouth of the bay, where the creek channel swings next to a point in depth of 40 feet. The crappie were suspended in 18 to 25 feet of water. The ice is approximately 7 inches thick in the bay and 5 inches thick at the mouth of the bay.

I took some friends ice fishing at Red Willow Lake and fished the same secondary points with underwater brushpiles that I fished on January 2 and 4. We caught good numbers of crappies up to 1 pound, and good numbers of bluegills up to 1/2 pound. The fish were caught on dropshot rigs using a waxworm on size 10 hook or a 1.5-inch Tiny Shad Assassin, and using a small jigging spoon (1/8 oz.) as a weight. We fished in depths of 10 to 20 feet.

The ice is approximately 5 inches thick and melting due to the warm weather this week. I will not be able to fish again until the next cold fronts come through. I checked the ice on January 13 and it was dangerous to walk on. I found lots of open water, especially along the shorelines.