02-19-2019, 11:50 PM
[quote catchinon]Hey Jeff, I haven't heard many reports of good fishing for a while. Does this happen every year at this time? I still have a few (dozen) goals to meet in the contest and am beginning to wonder if I will have a good chance to do so the way things are.[/quote]
[#0000FF]This is the time of year when desperate ice anglers show a lot more enthusiasm than their quarry. And it's not just because the fish are all moody females. Well, maybe some of them. Big female perch especially. As their body cavities swell with ripening eggs...for their early spawn...they do not eat as much or as often.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Another factor is oxygen. Once snow covered ice shuts off the sunlight, aquatic plants either die off or at least quit producing oxygen. When algae and other aquatic growth dies under the ice, the process of decomposition further degrades water quality and fish metabolism drops in the poorer water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Some lakes are already receiving a bit of oxygenated runoff. Besides making hazardous edges on the ice that does improve the water quality. So if you find those conditions you can sometimes find decent fishing...but usually in shallower water or higher up in the water column in deeper water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I'm surprised that everybody keeps going deeper when sometimes the fish are moving shallower. Perch can be an exception. But never say never.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]This is the time of year when desperate ice anglers show a lot more enthusiasm than their quarry. And it's not just because the fish are all moody females. Well, maybe some of them. Big female perch especially. As their body cavities swell with ripening eggs...for their early spawn...they do not eat as much or as often.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Another factor is oxygen. Once snow covered ice shuts off the sunlight, aquatic plants either die off or at least quit producing oxygen. When algae and other aquatic growth dies under the ice, the process of decomposition further degrades water quality and fish metabolism drops in the poorer water.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Some lakes are already receiving a bit of oxygenated runoff. Besides making hazardous edges on the ice that does improve the water quality. So if you find those conditions you can sometimes find decent fishing...but usually in shallower water or higher up in the water column in deeper water.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]I'm surprised that everybody keeps going deeper when sometimes the fish are moving shallower. Perch can be an exception. But never say never.[/#0000FF]
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