We finally made it out of the snow and out on to the ice today. Fished from about 2:30 until 5 pm out from the public launch. The road is bare and dry and the lot well plowed. Lake ice is excellent now. No snow or slush, just 12-14 inches of good solid ice.
We had been out an hour or so when I realized I had drunk to much coffee on the way and headed off to visit the restroom. I opted for a more direct root to shore nearer the restrooms than we had come out on. About 3 steps from the bank I found a beaver run under the ice and went in knee deep with one leg. Nothing like that feeling of ice water filling your boot. It's soooo nice.
The fishing was slow at first but the bites picked up as the afternoon wore on. Sammi pulled out a pickerel for her first fish of the year, then a perch, then a pumpkinseed and another perch, while I watched and caught a couple weeds. I had a lot of bites but couldn't get the hook to stick today. Finally a nice fat perch took pity on me and held on long enough for me to pull it up the hole, saving my pride and manhood from total humiliation..
There were 18 others fishing out from the public launch and another 8-10 down by Jerry's landing. Most seemed to be getting some fish. One guy fishing a hole a 100 feet from me was doing real well. I watched a pair of bald eagles circling the lake while we fished. As soon as people started thinning out, they landed to see if any free meals were left behind, As dusk fell, they headed off to their roosts for the night and so did we. Aside from my now frozen foot, it was a pretty good day.