Wednesday was by far the best day for me on panfish, caught 100% of the gills and crappie in less than 4' most were 3.5' all on moon glow, bucket was 3/4 full, no gills kept under 7" with many in the 9" group, crappies, several over 11" mark, saugeyes for me... all were under 15" but I did see a few people walk off with some nice keepers, nothing spectacular on the eyes. Saturday, fished for eyes in the morning, caught 3, no keepers again, but some guys around me caught a few, eyes in the area I fished just didn't run through like I hoped, switched for panfish and moved back on top of the pads, the sky was bright blue all day and the temps were downright dangerous if not prepared, but the gills and crappie hit all day and I managed close to a half bucket of fish, with only a few crappies, the rest were gills, I made the mistake of moving off fish to find some eyes to catch.. again, all short eyes for me and again, I saw a few nice keepers hit the ice, nothing great from what I saw, (should've stayed on the panfish). I probably could've done better but fishing in the shallows requires a little more quietness to produce all day, as the ice was pretty crowded where I was fishing. Sunday, 3 short eyes again and the bite was quick and they were gone, I did see a few hit the ice but the big run has yet to happen in the area I was fishing, moved to the pads and it seemed like it was going to be a stellar day, the vex lit up for most of the morning but the bite was extremely lite, my plastic spring bobber barely moved and the fish I did get, spit it out at the hole as they waved goodbye, I only managed a few gills and 2 nice crappies, getting old and cold I decided to pack it up early, went home by 3 pm, grabbed a beer out of the frig as I got my gear ready for tomorrow. Just a friendly reminder, if you take it out on the ice..... take it back off with you......
