....when your pond is dug, fish are stocked, species balanced (?), and original goals pretty much complete but in constant state of review????

I posted a “fishin” topic for the New Year a few weeks ago with no response…
I was hoping for some ice fishing stories and pictures.
The forum is boring - winter doldrums?
What are you going to do about it?

Fishing last week was good but arctic blast will slow things down for a while.
Fish still feeding but turned feeders off until water warms – found a big tilapia floater - algae starting already – pond will be a mess soon but that’s when fishing is really good – ordered 25 lbs tilapia for spring delivery - so what am supposed to do now?

Aeration pump serviced – feeders serviced …

I know that Mother Nature can pull some severe pranks but ponds are full after suffering through major droughts but can’t control Mother Nature….

Spent the past few days organizing tackle – even practiced honing my fly-casting skills – think I’ll tie some flies – working on a rear-weighted fly that will “walk the dog”….

Guess an early case of spring fever – gotta go fishin’

What are you going to do?

George, I am going to go punch some holes in the ice Saturday if the wind is not blowing 20-30 mph. The highs here this weekend will be in the upper teens, add in an ugly wind chill and I might just stay indoors instead.

Wow...a warming trend! We have single digits predicted + gusty wind chill. I shiver to think that I might be found trying to install a trash rack on a spillway pipe. Thanks Rocky-T...

Just for Brettski, here is the wind chill forcast in the Lincoln area fot this weekend.

http://www.hamweather.net/local/us/ne/sponheinmer+reservoir/wxn470701.html

I think I'll watch some football.

Lookin at highs around 5 F this Saturday, warming alla way up to 9F on Sunday. If it's not too windy, I may still hit the ice. That is if I can't talk anyone into driving to Prairie Du Chien, WI and a run to Cabela's...too cold to do much else.

Too warm to ice fish last few weeks...up til now.

Previously, though...

1. Dig another pond
2. Stock another species
3. Invent the Bait Weasel (TM), the handy-dandy device no fisherman should be without that turns leftover (fill in the blank) into valuable, money-saving prepared baits that are completely irrestible to fish! The perfect companion to your Popeil's Pocket Fisherman! If you order before midnight tonight, you get this FREE genuine ninja filet knife and acompanying saddle scabbard! Just $39.99!*
4. Actually get around to practicing my fly casting.

I didn't know Matt wears a Goatee

Bski don't blame me. I didn't tell the story about my pipe getting stopped up causing a massive dam failure and washing away the RV campers down stream. You know what swayed your mind.

Be sides I don't have time for this, I'm about to go meet DD1 for the first time and buy him the best Mexican Cosine in Cow Town. So get your story straight and leave me out of it. You never lesson to me any way.

1. Order the the Bait Weasel (TM), the handy-dandy device no fisherman should be without that turns leftover ELODEA into valuable, money-saving prepared baits that are completely irrestible to fish! I already have a pocket fishman.

2. Extract the Elodea from my pond (see item number 1).

3. After all of the discussion of light tackel fishing poles and reels I asked Santa for a rig for Christmas. He said that although I was borderline between naughty and nice that he would in fact fill this years Christmas order but that if I didn't make significant character modifications before next Christmas that charcoal would be the result. I requested Kingsford Easy Light charcoal (who's kidding who, I ain't changing my ways any time soon). So I have the reel suggested here on Pond Boss and a comparable pole - I can't wait to use it.

4. Continue to learn to fly fish. By the end of last trip I was practicing "hauling" while casting. This fly fishing business is tough to learn. I was getting better at it but still about 40% of the time (41.674% if you must know the exact percentage) my casts were miserable. HELP GEORGE HELP!!!! I have got "how to" DVD that I watch over and over so hopefully this will help.

5. Make plans to attend the Pond Boss convention.

My thing I'm gonna do, is try to find a better way to prepare foods when I'm at the barn. I've been looking at some crazy ceramic thing that I think is called a "green egg". Ever heard of it? Otherwise I'm just visiting my inmates at the farm a couple times a week and feeding them krill and tail-free minnows.

Start with something a bit easier. I would hold out until Bill Cody comes out with his next book on how to fly the Shuttle.

Take pictures Shorty...


Now that’s what I’m talking about – great picture Matt...
OK Cecil you’re up next – how ’bout a pic of your ice shanty...


Theo, we’re going to have a fly casting test at the PB convention hall this year – two years of procrastination is time enough – Sunil – you give he test – I’ve up-graded to Negra Modello this year... “the casting principle of progressive loading, in which one false casts the line, building line velocity to fully load the rod”.


JHAP congrats on the “hauling” – you can help Sunil test Theo’s casting progress – maybe DIED will be an unwilling judge as well..


Bruce – you ‘da man…



Cody says “It all Depends”…..

I have a lot of dirt and clay leftover from digging my pond that didnt get removed. ...long story... So Ive decided to build a bulkhead on the back of my dam and backfill it with material.A friend has let me use his bobcat,and man what a cool machine.I got the wall up and started filling it,walking the dirt down to pack it in as I go.Did you know when the wall moves the dirt sinks,the bobcat leans,the wall moves more,the dirt settltes more,the bobcat sinks deeper to the left..........
...
...
...
pucker time
no,thank goodness,I didnt go swimming

Go back to doing my rain dance. We had an extremely dry fall.

Its supposed to be -12 here tonight with big winds. Brrrrr! We had all three of our LPG tanks filled today for almost $1600 total. Ouch, but we are ready for pretty much any temperature now!

It is a good weekend to watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions on Speed Channel, not to mention a couple football games.

There are always plenty of indoor projects for a one legged man around here, including keeping the three new foot zippers nice and polished.

i dont feel like working.......perhaps some trout fishin tomorrow, will try and get some pics whether i catch any or not....our reservoirs are at all time lows for the last two decades, i'll probably mostly be watching for prop busters....

sunday it'l be and

just thought i'd spice a post up for any who are bored??

goin fishin babeee

early bird gets the

, its cocktail hour

Man! You guys sound (and look) really bored! Maybe you can help me oversee the building of two ponds...

It is going to be 8 degrees Saturday with 15 mph winds! I havent had any safe ice yet this year, but it will be safe now! If I get out this weekend, I will take some pics for you george! I have access to a pond where I am going to try to break Cecil's Yellow Perch record. This might be the year!

I think all of Dave's moving icons gave me a seizure.

GW, how ya been buddy?

What do you have in store this year for the Warmouth ponds?

Hey Jeff. I've been great, but also busy. The pond builder is finally here and working. Of course the drought seems to have ended just as he began working. The good news is that the site has more water in it than he thought. It also has more clay. I guess I'll start a thread about the project soon...



My diagram isn't perfect of course. The flooded area is about 1/2 acre up into the trees. I think the shoreline on the west side is further up than I drew it. It's hard to judge the perspective.

Please do, you know how we like project photos.

Glad things are going well. That looks like it is going to be a great pond!

Icefishing pics from today! I did not break Cecils perch record this weekend, didn't even come close, but I know she is in there and will try again next weekend!
Did manage enough bluegill, crappie, and perch to have a nice dinner tonight! It was so cold out, the fish would freeze instantly. I thawed out those perch for the picture and they started flopping again!

great pics nate....well yesterday was guilt loaded (honey do)work around the place....continued work on down trees from our last storm....today i wouldnt have been able to convince my best fishin buddy (wife) to leave the comforts of warm home and conference champ games.....she's a giants fan......

managed an hour or so of bottom jiggin between games, caught some really cold but nice sized BG off pond bottom, but no GSF or RES....it was raw, cold, and windy here today.

What is raw, cold and windy in el dorado? Raw, cold, and windy in Peoria yesterday was cloudy, 9 degrees, and 12 mph!

Raw, cold and windy at the giants/packers game was dark, -4 degrees and -24 degrees wind chill!
Had to be a hard game to watch if she is a giants fan, how many field goal attempts to win the game did that kicker have?

Anyhow, despite the frigid temps, the bluegill were hanging out 4' under the ice in 10' of water! I was trying to get one to come up and hit my jig right directly under the ice, but 2' was the closest I could get.

Jeez perhaps its just me but I gotta tell ya Nate. Those photos of the guy in that tent on the ice fishing make me shiver just sitting here.

There ain't enough rum in Jamacia to make me sit in a tent on the ice and fish. There just ain't.

hmmmm....
So, how do you explain this???
-
-
-
-
-

yesterday it was in the low 40's (downright unbearable), dark overcast with wind gusts to 35......

i knew i'd get some grief over that statement.....after you've lived here for at least a year.....anything less than 60 degrees is cold, anything blocking the sun makes it raw.....and wind over 25 mph is windy.......

Me too, Dave.

We keep the door shut or with our backs to the wind. It is actually quite cozy in the tent. Taking the picture wasnt too fun though. My camera's batteries only take about 2 pics in extreme cold. Check out this photo from saturday (it was much colder then!) The trout would freeze instantly when pulled out of the water.

"No officer, we couldn't see the bank robbers' faces. But they were carrying funny looking short sticks and smelled like fish."

Hmmmm, you have your choice of answers:

a. DOH!

b. There ain't enough rum in Jamacia but fortunately there is in the U.S.

c. I wasn't fishing and I'm not gonna tell what I was doing.

d. All of the above.

I ain't go no goatee...I prefer SHEEPEES. Course that's just a rumor...dang gossipmongers.

Ice fishing pics from feb 2
ice- 4-6"
air temp- 31 degrees
water temp- cold
bait- minnows and waxies
rod and reels - various makes and models
line- 4 lb cajun red lightning and an assortment of 1-4 lb line

51 bluegills completely filled one five gallon bucket!
30 bluegills 7 largemouth 1 catfish filled the other 5 gallon bucket completely to the top!

We kept 89 fish and ate fried fish and mushrooms right out on the ice!





This last pic with the catfish is actually a pic of me, I always am the one taking the pics and making sure everyone else is fishing correctly. Usually I just drill the holes, drill some more holes, and then drill a few more. One would think I enjoy drilling holes more than fishing! I need the exercise though! I got married 5 years ago at 205 lbs and just tipped the scales at 285 this year!

Nate - that looks like a lotta fun....
Congratulations brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Are the BG from your 25 acre lake?
How do you locate fish and structure in your ice covered lake/ponds?

Nice pictures...

Those BG all look related - man they are prolific.

Quote of the day!

Nate, it's amazing that you can catch so many BG under ice when I can't get them to bite in 50deg water. Beautiful BG there. That must have been a blast.

285??!!!! You must be pretty tall, Nate!

Sunil,
6'3"
Big Bones, Legs, Arms, Hands, Feet and Appetite!

George,
These fish came from a nearby 7 acre pond. I icefished our 25 acre lake once this winter and only caught largemouth bass with minnows, couldnt get anything else to bite. I have access to over 50 private bodies of water and usually dont ever fish public water.

The secret to catching fish under the ice is a VEXILAR. I will not go icefishing without it. Underwater cameras are cool, but not a fish catching tool like the vexilar is.

I can see how deep the water is, at what depth the fish are suspended, and even watch my jig on the screen the entire time. I learn very quickly where the fish are and what presentation they are interested in.

I can watch my jig on the screen as it falls and can see any fish that are in the entire area and how far away they are from my jig. I drill holes, put the vexilar in, drop a jig down and see if any fish show up. If I dont mark fish on the screen in one minute, I move to another hole.

If they do show up I stay and fish, until I figure out what they want. If they follow the jig but wont bite, I try a new jig. If they dont take the new jig, I move to a new hole in about 5 minutes.

If I find a spot with fish, and see they are active I have someone fish those holes and move on to find some new ones. I keep on moving and drilling like a mad man.

Even if we are catching fish, I keep on drilling and observing, because there is always a better spot with more aggressive fish.
Even moving just a few feet is the difference!

We caught these fish in a little over an hour sunday afternoon before the super bowl

So you can watch the fish hit your jig with that gadget?

Now THAT is cool.

Nate, send the bank robbin outfit ta Condello!

(not to hijack the thread, but it just struck me)....i wish the lmb were as easy to tell male from female as the BG....nice fish there n8, in the pic of all the BG, i think you can really see the difference in the males and females..

died,
that particular bluegill in Luke's right hand is a strain of hybrid stocked in 2000 (not many of them left).

I usually just call the larger bass females, and the smaller guys males. I can especially tell during spawning season
How else do you tell the difference between boy and girl bass?
smallmouths too?

I thought I detected at least a trace of GSF in that bream.

It's a gorgeous HBG; you shouldn't have stood so close together, as he is making the bass jealous.

Those bass are a little skinny

Very cold today, 0 degrees was the low last night and the high was 15 today. The outdoor writer from the Peoria Journal Star and his friend Chef Todd came fishing with me today. They didn't have very high expectations for the trip, cause of all the rain last week and the massive cold front this week, but we put them on some fish!

I will keep you posted, but there is possible going to be an icefishing article in this sundays sports page!




Trout fishing pic is from last thursday. This guy is Bill A. from Chicago area. His website is catchphotorelease.com
It is an awesome website! Be prepared to spend a little time if you click on the link, I got sucked in for a few minutes.

what is all that white stuff in yalls pics? looks like some sort of crazt bleached out sand or something...WACKY!