Fished Mazonia N. Unit with BFA and a buddy of mine on Sunday from 7am to 11am. Our plan was to hike/hoof/march to some of the smaller pits off the beaten path. By taking a peek at Google Earth images and using a GPS to guide the way we embarked on a trip that would cover almost 2 miles of walking over ice and up/down the berms & hills of Mazonia's stip pits. Weather was great, upper 20's, overcast, barometer dropping, and virtually calm winds.
Our first spot had already been claimed by a group of fisherman and since the pit was relatively small we decided to leave them to it so we didn't feel like we were crowding them. There is plenty of ice out there to fish and nobody should feel like they have to share the same tiny chunk of ice when there are acres upon acres of untouched ice just waiting to be found out there.
Our second spot was quite a hike from there, up and over a huge berm and down a steep ravine. This pit was set really low inside this valley, and upon first inspection it looked to have a few existing holes drilled in the ice that had iced over. Deer and rabbit trails had lead us to the crest of this valley but from there on another 30 yards or so we had to blaze our own trail through 10' tall prairie grass, various saplings, and a dense forest of tall thick reed grass that lines the perimeters of nearly all of Mazonia's waters.
Once to the ice we quickly shed layers of clothing to cool off as the hike in had left us huffin' and puffin' and working up a sweat.
After drilling the first hole it was noted that ice depth was a consistent 3 to 4", which in my book, is borderline "safe ice". Safety ice picks were around everyone's neck and after scouting with the auger it was agreed by all that since the consistency around the pit was good and the ice was solid clear ice for 3" to 4", we would stay.
Fishing was as easy-pickings as I have ever had. Didn't really matter what you dropped down, in depths from 4 feet to 16 feet the fish were in a biting mood and we quickly had 30+ gills around 8" after some minimal sorting. It was really impressive that most of the gills we caught were keeper size. Very few of the fish from this pit were under 8".
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After counting out our predetermined self-imposed limit we packed up and started heading to another pit to find some crappies or possibly some trophy sized gills since we were way ahead of schedule.
Next stop had us on another 1 to 1.5 acre pit that was absolutely virgin ice, not a single hole had been drilled on this ice this season. At first we thought it would be too shallow to hold many fish, the first holes drilled only showed 3 to 4 foot water depths under 4 to 6 inches of ice. However, with the aid of my cordless drill powered auger, we popped another dozen holes and found a nice depression that was absolutely stacked with fish.
I kneeled down at the hot hole and pulled out 30 assorted gills & bass in 30 minutes. The flasher was lit up like a christmas tree and every drop of the jig had a mark flying up from the school to hammer it on the drop. If I could have one day on the ice every year for the rest of my life I would hope it to be a day like this.
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This pit had quantity but the quality was not as great. For every 10 fish we caught only 1 would be consider a keeper near or at 8". Most of of the gills we caught were in the 6 to 7" class, and those pesky 10" runty bass were plentiful.
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After an hour here we had our fill of excitement for the day so we got back out on the trail and hiked that final mile to our vehicles.
All in all I would say it was one of my top 5 days out on the ice. Quantity, quality, good company, and great weather. This was an excellent way to work up a sweat and get the heart rate up, the exercise was a welcome and needed break from my winter hibernation.
If anyone is interested in getting some time in on the ice out there I would urge you to get off the beaten path and seek out the smaller less pressured waters. It's a lot of fun exploring back there, the rewards are multi-faceted and worth the effort.
Our first spot had already been claimed by a group of fisherman and since the pit was relatively small we decided to leave them to it so we didn't feel like we were crowding them. There is plenty of ice out there to fish and nobody should feel like they have to share the same tiny chunk of ice when there are acres upon acres of untouched ice just waiting to be found out there.
Our second spot was quite a hike from there, up and over a huge berm and down a steep ravine. This pit was set really low inside this valley, and upon first inspection it looked to have a few existing holes drilled in the ice that had iced over. Deer and rabbit trails had lead us to the crest of this valley but from there on another 30 yards or so we had to blaze our own trail through 10' tall prairie grass, various saplings, and a dense forest of tall thick reed grass that lines the perimeters of nearly all of Mazonia's waters.
Once to the ice we quickly shed layers of clothing to cool off as the hike in had left us huffin' and puffin' and working up a sweat.
After drilling the first hole it was noted that ice depth was a consistent 3 to 4", which in my book, is borderline "safe ice". Safety ice picks were around everyone's neck and after scouting with the auger it was agreed by all that since the consistency around the pit was good and the ice was solid clear ice for 3" to 4", we would stay.
Fishing was as easy-pickings as I have ever had. Didn't really matter what you dropped down, in depths from 4 feet to 16 feet the fish were in a biting mood and we quickly had 30+ gills around 8" after some minimal sorting. It was really impressive that most of the gills we caught were keeper size. Very few of the fish from this pit were under 8".
After counting out our predetermined self-imposed limit we packed up and started heading to another pit to find some crappies or possibly some trophy sized gills since we were way ahead of schedule.
Next stop had us on another 1 to 1.5 acre pit that was absolutely virgin ice, not a single hole had been drilled on this ice this season. At first we thought it would be too shallow to hold many fish, the first holes drilled only showed 3 to 4 foot water depths under 4 to 6 inches of ice. However, with the aid of my cordless drill powered auger, we popped another dozen holes and found a nice depression that was absolutely stacked with fish.
I kneeled down at the hot hole and pulled out 30 assorted gills & bass in 30 minutes. The flasher was lit up like a christmas tree and every drop of the jig had a mark flying up from the school to hammer it on the drop. If I could have one day on the ice every year for the rest of my life I would hope it to be a day like this.
This pit had quantity but the quality was not as great. For every 10 fish we caught only 1 would be consider a keeper near or at 8". Most of of the gills we caught were in the 6 to 7" class, and those pesky 10" runty bass were plentiful.
After an hour here we had our fill of excitement for the day so we got back out on the trail and hiked that final mile to our vehicles.
All in all I would say it was one of my top 5 days out on the ice. Quantity, quality, good company, and great weather. This was an excellent way to work up a sweat and get the heart rate up, the exercise was a welcome and needed break from my winter hibernation.
If anyone is interested in getting some time in on the ice out there I would urge you to get off the beaten path and seek out the smaller less pressured waters. It's a lot of fun exploring back there, the rewards are multi-faceted and worth the effort.
