Well I finally got to hit the ice yesterday. It was a late start having to shift gears from deer hunting to ice fishing. But the fish didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t get there until mid-morning.
I got a couple holes punched. Set up the Otter Cottage dropped in the transducer from the LX3 and it was go time. I set up in about 9 FOW with a slip bobber rig set about 6 feet down with a minnow on it and a CJS chartruse and orange diamond jig tipped with a wax worm in the other hole. It didn’t take put a few seconds for my Marcum to light up and a mark to come racing up to meet my jig with a quick hook set the 1st gill of the day and my 2010-2011 ice season came up to see me. That would be the theme thru out the day. All I had to do was give the jig a snap and hold it 2-3 feet off the bottom and the hungry gills would race up and thump it. Now I wasn’t to picky about what I was catching being my 1st trip to the ice this year all I needed was a tug on the other end of my jig rod. Which was fine as I hoisted a mixed bag thru the ice. Bluegills, Crappies, Whitebass, and Perch all made appearances on this day.
While the slip bobber rig wasn’t much for numbers it did land some of the nicer bluegills. And then all of a sudden the Marcum went blank. Then the slip bobber took off like a missile (tip of the day leave bail open on these set ups). After quickly closing the bail and setting the hook I knew this was no panfish and the line raced out and the drag screamed. Well after about a 5-7 minute game of tug-o-war this toothy critter was pulled thru the ice. While he isn’t the biggest he sure was fun on my jig rod.
All in all it was a great 1st day on the ice. I caught plenty of fish and even took a few home for dinner.The Otter Cottage is a very roomy 1 man shanty and it kept me warm and dry thru the snow squall that lasted a few hours during the day. I was really excited to test out the LX3 as this was my 1st day on the ice with it and I wasn’t disappointed.
Hit a Pool 8 back water this AM And found a few cooperative perch But they disappered on me after a couple hours I did get to break in my Thorne Brothers 28 inch Perch Sweetheart rod today thou and she definately is a sweetheart
Be careful out there guys the ice is still on the thin side after the next 5 days there will be plenty thou
Looks fun! now that you’ve broken the ice with all the new gear its go time! Congrats on the fish, looks like you had plenty of action to keep ya busy. I cant wait to hook my first eye with my thorne bros rod in the next few days. They just got here today.
Looks fun! now that you’ve broken the ice with all the new gear its go time! Congrats on the fish, looks like you had plenty of action to keep ya busy. I cant wait to hook my first eye with my thorne bros rod in the next few days. They just got here today.
I told the catfish my Thorne Brothers Walleye Sweetheart was not for them. I hope they listen
Outstanding Pat
Hopefully the eelpout listen to me too! whiskers on fish just isnt right .
Hopefully the eelpout listen to me too! whiskers on fish just isnt right .
Great report Pat! Glad to see you out on the water.
Cool color wraps you got on the rods too! Look sharp!
No but the deadsticks make a great cattin rod!
You’ve been a busy boy, great report Pat
Atta boy Pat, nice job
Good to see you are liking your new toys
Sure feels good to crack the ice for the for the first time in a year don’t it. Nice report, way to get on the fish
Nice work Pat! Good to see those perch mixed in there, fat and full of eggs. Congrats.
Joel
im starting to get the itch now dont know what sounds better open water or ice now congrats a a good day on the ice