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Early Season Ice Fishing - Lake Charlotte
12/26/2005
The day after Christmas and Denny (Staff Writer) and I are feeling
a bit stir-crazy (way to early in the season to call it cabin fever). We
had heard some reports of the sunfish and crappie bite doing well on Beebe
Lake in Wright county from various people, so we decided it was worth a
shot.
One of the reasons that I am experiencing extreme desire to get out
and ice fish this year is the present that my beloved wife and father purchased
for me this year. It is a Clam 6800 ®
cabin style portable ice shelter. This little (and by little I mean big)
baby boasts 8' by 6' floor space with a roomy 6'6" roof, along with six holes
and covers. Check the reviews section of the fishing home page for
details and first impressions.
Needless to say, I've been chomping-at-the-bit waiting for an
opportunity to use this shelter on the ice. Denny and I packed up the van
the drove to the local St. Michael, Minnesota hardware store for the latest
report and live bait. Unfortunately the report from there was not so
good. Treacherous ice mixed with poor fishing equaled bad news from the
minnow-man. Determined to at least give it one shot, Denny bought a scoop
of crappie minnows, some euro-larvae, and wax worms.
On the short drive to Beebe, I spotted a public water access on the
left side of the road about 200 feet from Beebe Regional Park. The sign
pointed down a dirt road, and as adventurous individuals we figured we would
check it out. At the launch, we ran in to a trio of fisherman that had
just given up for the day spearing on this lake (Lake Charlotte). They
reported a fairly even 4 to 6 inches across the lake, although they did not
fare well.
That settled the matter. Denny and I quickly loaded up the
sleds, and trudged out onto the ice. Neither Denny nor I had ever fished
this lake, so we position our shelter roughly half-way between the launch area,
and a small grouping of permanent ice shanties that had already set-up for the
season on this lake. I quickly punched a hole through the ice and found
about 4 inches under me. Additionally, I could immediately see
bottom. It appeared that we were in about 7 or 8 feet of water, with some
cabbage weed cover. I was impressed right off by the clarity of this
lake.
By the time we wet line, it was about 2:30 pm or so. I used a
light colored jig and minnow to start off, and then switched to a wax worm,
then euro larvae. The water was clear enough to see schools of panfish
through the hole, although none displayed much interest in our lure besides the
occasional nudge. At one point we did see a nice sized northern, but even
he was not interested in eating it seemed.
Around about 3:30 pm, Denny landed the first and only fish of the
day. We had to repeat to ourselves that there is more to fishing than
catching fish. Seriously though, by about 5:30 pm Denny and I had decided
to pack it in for the day, as we both realized that we had not thought to bring
flashlights.
As we were leaving, many (roughly 1 dozen groups) local
fisherman were congregating around the permanent shacks. Denny stopped
one and asked about the lake bottom where they were fishing. The man
reported about 23 feet of water, and apparently we had stumbled on to a local
crappie gem. We just came and left at the wrong time. No matter, by
this time, my wife was anxious for me to return home. We will come back
and fish this lake again! Only next time, it will be with the proper gear
(light), and at the right time for crappie!
Brent Kastner
Staff Writer and Editor at large
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