I recently came in contact with Nate Herman, of Herman Brothers Pond Management Company in Peoria, Illinois. Nate invited me to come up and fish with him on one of the lakes they manage, and it was a real treat!
These guys sure know how to create and manage incredible fisheries! Nate is also an excellent guide and all-around great guy. I was wanting to catch some GIANT Gills and he wanted to sample some Wade's Blades. And we both delivered, with quite a few nice fish and lots of bites on my jigs.
As you can see from the pictures, we caught a lot of Bluegills, a couple Crappie, Rainbow Trout, and for some reason I cannot go out on the ice this year without hooking into a Catfish!
Right before dark we cut a few holes out in deeper (20 - 30 ft.) water. Nate dropped the Vexilar down in the holes checking for fish, and found one with what appeared to be several fish, suspended in 10 - 12 feet of water. I dropped a #8 Wade's Blade & waxworm down the hole and hooked up with, what turned out to be a 6 - 7 lb. Channel Catfish. Nate hooked-up with one in his hole (while talking on the phone)!
In a short amount of time we hooked and landed five Channel catfish. We both commented at how strange that was to see Catfish suspended that high in the water column and schooled together so close. But you never know?
The Bluegills came out of 10 - 12 Feet of water in or around some trees and brush. They were caught with various sized Wade's Blades tipped with waxworms and on my Horizontal Minnow Jigs and plastics.
If you'd like to go ice fishing with Nate, or have a lake of your own that you want the fishing improved on, Nate and his brothers can help. You can contact them through their website: http://www.hbpondmanagement.com
I'll try to get some video posted soon! Till next time......
Tight Lines,
Greg
