Silver's ice situation varies from area to area. The gray ice nearest the public launch is still holding at a solid 7-8", while the dark, clear ice further out has deteriorated to about 4". Be careful if heading out there, especially in the next day or so, as holes are almost impossible to see and the ice is thinnest where there are concentrations of holes. Our hotspot is honeycombed with holes from several days of hard fishing. The ice is thinnest here and some holes have opened up to over 12" due to melt water.

On the ice at 8:00 with Motor1, in the aforementioned hotspot in 35 feet of water. No activity until about 8:30 when, as usual, something flicked the switch. In the next 90 minutes we could do no wrong. During this bite, I called over a neighboring angler and his kids and allowed them to partake! Motor1 and I already had a couple dozen nice keeper perch apiece. We gave to them some tips, advice and some jigging rods, and cheered while they got after them, too! Sure enough, this bite tapered off at 9:45 and then stopped altogether, just like did yesterday.

I then moved onto the thicker gray ice and moved from hole to hole, attempting to locate fish. It's amazing how several holes will be dead but one or two are on fire. Out of 10 holes or so I fished, one gave up another dozen, and another that gave up a half dozen or so. Many keepers released during this period because I had 30 already. When the bite is sporadic, I'll leave a hole that doesn't produce within a minute or two.

All fish caught on small kastmasters (both gold and silver) tipped with perch eyes and fished a foot or so off the bottom.

Be careful if heading out there. I strongly recommend that you avoid the clear ice which is the thinnest. This warm weather pattern will be around for several more days. The ice situation is definitely NOT improving. The thickest, safest ice is, IMO, nearest the launch and should be OK for a couple more days.

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