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Irafly

Life of the Party
Forum Supporter
Ice, Ice Baby.

Still ice on some of the open lakes over in Eastern Washington, but another forum member and I found some open water by doing a bit of hiking. The lake fishes differently than it did in the past, not as many fish as the past years, but every fish you catch would struggle making it through some doors. C4D929E6-C5F4-4803-BA64-EF1BC80D7F40.jpeg
This picture does not do the girth of this fish justice.
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This fish was a just a tad big for the net. At one point it ran under the ice and attempted to jump. I’ve never seen a fish break the ice from underneath before. About a quarter of its body rolled out and then it sank back down. That was an awe inspiring close one.

We left this lake after mid day and found another lake to launch a boat on. Much warmer, and more fish in general, but the overall size was smaller.

Next weekend I travel even further East!
 

Long_Rod_Silvers

Elder Millennial
Forum Supporter
At one point it ran under the ice and attempted to jump. I’ve never seen a fish break the ice from underneath before. About a quarter of its body rolled out and then it sank back down. That was an awe inspiring close one.
Imagine the chaos that would've ensued had it made it all the way out and up on to the ice. :D
 

Yardus

Secret Squirrel
Here are some shots of the morning. Ryegrass at sunrise :cool:
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Then came the freezing fog, frozen boat launches and "lets take a hike"... ? What what. I have to admit that I was a little Eeyore about that idea. I have to thank Ira for his positivity as I wasn't feeling it. We found open water at the far end and hot footed it back to the car to string up a rod to give it a bank shot for a few minutes. Operation recon in action below.

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back to a little bowl with open water when I realize that I forgot my reels at the car. Ira strings up and on the first cast lands a 20" fatty tank. I was kind enough to net it for him, fumble the football and release with out getting a pic of the really nice fish. Oopsy! Mission accomplished. As Ira hikes around to find a good place to launch, he give me his rod to dribble a few cast while he is looking. What a guy! Picked up a couple chunky bows while waiting for him.


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We hot footed it back to the car, got our tubes and headed back to open water. Didn't take more than 5min before I kicked around the corner to find Ira with a 22" beast in the net. This fish was so THICK! The fog cleared out in no time and it was really a awesome day to be out with no one else around. The bite wasn't super hot but every fish we tied into was a real a beauty.
 
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