Thursday fishing was best early a.m. and late
afternoon. Most activity was on the Gravel Bars and the "Tullibee
Hole" fishermen in shallow were seeing lots of nice sized Perch but
they were not going. We moved a
lot of our rentals to some new transition spots from 28-32 feet for
the weekend and
so far the houses we tried had good results so I'm expecting a
good weekend for them. Because of the warmer temps and the fishermen concerned........Our ice and roads
are in very good condition. We still have snow covering
the ice out
there the warmer temps are not affecting the ice and it has also
been cloudy so so far we're good. If we lose our snow cover
and the warm temps continue, that could be a problem down the road,
but it sounds like a little cooler temps are coming next week so we
should be fine.
We are out as far as we normally go now, (about
5-6 miles for us) and we have 19-22 inches of ice and the roads are in
nice shape. We have some really good areas in the Gravel to bring
wheelhouses so come on up. We are still encouraging everyone to keep there speeds
down to around 10 mph on the roads out of courtesy for other fishermen.
It definitely makes a difference in the "noise" on the ice. I also
want to thank all the wheelhouse people that showed up and supported
the way we do things at our place. We have maps available for everyone that goes out of our place so
they know where they are going. We have some
rentals still available for the last couple weekends, but very few,
so if you want one, try to let us know as soon as possible.
February 18th we will be hosting the
15th Annual TWP/ Lybacks' Ice Fishing Contest. It's a
tournament that was originally started by some of the first Ice Team
members and friends as a fun get together for themselves and has
grown over the past few years to include more. Brad Buys, Mike
Schmidt, Dave Genz and more will be there to help
weigh ins, and prize distribution. The pig roast will be cancelled this
year and we will plan better for it next year.
There will be 100% payback of prize money in
cash and prizes. Registration will start at 7:00 a.m.
Feb 18th, Registration and payment of entry fees will be
at Lyback's Office on shore. Registrations will be limited to
125 anglers. We have a sign-up sheet at our office that you can call
and reserve your spot starting Feb 8th at 7:00a.m. All Mille Lacs
special regulations will apply to contest. Participants must fish
in areas Lyback's maintain roads to. Weigh-ins will
start at 2:00p.m.and weigh-in ends at 6:00p.m sharp! Fish must be
weighed-in alive. Mike
Schmidt from Clam Corp will be there to weigh the catches with his
"Official Ice Team Weigh Station" Cash and prizes
distribution will start at 6:30-7:00 p.m. Weigh -ins and prize
distribution will be at "Tundra Junction", if the weather doesn't
permit it we will have it on shore. A decision will be made the
morning of the tournament and everyone will be informed. Big fish categories will be in Walleye, Perch, Northern
pike, and Tullibee. We will pay back cash 3 places in each
category. (This year rule change will be you can only place
1st in
one category if multiple species are caught.) There will be
numerous door prizes including Clam
Shelters, Vexilar's, StrikeMaster Auger's, Ice Armor clothing,
StrikeMaster clothing and
numerous other door prizes from the sponsors. Everyone will end up with
something. Entry fee is
$40.00/person. Last year everyone
had a great time and we hope to make it even better this year!
Sunday-February 26th will be the last weekend
for private houses. They must be ready to pull and accounts
settled up at the office. We will start pulling them Monday
a.m. With the way the weather is looking so far for February that
will be about it. What a strange winter it has been. It's hard to believe that there is only one
month left for Walleye fishing and the houses to be on the lake.
Seems like we just got going. My hope is we can get some more
cold weather and make some ice before March so our late season Perch
and Tullibee fishing can continue for awhile in the spring.
Keep a tight line!
Eddy
