Typically I wouldnt post such a dumb picture (of myself at least) but I was outside and having fun today! After being couped up in the NICU for over a week, I needed to just get outside. Usually on a 40 degree Saturday in February with 12 inches of ice I would be ice fishing from sunrise to sunset, but today I decided would be much better spent gearing up for the future. Instead of fishing we decided to make a fish highway. The physical labor and cutting trees and placing fish structures was just what the doctor ordered today. Right now I have splinters and scrapes all over my hands, my back aches, and I am completely wiped out; but for some odd reason I couldnt be feeling any better!
If I would have been going ice fishing today I would have been able to find about a dozen or more people to come on out to the lake, but since I was cutting and dragging trees I could only scrounge up my dad. We are pretty used to that scenario, but we dont actually mind all the background work. Creating the best fishing lake in Illinois is my goal, so in order to get that accomplished I need to spend a few days on the ice working and not fishing.
This particular line of trees is over 500 feet long and placed in 15-18 foot of water right along a transition ledge where the 8 foot flat meets up with the 30 feet deep drop off. I am creating a travel highway for fish that connects the deep basin of the lake with my favorite fishing channel. Here are just a couple pics.
The ducks have survived the winter so far. I am actually somewhat surprised. All the kids are gonna be pretty excited this summer if Lilly and Co can escape predation for just a few more weeks. These ducks are so fat, I have even had some tasty thoughts every know and again.
Hey, while we still got some safe ice, put the fishing rods down for a few hours and create some future fishing spots! Don't just make single brush piles or fish structures, place them in groups or in lines along potential fish travel contours to create spots that really hold alot of fish! If you have any sort of fish structure questions or comments go ahead and fire away here or shoot me an email! We sink thousands of full grown trees, PVC fish attractors, boats, shopping carts, trampolines, and even a kitchen sink. We dont just sink em and fish em though, we actually spend alot of time underwater scuba diving, filming, and analyzing them as well.
Here is just a fun underwater video, we have hours and hours of underwater fish structure footage, but only post the fun stuff on youtube. Anyone interested in scuba diving this summer just drop me a note and we would be glad to take you out.
In Minnesota sinking your own stucture is a no no, got to have a permit from the DNR and from what I understand, they are not to big on unatural habitat, even if it is natural stuff.
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