Made my first Amber trip of the year after driving by Medical this A.M. and counting it out. Thankfully I took my gear and pontoon despite having heard no news about it's ice situation. I arrived to find one of my partners harassing those "squatter" fish that always hang out on the launch. He's a float tuber and couldn't "Man Up" enough to soak himself in 37-degree water...can you blame him? He'd gotten a half dozen right there at the launch. Open water extended about 40 feet off the bank. Just like past years this strip of open water extended south, gradually widening into the south end shallows, which were wide open. I fished this area with nymphs and chironomid patterns under an indicator. The bite was very sporadic, coming and going over a period of 4 hours from 10:30 to 2:30. The rust was evident, with only 4 rainbows and 1 cutt to net out of 15 or so hook-ups. But boy, was it great just to be out again! The central and north end of the lake were still ice-covered, but the ice on the south end receded 40-50 feet while I was there as the southerly wind and waves broke it down.

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