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Pelican report 12/24 & 12/27
#1
Started out just off of a little reed island on the north end of the lake that everyone fishes and I've had great success. Only caught one gill in an hour so I moved to the south end of the lake. Not a single hole had been drilled anywhere that I could see on that end. Right off of the bat I started pulling in 10 - 13 inch largemouth bass. Nothing but bass for an hour then the gills moved in. Almost everyone was between 9 and 9 1/2 inches and fat. Monday a friend from work drove out and met me. We started out about 8:30 and the action was hot until 11:30 then really slowed. We still were graphing a few fish, but they got really picky about what they were eating. Both days ended with 20 + gills and 6 to 10 bass and managed to fish myself out of the 40 or 50 mealies I took with me. Pretty good in anyones book, even though there were some slow spots both days. Monday I caught 2 gill that were only 1/8" inch shy of 11 inches, truely a couple of HOGS. Both days it seems early on they liked a little movement and small kastmasters were the ticket. As the day progressed and the fish slowed went to genz worms and ratfinks with a deadstick presentation. Fish would look at it for 30 seconds to a minute before they would bite.
I did get to see something that I had never seen before. I watched someone drop a four wheeler through the ice. When we got out on monday I was surprised to even see one on the ice because there was less than 4 inches of good ice, thin enough that my 250 lb frame could make it pop if I stepped on a crack right. Everything I saw was from four or five hundred yards and I got the story second handed, but apparently some kid was screwing around doing donuts and what not and saw some ducks and geese on the other side of the lake and took off to go chase them at full speed. By the time he had gotten close enough to realize that the geese had kept some open water in the middle it was too late and had no traction on the snowfree ice to turn, stop, or even kiss his butt goodbye. I realized something was up when everyone in the group started running across the lake. I guess the guy spent a few good minutes in the water and then had close to a half or three quarters of a mile walk across the lake to the pickup. With the binoculars you could just see the back of the four wheeler sticking up out of 4' of water. It was still there when I left and I've got a pretty good idea with how fast the water is rising there that it will still be there next spring.
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#2
Those are some nice fish. Sounds like a fun time. There's something about a mess of panfish through the ice that gets my blood going.

FM
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#3
[cool]Man, that looks like a blast, Phil. I think those are the biggest blue gills I've ever seen. I've gotta get up there someday! Bet that kids dad planted his boot in that kids butt!! Can you imagine how upset that guy must be? At least I'd sure be if my kid did something that stupid!!
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#4
They're just lucky that everyone walked away from something like that. If it had been over 20' of water instead of 4' I just don't know how someone would get out of a situation like that. I do feel bad for them, but they were asking for it. There was absolutely no reason to have ever taken that wheeler out of the truck. Less than 4" of ice and they weren't fishing 300 yards from where they were parked. You're only asking for trouble when you take chances like that.
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#5
ok phil you have to show me pelican sometime please those are the biggest gills i have seen in this state I grew up in california and they get big there really big well that is a different story
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#6
Phil,

Another nice report from pelican. I keep telling myself to get out there and try that place. Thanks for the great report.

John
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#7
The guy I took out there on monday is a hardcore icefisherman from Iowa. He spent most of his youth chasing bluegill and crappie through the ice. He got so excited when we started catching 1lb+ gills that he email these same pics to his dad back home with a big old trash talking letter.
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#8
hey fairwayphilly, I'm planning a trip to pelican. My concern is where did you park to get a good access to the lake? I've never been up there in the winter time. We hit it in april this year and tore them up on a good cloudy day. Also what depth were you fishing? Any help would be a great help. Thanks
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#9
Hey Guy's

do these gill's still have worm's the last time I went thay were so full of worm's you could not stomach eating them the dwr said it was ok if you cooked them well .no thank's not this kid but great gill's boy's .is it true that the state record was just broke at pelican just last week.
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#10
I fish along the highway on the east side of the lake. There are two or three access points where you can pull down through the reeds when the water is low like it is now. You can also go around the west side of the lake to the boat ramp. I drove over there last friday and there was a huge upthrust fault about 100 yards from the ramp that looked a little sketchy to get across. When there is no snow on the lake I fish as deep as possible around 8 or 9 feet. I know there are a few deeper holes in the lake, but it would take some good searching with the sonar to locate. If it snows this week fishing might be better in a little closer, like 5 or 6 feet.
I don't know anything about the state record being broke, but I wouldn't be surprised. In two days of fishing I caught 4 fish within 3/4" of the state record. I really wish I would have had a scale because a couple of them were hogs; as big as they look the pictures really don't do them justice.
I was really happy when I filleted them. Only two of the seven fish I kept had worms in them and even then it was only one or two per fillet. I take a pair of hemostats and pull the worms out. The small jaws poke into the meat easily and the worms hold together well enough to pull them right out. I've seen them in the past where the worms are so bad that they have them on the outside of the scales and in their fins. Generally I don't keep many fish from that lake, but I wanted to open a few up and see how they were doing, that's why I didn't even keep a full limit. I just finished eating the whole batch 20 minutes ago and they were so good I ate myself sick.
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#11
Do you fish there at all through the rest of year? I hear the bugs can get really bad durnig certian time of the year.

Maddawg
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