What a difference a week makes! 1/25/09 & 1/31/09
Let’s start out by saying that anytime on the ice is a good time but when the fishing is slow and bite is soft it sort of starts to get under your skin!
My last two trips where learning experiences for me and have opened my eyes to a whole other method of fishing. Let’s start off with two weekends ago.
On Sunday 1/25/09 I hit the lake for 5 hours in the am, only to find the find bite to be slow to non-existent. While I did manage to catch 16 fish with 8 keepers I probably had set the hook over 50 times with nothing to show for it. They were biting so soft that I just about threw in the towel after missed hook set number 25. I left the lake a little down but had to remind myself, that’s why they call it fishing and not catching!
In between the 25th and the 31st I spend some time reading fishing reports and learning what was going on at other lakes. The bite was tough all over but some had managed to figure out what was needed to put some fish on the ice. Two very important things that I obtained from my searching. 1- An underwater camera can be a necessity when dealing with light biters. Being able to see what the fish are doing prior to and during the strike is very helpful. 2- Letting fish hit the bait 2-3, sometimes even 4 times before setting the hook can increase hook-up percentages. Now to test out what I learned!
1/31/09
It was going to be a full day on the ice I and couldn’t wait. Today I was not going to be fishing alone however. Joined by my brother Matt, his father-in-law Joel, and my dad Leon, we were determined to land some fish.
I arrived at the lake and was fishing by 6:45am. I decided to test out a new rod that I had purchased for jigging raps and other spoons first. This rod was not equipped with a spring bobber as it was to be used for heavier baits but I just had to test it out. I loaded up a small diamond jig/waxie and got to fishing. It wasn’t long and I had a fish on my new rod. Not a monster but a start. Before long I had a half dozen, what a great start. The key to my success with these light biting fish was line watching. I’ve never been a big line watcher but what a fun way to catch fish. Since I was using Fireline as my backing and then using a 2 foot Vanish leader, all I had to do was watch for the kinky Fireline to straighten and set the hook. I caught over 40 fish this way and it was really fun not staring at a spring bobber for a change. Give it a try sometime!
The morning resulted in some more fish but as noon approached things slowed down a bit. I decided to get the camera out and see what was going on down there. When the camera reached the bottom I could not believe what I saw. Right off the bat, two nice perch! Then a walleye, a couple bass, and half a dozen bluegills. As I managed to get the camera situated and drop down my jig, a crappie comes up and smacks it! I set the hook and I have my first on camera fish! I was excited! I was amazed how some of the fish would come up and grab the tail of the waxie, hold if for a couple seconds and you never saw your bobber move or line twist. I even had a decent bass take the entire jig in his mouth and spit it back out. It was so fast that if I hadn’t seen in on camera I wouldn’t have believed it even happened, once again no rod movement on that one. I caught one more gill on camera and then decided it was time for some lunch and to get back to fishing and not playing.
The fishing picked up after about 2pm and everyone was able to catch a few. I switched over to a spring bobber with FireTiger Gill Pill and quickly realized that I had to be patient with the fish and allow them some time before setting the hook. This combo produced some quality fish and helped end the day on a good note.
Dad and I kept track of our fish for the day and we ended up catching over 90 fish from 6:45am -4:45pm and kept 30 for a big family fish fry. It was another great day on the ice and I think things are starting to pick back up!
Get out there and get ya some!
Dave
First pic is from 1/25/09 & 2nd pic is from 1/31/09.
But it’s hard to want to put in an extra 20 minutes drive time when I can be on the ice in under 15 mins.