Ice Report: 1-26-2014

I managed to sneak out Sunday afternoon before the dreaded "Polar Vortex" struck again. Temps were dropping as I fished. Weather reports showed high teens but winds were gusting up into the 20's. I was fishing a lake in Waukesha County based on a tip from a friend. As it turns out, it was a good tip. Being an exploratory trip I packed light, no tip ups. I didn't have my shelter either, so it was a hood up, hunched over a hole kind of day.

I found bluegill. The smaller gills were about 25 yards closer to shore in 6fow. These fish were fairly aggressive. The larger specimens were in 7-8fow and were very negative. I did manage to get a few of the bigger gills to come in for a look and managed to hook a handful or two. Once a fish came to look at the bait, the technique was a dead slow, and I mean dead slow lift. If they had a chance to study a stationary presentation, they would swim away. If I moved quickly, they would just follow, but not bite. Using some ice that built up on my line as a reference, I would lift the bait as slow as I could until the slightest resistance was felt, then set the hook as usual. Sometimes, this technique did not result in a bite, so, using the same technique, I lowered the bait slowly to the bottom, beginning my ascent all over.

Ice Report Dec 29th

Today I fished a lake in Waukesha County for the first time. Conditions were less than ideal. A strong cold front is moving in. Temps were in the low 20's and continue to drop. With yesterdays warm up, there was a layer of slush and water under the snow. The ice beneath ranged from 6-9 inches. 

Fishing was slow to say the least. Not a single flag all day. I had a few lookers on the flasher, but most fish were tight lipped. The gill above tipped the scale at just over 8.25".

Friday evening happy hour

I managed to sneak out with Eric yesterday after work. The fish were a bit off. Bluegill and crappie were willing, and we boated one smaller Musky but that was about it. 

I did manage to land this carp on a 6'6" Eagle Claw Featherlight, 4 lb. test and a slip bobber rig. Carp on glass... "please sir, may I have some more?" 

Another weekend on ice

I enjoyed a relaxing day alone on the ice today. The weather was perfect for sitting out in the sun and doing some hole hopping.  Ice conditions on this Waukesha County lake were 14+ inches everywhere. The cordless power drill adapter for my hand auger was a great tool to have along.  It made finding fish much less taxing.

Right off the bat, my first hole produced a few small perch. As I worked out to deeper water I found more suspended schools of perch and crappie. The bite was slow today. A few negative biters swam right up with the bait, then kept swimming up making for difficult hook-sets and bite detection, even with electronics.

All in all it was a beautiful and peaceful day. For that, I am very thankful. You know even a bad day fishing is better than any good day at work. Everything caught is still swimming. I didn't find any fish that qualified for my own preference of "keeper" size. I guess you could make a perch sammich out of 6"ers. On the other hand, they might be keepers next year.

With that said, I'll leave you with a photo I took to sum up my day. PBR, homemade beef jerky and a lake all to myself. Seriously, does life get any better? 

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.