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.

blufin loui

1/18/2009 10:54:00 AM

12-14 inches of ice, You Guys are tough. I can't imagine drilling that much ice, 6 inches gives me all the workout I need.
Sometimes it takes something like the "beaver run" to bring us back to the present. WOW, that felt cold just reading your report. I'm glad you were able to leave the fishing hole with "pride intact" (perch thru the ice).
Fish on and stay safe.

Paul & Sammi

1/18/2009 3:23:00 PM

We used some holes someone had drilled the day before. Only had 1 inch of new ice on top. Is that cheating or just plain smart? lol
That wasn't my first time at falling through the ice. The worst bath I took was also on Jan 17th twenty plus years ago on the last day of duck season. I was ice fishing the day before and saw a huge flock of ducks land on the open river water going out of the lake. The next day I paddled my canoe up from the road bridge, tossed out a few decoys and hid in the brush and snow and waited. Just before dusk they came again. About 200 mallards. Long story short, the ice shelve along the edge gave way in my scramble to retrieve ducks and I went in neck deep. It was below zero at the time. If I hadn't been able to get back to my truck in 20 minutes I probably would of froze to death. I sure was young and foolish back then. Got my limit of ducks though :)

Jake Dogfish

1/20/2009 12:52:00 AM

Paul & Sammi another great report as always! Thanks.

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