Anyone start fishing the hard water yet? I am going to try and get on the ice here today. There should be at least 4 inches of ice today.
Do you have an Ice fishing shack?
Sounds like a lot of fun.
Never been ice fishing, sounds like a long day with a cold bottom...and I'm not talking about the lake bottom either. :D
Just out of curiosity...what kind of safety gear do you take? I don't suppose you wear neoprene scuba suits but, I don't imagine there would be much help if you went through with a bunch of cotton layers on.
Never really thought about it, which is why I ask.
Get us some pictures, Gary!
-A
Oh yeah! In Minnesota, folks are setting up all over the lakes and streams. Not quite enough ice for vehicles yet, but the fishing is good.
Here is a webcam on a MN lake.
Almost sun setting time, so maybe tomorrow it will be more active.
http://www.arnesens.com/webcam.php
The only place I've ever "ice fished" was in Alaska.
Ice 4 feet thick gives a very secure feeling.
Fished for Cocanie (spelling)(land-locked) Salmon and Rainbow Trout.
Used to use the ole Int. Scout to plow up a snow berm to fish behind. Really helped to cut the wind.
They are ice fishing here on the inland lakes, the big lake and its bays aren't frozen yet. Though they are starting to have lots of "ice cubes" floating in them... Won't be long.
I pulled the Clam out of the barn yesterday and bought a pack of propane bottles for the Buddy Heater. I put a remote panner for the Marcum camera on my Santa wish list too ;) ;D The lakes are frozen here but Zach and I have agreed to wait til after the 1st of the year just to be on the safe side and so we can take the Can Am instead of walking ;) ;D :) Last winter was the 1st that I'd done any ice fishing in years. Zach and I weren't real successful at it but I heard that others weren't either. I guess it wasn't a banner season and wasn't just a lack of skill on our part ;D :) We always had a good time when we went out and we're looking forward to this season 8) 8) 8)
I went out on to Pymatuning Lake. During WW2 this lake was used to test torpedos. I was walking on 5 1/2 inches of ice above 18 feet of water . I have a shanty but I don't use it much. Here a shanty must be removed everyday when your done fishing. I was a little over a quarter mile from shore. I missed a few fish and managed to catch two small ones. I didn't take any pictures of the lake today but I will the next time.
My sled
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/DCFC0017a1.jpg)
A 8 inch perch
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/DCFC0002a%7E1.jpg)
a 12 inch walleye
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/DCFC0001a%7E1.jpg)
I could have kept the perch but I threw it back. The walleye needed to be 15 inches to be legal so it went back to grow bigger.
I used to do a lot of ice fishing, but old age and the desire to stay warm has taken over :D :D :D
Yea, me too. I used to put my back to the wind and huddle over a hole and think it was the greatest place to be in the world. Now I have a finger that feels like its been hit with a hammer if it gets below 40 degrees. My idea of a perfect ice fishing trip this winter I think would be to go over to Burlkraft's, go out to the bar to eat Bluegills and talk about how much fun it used to be to go ice fishing.
Doesnt get cold enough here but I am interested. Post more pics and tell how it is done, what kind of fish, lures, temps, etc. It sounds fun. The only thing we do on the ice here is slide in the ditch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/2183/spring_10_001.jpg)
This was last winter on Cornwall Flooding east of town. We were using waxworms for bluegills that day.
Greg, you are going to have to teach Zack how to tell fish stories, his hands are too close together.
Nice set up. ;)
Here are some pictures for you warm weather friends.
Looking out from shore
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/Copy_of_DCFC0023.JPG)
The parking lot
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/DCFC0001%7E4.JPG)
A couple of guys fishing without a shanty. This is how I normally do it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/DCFC0007.JPG)
My shanty and ice auger. The auger is used to drill the holes to fish in.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/Copy_of_DCFC0024.JPG)
Some pictures from inside the shanty
My fish finder.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/Copy_of_DCFC0009.JPG)
Where your line goes.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/DCFC0010.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/DCFC0011.JPG)
I will put some on here once I upload them.
We have been out for the last two weeks here. On a small inland lake with 6" ice. Catching 9 or 10 bluegills the last hour or two before dark most days. Corley the gills bite best in the morning and evening. We use ultralight rods with spring bobbers and waxworms for bait.
Nice pictures Gary and Corley.
I think I like Jeff's idea of ice fishing better :)....
Quote from: Jeff on December 20, 2010, 03:11:12 PM
My idea of a perfect ice fishing trip this winter I think would be to go over to Burlkraft's, go out to the bar to eat Bluegills and talk about how much fun it used to be to go ice fishing.
You just need to dress for the cold.
Here is how I dress to be in the shanty
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/DCFC0022a.jpg)
This is what I used for heat
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/DCFC0012.JPG)
This is a tip up. It is a type of drop line. This picture shows it waiting for a bite.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/3145/Copy_of_DCFC0025.JPG)
This is how it would look if a fish was on it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/DCFC0026a.jpg)
That surely changes the "I wanta go fish over there" attitude. I've enjoyed seeing something that is completely different for me. :)
Haven't done it for 27 years. ::)
The last time was on a Tidal River in Addison Maine.
The Ice was cracking to beat the Band with water flow underneath.
I was scared but the people who I was with assured me it was all good.
We only caught a buzz that night. Can't wait to do it again. :D
Here is our catch of 16 Bluegills from this morning. Not bad for a couple hours on the ice. We had two releases on the tip ups but didn't hook up on the pike.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/ice_fishing_optimized.jpg)
Ice house? Ice shack? That ain't right.
A 5 gallon bucket to sit on, a chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice and a spool of line. That is all you need.
Of course when it is 5 below and windy, I am sitting on my bucket, freezing my butt off, and wishing for ice house.
Yes I have enjoyed following along also. What is the battery hooked up to Gary? I assume a fish finder? Or light? Also do you have to drill a hole before the fish finder will work or will it shoot through the ice? Are you fishing over structure that you put there in the summer? How do you find the fish? I can just see myself on our little pond out back huddled up with a lantern freezing to death trying to snag a bluegill. The people around here would wrap a guy up in a straight jacket and take you to the nut house for doing that I think ;D
I've never used a chainsaw to cut through the ice but I have used a spud bar.
CX3 The battery runs my fish finder. I pour a little bit of water on the ice then my fish finder will shoot through the ice. I am fishing drop offs. At that spot the depth around there was 12 feet and I was over a drop off that was 15 feet deep and 4 feet wide. I find the fish by drilling a lot of holes and moving around a lot. Sometimes if you are in one spot and the fish are 3 feet away they will not move to your bait.
I need some help finding the crappie on the lake on this map. Are any of you good at finding the best area based on reading a chart? I have been out three times and not one bite the lake is known for holding some nice fish. My access point is from the right side of the map which is actually South.
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/SPATIALDATALIBRARY/PDF_MAPS/INLAND_LAKE_MAPS/CHARLEVOIX/MARION_LAKE.PDF
Sorry Dana I'm not good with maps. Is there any structure on the bottom? I have seen crappie stay around a stump and not hit anything unless it was put within inches if them. Where I am fishing the crappie have been in 18 feet of water and hitting around four feet of the bottom.
Gary I don't know if there is structure. I will have to wait until my friend gets up to their cottage and can show me the areas. He has only fished the lake in the summer though.
Hayden caught this 30" pike yesterday. It's his bigest fish yet and as you can see he's pretty happy about it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/Haydenpike_optimized.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/pikeoptimized.jpg)
A bullhead he caught earlier in the week.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/bullheadoptimized.jpg)
Way to go Hayden!
Nothing like a big northern on ice fishing tackle, he did a good job to bring it in.
:D :D :D My dad and I went out a few days ago and did pretty well :D 8)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14420/1111/ice_fishing.jpg)
Nice catch Blaze!
I bet you got a secret spot to catch nice ones like that! :D :D :D
Those are not keepers, throw them back in to grow some more.
Personally, I like the fish Hayden catches a lot more, might have something to do with flavor ???
I think that blaze is using a secret bait to get a limit like that. ;) I also think that Congratulations are in order. smiley_thumbsup
Not to be out done by his brother, Noah caught this 25 1/2" northern today. With 48 degree temps over night the lake was slick to walk on.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/noahs_fish_optimized.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/noahs_fish_optimized2.jpg)
I've got a freezer full of the ones Blaze and his dad caught. I like them best served with a good rum and coke.
Another good day on the lake for Noah.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/Noah_spikeoptimized.jpg)
Thats a good one. looks like better than 40" ?
What kinda fish is that, I don't see whiskers? ;)
Fish, I think kinda like a chain pickerel. I was going to ask Dana how you cook them.
Must be a pike. Does look like our jackfish, I confuse muskie and pike.
Well, I mean, they confuse me. :)
Yup Pike, Muskie have faint vertical tiger stripes. :)
Easy difference, Pike have light markings over dark (bean shape) Muskellunge have dark markings over light backgrounds, quite similar in shape.
The Tiger Musky, (a hybrid between a male northern and a female Muskellunge) has the stripes.
Thanks, If I ever see a real one or the other, it will be clearer. 8)
Here is a video I found that has a walleye, a northern, then at the end a Musky. You will see the big difference in the northern and musky. Body shape is about all they have in common. :)
http://vimeo.com/3169554
Whoa that is a big northern to take through the ice!
MN's description of the differences.
QuoteMuskies are light colored and usually have dark bars running up and down their long bodies. That's the opposite of northern pike, which have light markings on a dark body. Muskies are silver, light green, or light brown. The foolproof way to tell a muskie from a northern is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer.
A sterile hybrid of the northern pike and the muskie--the tiger muskie--is stocked in several heavily fish lakes of the region. This species has dark markings on a light background, as on muskies, but has rounded tail fins, as on northern pike.
Check out the Michigan DNR Fish I.D. site links below. The regular Great Lakes Muskellunge would be hard pressed to say an indivisual fish has stripes or bands unless it is a Tiger. Been in the boat with a lot of Muskies over the years as that was my dad's main hobby. Musky Hunting.
Northern Pike (http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_18958-45685--,00.html)
Muskellunge (http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_18958-45684--,00.html)
Not sure what kind of bait was in the video, don't buy it. Obviously doesn't catch fish. ;)
And thanks for the lesson.
It does if you are spearing through the ice. :) You just want an attractant, not something they will actually grab, so you can try to figure out if they are big enough to spear. You can spear Northerns but you can't spear Muskies last I knew. Many lakes that have both species, do not allow you to spear at all, and many lakes that have both species, sets the minimum length to the same thing because they are similar enough that someone not in the know will mistake the two. Northerns usually have a much shorter size limit than a musky.
Looks to me like the state with the cheap bid on that painting. ;)
This page seems to show the differences in the muskie colors pretty well.
http://www.kneedeepclub.org/Species/muskie.html
Nice fish! Your son will be hooked on ice fishing. ;)
Quote from: Ron Scott on January 10, 2011, 06:51:58 PM
Nice fish! Your son will be hooked on ice fishing. ;)
Your right about that. He caught the fish in the morning and unfortunately the pictures on the ice didn't turn out. The one I posted is from the evening and he's still grining from ear to ear.
FishFarmer the pike didn't have any wiskers but he did have this tooth like growth on his lip.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11780/optimized_pike_growth.jpg)
Dana,
Great fish your boys caught! Do you use the bluegill for bait?
Just got on to your website. neet Michigan stuff. Backstraps, brooktrout and puddingstones!!!!!!!!
Thanks jeff
Ice fishing is good around Chelsea
Metalspinner, We haven't used the bluegill for bait yet. We've been using purchased sucker minnows. While waiting for the flags on the tip ups we jig for the bluegills using waxworms on a tear drop. Occasionally a small pearch will take the bait and will then get used on the tip ups. The pike Noah caught had a large bluegill in its stomach so we are going to try a few tip ups that way next time.
I've about convinced myself to go ice fishing after a bit more healing time. I did go out to the barn to check on my auger. Last time it was used was not by me. I lent it out. Its not usable now. They tried to sharpen it. :-\
Quote from: Jeff on January 11, 2011, 10:38:05 PM
I've about convinced myself to go ice fishing after a bit more healing time. I did go out to the barn to check on my auger. Last time it was used was not by me. I lent it out. Its not usable now. They tried to sharpen it. :-\
So you are in agreement that the blades can't be sharpened? Last year was the first time in years that I was on the ice. I tried two different augers and couldn't cut a hole in the ice. Had to use a spud. I tried to sharpen the blades this year. They were sharp, but the cutting angle must have changed slightly, as I still couldn't drill a hole. A new set of blades at Jay's fixed that.
Well, if they can be sharpened, I think it has to be by machine, because any of them I have seen where someone tried to use a file or a grinder on would never cut again. I'm pretty sure the person I lent it to was banging it on the ice to clean ice off from the cutters, and that probably dulled it, then he tried to sharpen it and made it worse. Problems is, I don't know for sure. If the end of the auger got "tweeked" some how, new blades won't help. I hate to buy a new set of blades and find out it still doesnt work, then have to go out and replace the auger.
Isn't it ice drinking, not ice fishing?
Do you use an underwater camera to tell when something is interested?
Why can't you sharpen ice augers?
You probably can if you have a way to secure the blades and set the precise angle of the grind, but if you are just a little bit off, they will not cut no matter how sharp they are. Its not something you can do with hand tools. At least I've never seen it done successfully.
We could do some of them on our grinding bench in the shop. By hand it was hit or miss, getting the point angles right was the key.
I was in the local resturant and a fellow I know dose alot of ice fishing. I asked him if he fish a resevior that a Lima Ohio use for drinking water. He told me a few years ago he drilled a hole in the ice and the water level was three feet below the ice. He said I grabbed my stuff and made a bee line for shore and never fished it sence. I bet that was a thrill when the ice gave away unless they refill it once a day.
I've seen an impoundment do that where a lot of people fish over at Albright shores on the tobacco river, about a half mile from the dam. We were there one day fishing for crappy, along with probably another 200 fishermen. There were a bunch of shanties there as well. We did well, so we got up the following morning to go back and found the place looked like a major earthquake had hit. There were 3 and 4 foot heaves of broken ice, and shanties were tipped over or slid together in a jumble.
We never noticed anything unusual the day before other then a very strong current. Something must have happened to the Dam
I have an ice fishing question for you hearty souls....
Do you ever leave a float as a marker prior to ice in, say with an upright rod with a small flag on the end, to locate your favorite winter fishing spot, or do you drill a bunch of holes and use your sonar to pinpoint where you would like to be fishing? As you can tell by the question, I have never been ice fishing, but I'd like to go.
You can usually see signs of your old holes in the ice for quite sometime. Most ice fishermen learn to triangulate to get real close to favorite spots from year to year, and now with GPS in most phones, you can use that.
Boy, do I feel a little dumb!
Ive never ice fished but the locals tell me its as slow as they have ever seen it. Indian Lake normally is a hot spot for sawgeye but they tell me thats even slow this year. So seem to think it is the snow on the ice making it darker under water.
Now doctorb, if you have never sat out on a frozen lake and fished; that would make you very smart. ;D
Pigman -
Normaly, I would agree with you. The problem is that there's fishing involved, and about that, I am not normal. Want to know the number one question I had for Jeff about the pig roast? Any lakes nearby where I can get a line wet?
You've got to admit, there's something cool about pulling a big pike through a hole and onto the ice!
Quotethere's something cool
You got that right. ;D
Quote from: doctorb on January 21, 2011, 05:01:53 PM
Any lakes nearby where I can get a line wet?
Plenty :)
If I can get to the pig roast this summer, I'll be coming a day or two early to test out these Michigan fish. I'll need a litlle help with a guide, but I'm sure that info is not too hard to come by.
I'll be sending you to my Sisters where they can take you out on the Pontoon boat. I caught 60 keeper size bass there one time in one day. I'll not have time to guide that close to the pigroast, but we'll find someone that can. :)
Thanks Jeff. If I can come out early, maybe I could fish a bit and help with the piggy prep. I'll bet you could find something for me to do. No, I was not planning on bringing my surgical kit.
Doc,
My experience coming to the Pig Roast was that the ice was a little thin that time of year :).
Good point, and, unlike some of my colleagues, I know I can't walk on water!
But a canoe or car topper and a finger pointing in the right direction might be nice. A guide....even better. I can tell you one thing I've learned in my fishing travels: fishing new water is fun and challenging, but professional help is enlightening. Each area of the country does things a little differently when it comes to fishing. So I have adopted the "When in Rome...." mantra. I can't tell you how many techniques I have come home with and applied to our lakes. Part of the fun.
My favorite method here to catch decent bass, and it's because I catch em and eat em, is with real night crawlers. Hooked through the head, and twitch/lay on the bottom with just a split shot up the line about a foot to aid in casting. You tend to hook em deep that way, so its not a good catch and release method, but it will out fish any rubber crawler or artificial most anytime. Its just that crawlers are getting so expensive. I may just have to pick up a bunch this spring and get me a cooler to keep em in so we have some about that time.
In Decenber of 2009 I welded up a chisel and made some ice fishing poles and took off for the high Andes. When I got there I told them what we were going to do. Go out and make a hole and fish. They thought I was crazy and I told them "no" I was from Wisconsin.
We caught some nice trout to their amazement. Camera lost in the snow with all the memories. A really fun trip.
It's artificials for me. Catch and release, unless you won't have any pork left over after the roast. Then I'll be honored to put dinner on your table, if I am so lucky. Are these largemouth or smallies? From the nightcrawler rig, I am assuming that you're fishin' for bucketmouths. Do you catch bass through the ice or is it mostly panfish and pike?
Bass season closes on January 1, so if you get good ice before that, they are fair game. On my sisters lake its large mouth, mostof the lakes right close here are large mouth other than Houghton Lake, 30 minutes north of us where you will find either or. Houghton is the largest inland lake in michigan. It was made mildly famous as one of the ice fishing lakes mentioned on Tim Allen's Home improvement show along with Saginaw Bay, not too far to our east. About an Hour drive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXJoyUVfRL8