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I got out yesterday morning for a couple hours by myself. Got a limit of nice sized sunfish in 17′. Had to sort through a lot of small fish, but it was enjoyable none the less, with about 75 fish being caught. Almost all my fish were caught on blue artificials. Probably only got 5 fish on minnows. The best bite by far was from sunrise till about 10am. Fishing was better with the overcast sky’s, and once the sun came out it shut down for about 2 hours.
I shoot a REM 700 in .243 and have tried most if not all of the “factory” rounds for said gun. There are quite a few varmint rounds available with Winchester, federal, remington and hornanady all making varmint loads. My gun really likes the Hornaday V-Max 58 grain loads. I tried the winchesters, and remingtons, but was not satisfied by the group placement. I would buy a box of each varmint round available in .243 head to the range and se what she likes. Each gun will preform better with a certain load. The rate of twist in the barrel of my gun seems to be a little better suited to a heavier bullet. Get some ammo assembeled and get to the range and see what your gun prefers. You will notice a BIG difference by trying different rounds.
Made a little trip over to Pokegama yesterday. The morning bite was realy hot with really aggressive fish. A mix if good sized sunfish and a couple good crappies, with 2 walleyes under 10″. I was in 15 foot of water away from other houses. Waxies seemed to get most of the sunnies, but it was almost all artificials for the crappies. The fish were not at all interested in minow rigs in the morning. Went home got lunch, ran errands, and then headed out later to try the evening bite. Fished about 25 feet from my morning location, and only picked up a couple small crappies and sunfish. The bobber rigs became the hot bait, with artificials coming in next. The waxies only seemed to be catching REAL small sunfish. All reports I’m hearing are from 15′-18′ with everyone doing better in areas with little or no pressure.
we could work something out possibly, but my february is pretty shot my self, as of now, I have one open weekend, and thats scheduled for a red wing trip. March would be better, especially since the fishing has kind of gone to crap on the local lakes. The December bite was much better. I’m hoping that the late ice season will be a little better.
My buddies wouldn’t tell me right where they were fishing, but i assumed they were near the island from the chat that we had. The said they stayed away from the comunity deep water and setup on their own to the east of a large group of houses.
I made it out to Cross again yesterday afternoon, only to reaffirm a previous thesis. Indeed the bite has moved almost exclusively to a morning bite. From my experience, and by talking to others the bite is best before 9:30 AM. If you are thinking of fishing Cross break out the waxies and the spring bobbers, as these have outfished minnows almost 3:1. I would reccommend Cross for the early morning bite, and then moving to another lake for the afternoon evening bite. 3 of us sat from noon till 7:30 with a grand total of 5 slabs caught. I hit 4 different areas during that timeframe, in water depths from 10′-29′ of water. Marked lots of fish, but definetally not active now in the evenings. But on the flip side, I’ve heard Pokegama is the exact opposite, with a lack of a morning bite and a strong midday to evening bite.
Pokegama produced well for some frinds of mine yesterday. Good mix of craps, gills, and even an eye mixed in. He said they were in 16′ of water and the bite was solid from noon till about 5pm.
Made it out for a couple hours after class yesterday. Fishing was extremely slow. Did manage to catch all the perch I could want off of Norway point, but they were all very small. We did manage a couple nice slabs, and I lost about a 4# catfish as I pulled him into the hole. My buddy reached down to grab him and wasn’t quite quick enough to grab a gill, and snap, there went another jig. Oh Well, thats fishing.
Biggest thing is to check you local regs for caliber restrictions. Iowa requires a .24 or larger caliber, so your .223 is not legal there, but I have no idea where you are palnning on hunting. My personal favorite is the ol .243, but depending on where you hunt, and how long of distances you are shooting, brush or open country, your choice may be differnet. If you plan on hunting brushy areas I would reccomend a larger caliber (.30 +), as these tend to be less affected by grazing branches ect…
Its easy enough to build a frame out of conduit, if you don’t mind it being fixed as opposed to a flipdown. Also check out sportsmans guide for grass matting, they did have a fastgrass knockoff, 4, 4X4 panels for $50
Sorry for the long delay on any updates, my fall semester ended just before christmas and I decided to take a break from posting checking email ect… I did manage to get out and fish cross a few times over the break, and did all right. Fishing has been consistent, but not exceptional. Crappies have been biting near the center bar. The fish are there, but not really agressively biting. Jigging has been pretty much worthless, with 90% of the fish caught coming off of bobber rigs. No color has reall stood out above the rest, but blue glowing jigs have done a tad better, along with pink/white ratso’s. The bite has been spread out with the best bite being from sunrise till about 9 AM. But we have managed to pick up fair numbers of fish throughout the day untill about 7 PM. Don’t let the fact that most people pull off at sunset (rumor has it that most years there is no bite after dark) stop you from sticking it out for an hour or so after dark. I have also managed to get some real dandy bluegills off of a couple brush piles and cribs. They seem to only take waxies or euro’s and you really need to setup your rig with either a spring bobber, or a very delicate bobber rig as they seem VERY sensitive. I hope to get out a little this week and try out a couple other spots that i have not really fished yet. I know I will be out this weekend and I’ll see what I can manage to pull up. If anyone has questions apout cross specifically let me know>
Made it out yesterday for a couple hours. Fished in the hole west of the sunken island, a few small crappies and a northern myself. Everyone was catching a few crappies here and there, but not really a hot bite. Bit shut down completely about half hour before sunset. Lots of 4-wheelers out and about, but the permenent houses that had been brought out were alrealdy sinking. 5″ of solid clear ice, but once again be careful around the river channel.
Saw a couple snowmobiles running up and down the lake yesterday. I would assume that most of the lake is navagatable by wheeler or snowmobile but care must be taken near the river entry/exit. As always, be safe and check the ice before heading out.
no one has that I know of, but I’m sure if cross is walkable pokegama is also.
ade it out on sunday for a couple hours of tip up fishing. Ice in my area was 2-4 inches solid and clear as a bell. Ice just recently formed around the mouth on both sides of the lake, and I wasn’t about to check it. Most of the lake is accessable though. Managed to miss a lot of fish on the tips, I think as a result of to large of minnows. Did manage a couple northerns around 4 lbs.
I checke the ice this morning and found 3/4″ -1″ of ice in front of my place. With the cold weather moving in we should hav walkable ice by the weekend. At the same time though, friends of mine said there was still open water on the main lake about 2 miles from me. Be careful, bring the rope and spud bar, and get out there and enjoy that ice. I’ll be out there probably on sunday dropping a couple tipups and drinking some beer out in front of my place, with a campfire blazing. See if we can’t get a couple cats, some northerns, and maybe even a muskie. I’ll post a report and maybe some pics if I do get out.
