Ice Report 12-14-2013

Hit the ice solo yesterday. I fished a small lake in Fond Du Lac county. Ice was 8-10", temps were in the 20's with a light east wind and flurries all day. Fishing gills was great, they were feeding pretty hard. I must have caught 150 or more, however, less than 25 of them were what I consider keeper size. But I am not complaining. The action was good, I had fun and the active bite made the trip worthwhile. 

I checked my tip ups about an hour after setting up and jigging only to find my first set had been robbed. No bait was left on the hook. So I kept that tip up and depth in its place and re-baited. Well wouldn't you know it, before I could even sit down and warm up, the flag was flying and the spool was spinning. This pike was taking a lot of line out. I figured it to be a hammer handle until I got her to the hole. She turned, reluctant to go up the hole and took a good run on me. I brought her to the hole again and she took another nice run. Finally, I got her head in the right direction and hoisted her to the ice. Broad shouldered and a fat belly, she was a really healthy fish. Under 30 inches, but thick as can be. Unfortunately, it was a solo trip and I didn't want to subject the fish to the harsh conditions any longer than necessary. I slipped her back into the water after a few seconds of admiration.   

Waves of what looked to be giant shiners would come in every so often. I hooked into a bunch, this is one of the smaller ones... no kidding. 

Not quite a keeper, but his colors were just awesome

I had to keep at it to get into bigger fish. In the background you can see the fish suspended off the bottom on the flasher. The quicker I got back in the hole with my jig, the better my chances were at a larger, more aggressive fish.

I kept just enough for a meal. Vac bagged and in the freezer!

It's that time of year again...

This past weekend my buddy and I had a little ice fishing primer. Now, the gear is staged and organized, leaders are tied, the sled is loaded. I absolutely love ice fishing.

Another day on ice

Me and the boys had some real fun today. Chasin' flags and jigging up some pannies for the dinner table. I always enjoy ice fishing with a handful of friends, it keeps things interesting and entertaining. Grilling out, enjoying the sun, it truly can't be beat.

  a-Couple-a Largemouth (CPR of course) Way to go guys!

You know I love me some Crappie

"Whatcha got there?" 

A few keepers today

January heat wave

With the wind blowing, and water on the ice, we ventured out on a local Waukesha County lake today.  Temperatures have been in the high 30's up to the mid 40's for a few days now, yet the ice is stable, 8 inches or more everywhere we went. Finding deeper water was the challenge today. Everywhere we looked the weeds were thick and gown tall up to the ice. 

 We managed to punch a few holes around this massive flat and jig up small pan fish. Most were sent back to tell their friends of the perils they had just survived.

We also had a good handful of flags, with a few low 20 to mid 20 inch northern.

This northern was the biggest of the day. Unfortunately it wasn't quite 26" which is the slot for Waukesha County lakes. He would have been a great candidate for the pickle jar, but we respect the regs and released all of our undersized northern today.

Fishing was slow, but that never matters to us. When you are on the ice with friends, the beers are flowing, the grill is rolling and food is hot, you'd better be having a good time.

Cold temps and high winds are in the forecast. We should be making ice rapidly this upcoming week. 

Hard Water continued....

The fishing trip was a success. It was a great way to kick off the season and get me excited for a lot more ice fishing to come. With 6-8" of ice and temperatures well below freezing, there was plenty of safe fishing.
The pan fish made us work for them, but through patience and persistence, drilling lots of holes and probing the entire water column with my jigs, I was able to find a depth and bait combination that worked. I don't fish with electronics yet. Every time I go out,  I convince myself I am going to buy a flasher. I still haven't pulled the trigger on that investment. If I can find vegetation, take the time to fish the entire water column, it usually produces. Along with starting small, and eventually working my way up to the biggest bait fish willingly take.

We put  nice Bluegills, Crappie and Perch on the ice. Enough for a solid meal or two with the family.

Some of the Crappie were pushing 14 inches. Unfortunately the largest caught was lost at the hole, but it didn't matter. We got what we came for, and had a great time.

Hard Water

Well, I can't think of any better way to end the year and cap the holiday season off than an ice fishing trip with my Dad.

Tomorrow we will be headed North to Vilas County to do some much needed relaxing. Recent reports have us excited for Pike and Walleye on a strong bite as well as gills and crappie still feeding strong.

I have the tip ups ready to go, fresh line on my jigging rods, and plenty of new colors sizes and styles of jigs to try out. 

 A soldiers row of Beaver Dam tip ups ready for action.

My little box of new stuff. I assembled this one tonight.

The weather is looking pretty good for a long weekend on the ice. Reports to follow, and maybe some recipes too....