**Minimal Occupancy**

With three weekends left in the walleye season, anglers have taken a break, primarily due to severe winter weather and travel conditions on the Bay. Other than by foot, tracked machines are the best way to get around. Well-treaded tires or tires equipped with studs or chains will make a significant difference when encountering the 6 to 16 inches of hard drifted snow, along with varying amounts of slush, from none to some. However, this is not an issue covering the entire Bay, which continues to improve. Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to be less chaotic days during the hard water season. 

Today, there is minimal fishing pressure, with maybe a dozen or so anglers out on the ice above the narrows of Gladstone. Occupying a couple of All Season Sport Trailers on the Bay this week are six guests who have been outfitted by Blade’s Bait & Tackle since our beginning six ice seasons ago. This annual trip to Little Bay de Noc for their winter overnight adventures pursuing walleyes beneath the ice has created memories made of more than just fish fillets and some wall hangers. The entire experience of camping out in a place that can be calm, cold, and serene at sunrise can shift dramatically to the most brutal weather elements imaginable by noon. 

Some other anglers I encountered today were captured in this photo, tending their tip-ups in unison. It seems like a scheduled event. Alrighty, time to exit the comforts of this Eskimo hub, bounce ’em, and make sure the minnows are on the hook and working.

Increasing your odds,  

-Blade 

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