Well, I’m surprised nobody started the March thread yet with reports of hungry eyes jumping into the boat, so going to break the ice here, so to speak. No, i haven’t been out to the Rock yet, but lookin’ good for later in the week. Still have the main boat put away, but might venture over to Newville in the 12 ftr. if forecast stays decent. she ain’t the titanic, so may have to dodge the icebergs.
well it looks like it will be a while before blackhawk opens up. 
maybe just in time for spring break. hopefully get the boat out this week or next weekend. 
Thanks for starting this Z. Glad to see I am not the only one itching for open water. May have to drag the boat from behind the snow pile to inventory and just stand in it for practice.
Nice 
Was out shore fishing downtown Fort Sat and Sunday nothing to show, I did see the first boat out this year on the river still locked up by the Rock and Bark and west of Fort on the edge of town.
WeFish
Got the ProDrive hooked up, gonna hit it in the morning outa the downtown launch 
. Drove by on Saturday and the launch was clear. Dunno how much fishing I’ll get in but I guarantee there’ll be ALOT less ice in the area after I play around for a while 
.
ProDrive Al,
Good to see you today,I thought for sure your four legged first mate was using dynamite the way the ice was flowing.
WeFish
Was good to see you again too, WeFish. Sure was nice to get the boat wet too. Launched downtown about 10a and headed upriver, had to break ice the last 200yards to get to the Bark… broke up some ice up there but still quite a bit of 5″-6″ hard ice, put the ProDrive up on the ice only once where I had to get out and push myself back into the water 
Headed downstream after someone came out on their peir hollering at me for breaking up all the ice… I’m SLOWLY chewing through the ice and dude is yelling about no wake… River is open only down to about SW edge of town, looked pretty solid too. After the rain midweek I’d imagine it’ll be opened up pretty well.
As far as fishing, tried a few spots, started by anchoring just below the foot bridge and fishing the north shore area. Nothing biting there but when I pulled up my anchor I found I had hooked up on a 24″……. mountain bike 
After taking my prize to shore I made a few drifts down between the bridges, actually marked a few fish jigging, had my marcum over the bow but alas no bites there either. Packed it up and made another pass busting up the big ice jam above the downtown bridge. Called it a day about 2:30p.
Water was running 31.5* to 32.7*F, also moving pretty well through town, about 2.7mph on the GPS.
When I was loading up, WeFish stopped at the launch and we were talking, he brought up a good point when he noticed I had my PFD still on. You CAN’T be too carefull out there.. a person wouldn’t last long in 32* water moving 2+mph… It’s not uncommon for me to actually tether myself to the boat… and really think about using the kill switch lanyard on the OB also as you never know what you could run into or have ram into you just when you’re leaning over to grab a minnow or net a fish…. Just something to think about if you’re out there by yourself…
Prolly won’t be back untill ice out now, but it’s only a few weeks ’till game on 
I am impressed Pro.
Sure beats sitting at home wishin.
Glad to hear you helping the ice move out, PD Al. 
Out of curiousity, have you ever fished out of Newville early in the season, when the rest is frozen up?
Nope… I’ve only fished the Jefferson to Blackhawk island strech of the river. This will be only my 3rd year of river fishing… And it’s still ALOT of fishing with a very little bit of catching mixed in . With the rain we’re to get in the next couple days I wouldn’t be surprised if it opens from the dam to the lake quick.
well is anybody going to make it out this weekend at all? i might but i dont really know if i want to fight the crowds, i might just wait until next week when im on spring break. 
We are all coming over to Newville to fish
All done ice fishing for the year. Mondays outing was a skunk-a-doodle night plus getting on the ice is getting difficult. So I had to go to the last reserved bag of gills for a tuesday night fish fry. Now its river time until the lakes open up.
WeFish
Might try to drop in newville, before the ice and trees come down the pike. 
Hoping to get over to Newville in the next week or so, before the river levels go nuts..
Hit a couple of shore spots this am,tried the bend and got nothing,think i saw Andy over by the deep hole by the tracks.Then moved to behind water dept,and managed a 17 1/2 in sauger,chartuse twister pink 1/4 oz jig.only fished couple hours,just wanted to get the elbow ready
Yep, Fished the deep water this morning AM not a hit so I went home and raked the yard and drank beer.Will be getting the boat ready Sunday.
WeFish
good for you Andy Beer alway taste good on those days
March madness has arrived – water temp low 40’s
Newville is pretty this time of year 
Nice
WeFish
Nice job Jeff Eatin fish never does get old,yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
That do look good !!!!
Nice start to the year, Jeff. So did you share the fish with the family?
Quote:
Nice start to the year, Jeff.
Yes I did, they all love walleye. Walleye again tonight
My son had off of school on Monday so we hit the river for a couple hours late morning. Launched at Kmart, started by 106 bridge and drifted all the way to the Bark, then back upstream a ways for a couple more short passes. Only managed 4 short saugers and 2 sheephead for the day but it was a good first real fishing trip of the year. Water was up pretty good and moving too…. visibility was better than I expected too, prolly 12″ to 16″. I would imagine a county wide SNW coming with the rain that’s forecast also.
nice job Jeff. Glad to see some are getting out. Netman taught me the river up to indianford, but the fish didnt cooperate at the dam. Thanks again Eric. May not be able to drop the boat in for a couple weekends yet with the weather. 
Getting out on open water for the first trip of the season is always special, even if the fish don’t cooperate. At least you got that fishy smell in the boat.
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