Shirleys Hardwater Decline

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Fishoholic
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by Fishoholic »

Was out Sunday evening for an hour or so with the dog. Got there and set up around 3:40. Went past all the shacks. Caught 2 walleye in no time and then the wind picked up and dog got cold so I left. Gold Swedish pimple tipped with a frozen minnow head for first one and tipped with full frozen minnow for 2nd one and the bigger of 2. Had some other marks as well. Was set up in 10ft.
Key is to stay away from middle of crowd. Sundown is always key for the eyes and there are plenty out there. I always stay away from the crowd and usually get a few walleye anytime I go out. I usually don't fish there mid day though so no comment on how that bite is...

I don't fish there too much though. Good luck.
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smitty55
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by smitty55 »

scarkner wrote:I've tried to get to that red zone, but not nearly enough ice the last couple years for a, but there. Probably 6 inches at best (you still see some guys drive there). Great for pop ups though!
I find that a bit odd Steve. I don't recall there ever being an issue with ice on the inside edge of that hole. It's not in any current or maybe a bit at most on some days. Now the outer edge of that hole could well be in more current. Like I mentioned earlier there used to be quite a few shacks in that area and folks were driving all over the place. The main road basically used to run in a fairly straight line from the ramp to the point with offshoots running off either side. The current line is generally in a line between Innes Pt and Beatty Pt which puts that inside edge out of the current. Perhaps when you were looking for it you were more towards the outside edge. One thing for sure, with 16" of good ice out there now there wouldn't be a problem there with ice if you ever decide you want to move your shack.

Here's how the road used to go from what I recall. Notice it's not far off that inside edge of that deeper hole
Image

Here's how I figure the current line runs approximately. The outer portion of that hole would be in the current area for sure.
Image

Cheers
Smitty

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CCLad
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

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Well on the topic, we got a little bit of a late start to the season as we were building a new hut. That said, our numbers for the year have been good....

How are the rest of you making out?
CCLad.
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scarkner
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by scarkner »

I would say numbers are up this year, especially perch. I am also catching more walleye than Sauger this year.
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

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C'est good news skarkner and cclad good to hear! Hope the season keeps going that way for you guys.
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CCLad
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by CCLad »

Good day all. So after a late start - Built a new hut. We put the hut away on Fri. I was just wondering how everyone made out this season? We had a good year. Set up on Jan 20 and pulled it off Mar 9th. Once we moved further out, we got into some really decent fishing with good size as well.

2018 Hut totals:
Walleye/Sauger 60
Perch 9
Ling 7 including one pig close to 7lbs....
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scarkner
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by scarkner »

I just did my totals too. This year I did the OPPOSITE of what CCLAD did. I kept my hut in the shallower water but moved east and west at various times.

Number of fish caught was down slightly from last year, total 65 fish compared to 75 last year, with a comparable number of hours fished. However, this year the fish were in general larger than last year including several PB's (one in particular... a 20-21" Sauger, that's crazy big for a Sauger (not a Saugeye). Even had a few large perch.

The numbers don't tell the whole story either because this year I took out a lot more people who have never fished before, so we had a lot of lost fish, way more than previous years, incluing some big ones right at the hole by over-exuberant fishers (one person even snapped one of my ice rods in half bringing in a beautiful 3.5lb walleye!).
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Fishoholic
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

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Sounds like you both had a pretty good year out there (CCLad and Sckarkner). Thanks for sharing and hope you have a good spring too if you've packed up the ice gear for the year.
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Ragehunter
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by Ragehunter »

Hey folks,
Has anybody been out to Shirley's lately? How is the ice? There must be lots left to get out for some fishing as I'd like to get out on Sunday night.
I was on the Ottawa earlier this week above the Fitzroy Dam (but outside of the sanctuary) and there was a ton of ice up there. Only the top 3 or 4 inches were honeycombed. The rest was solid as concrete.
Lemme know!
Cheers!
I'll never apologize for being a hunter (or a fisherman)!
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reefhawg
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Re: Shirleys Hardwater Decline

Post by reefhawg »

I was out last Sunday 18 to 20 inches. We were not out too far,.. 6tf of water. I walked but three trucks came out. One quite far.
Going tomorrow. I expect the ice to be the same as last weekend with this past weeks cold evenings.
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