Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishing 2013

for me, it's always when the pond/lake is locked up shore to shore. Where i fish in in what's called the chain of lakes in northern illinois, so in some cases those are very large lakes, or channels that are off of the fox river. In those cases, the whole lake doesn't need to be locked up, just the particular channel you are fishing in. i have been within, say, 20 yards of open water before, and so long as the ice beneath you is 3-4" thick, you are okay. just dont get to close to that edge....

but, i live pretty far south for ice, and have to make a 6 hour trip for hard water, so when i go is usually dead of the winter, and never really have to worry about "transitional" periods.

I hope i at least marginally addressed what you are asking.

Speaking as an ice angler, the absolute worst conditions you can have is when the ice is too thin to get out on, but it covers the entire surface preventing shore casting.... And here in south central Indiana those conditions present themselves very frequently. Hence fishing out of the Jonboat.

Last year was my best winter fishing period ever, and I never got out on the ice one time. I differentiate between ice fishing, and cold water fishing....cold water fishing can be more difficult sometimes, but like I'm constantly preaching over at BBG.....you won't catch em' sitting on the couch and hoping for safe ice, or worse yet, waiting for spring......get out and give it a try. I learned a great deal about my ponds AND my fish last year, and I think I'm a better angler now because of it. Shoot, I fished this morning....unsafe ice covers all of my ponds except where the diffusers have it open, and I was able to catch fish while the guys on the ice forums are crying about the warmup, and praying for next week's cooler temps.

More to your question Al...I don't stop fishing between open water and safe ice...too much opportunity there. And you're right about the thin ice around the edges. A lot of ice anglers will "walk the plank" from shore, using a 2 x 10 to reach out to thicker ice....works pretty good in the morning, but you better be sure to come off before the temps rise....otherwise the plank becomes a raft......

Late ice is my least favorite time. One never knows if you should be out there. Fish bite well this time of the year here, so it is tempting to get out on the ice too late. I would be to nervous using the board to get out/off. I just wait until the ice is a good four inches at the start of the year to walk on. My theory is that no fish is worth a dunking in 32 degree water.

Yep, fishing skinny ice can be a nerve wracking endeavour....now envision a place further south where good ice exists for a couple weeks at most, and skinny ice makes up the bulk of the winter....

Do you fish it, or do you wait for spring,? Use the plank and the Jonboat, or watch In-Fishermen ice fishing reruns on the tube?

I've sat in a boat parked on top of 1.5" of ice many many times....but I've never seen ice thicker than 6"....ever.

This is winter fishing in the southern half of Indiana. And the stick is right in that no fish is worth getting wet over..... but it can be a long time till spring!

this is probably what i like most about hitting my dad's pond in the winter. With the aquaview and the vexilar, and simply the drop-weight, you can spot where all the structure is, find the deep wells, etc. and, you can spot where it is that your fish like to hang out, how they react to different vertical presentations, etc.


truer words are rarely spoken. I took some stupid risks in my day, and even though i have never dunked, i regret having gotten close to it.

yes, to the question at hand, it is very possible to fish "transitional" waters. a few years back, before i discovered this forum, my friends and I just dragged my dad's paddleboat out a few yards, drilled holes around it and fished. We set up an extension ladder to walk back and forth from the boat to the pier, and we had a few wooden planks leading from the boat out to the open water. It was a great combo of ice fishing, cold water fishing, and engineering.

stay safe.
-skinny

First fish of 2013 for my big guy!

Great photo bigharge! Congrats on a job well done!

That is an awesome fish and even more awesome memory!

That's excellent!

Way to go Bigharge - what a great memory, thanks for sharing! It's strange somehow to see open water in the background - we've been locked up for three weeks here now, but I'm not complaining.

Yo Mike, good to see you posting again - how you been, amigo?

Hit local lake stocked by Bruce Condello a few years back, and had a great bite going on BG up to 9" and YP up to 12" on teardrop/waxie and jig spoon/minnows - thanks Brucile!

That's some good lookin' ice TJ.....nice and clear.

Yep, 6-7" still after warm last two days and some rain. I was very happy to see it's still safe.

Ok guys, thanks for the info. I've fished tournaments out of bass boats, and broke through ice while moving, but never thought it was fun. I can see a little better now why you enjoy it so much.

I'm not ready to swap 106 degree summers for 6 degree winters, but I can certainly see the appeal. I went to my farm today to check my brood pond after the big rains, and it was a flip flop day here.

Thanks again.

Make some friends up north and simply give ice fishing a try.....
My ice is gone, but just about an hour north will prob be safe in a couple days again...
Dude whose kid caught that trout in Texas...Awesome!!
TJ are the yellow perch reproducing in that lake?

Do Northern Guys like cupcakes? I'm always packing. And, I've still got Cheetos let over from the failed Mayan calendar doomsday event.

Cheetos and cupcakes are on my favorite list. We just don't have any ice, or snow, and the grass is starting to regain it's greenish color.

Most of the Orchards around here never even opened for business last year. Repeat???

Yo Fire, you already have friends up North! Head on up, ice is solid and we have plenty of good ponds to fish!

Yes, YP reproduce all over SE NE, wherever they are stocked it seems as long as the water quality is decent and fishery isn't dominated by high density LMB. My hatchery guy actually gets them to spawn in his concrete holding tanks - lay strands on the aeration hoses, if you can believe it. Crazy...

[quote=n8ly]

Haha, yeah wou would think you could catch 2-3 lb rainbows in West Texas. That's my 4 yr old showing off the first catch at our new place. Special thanks to Todd Overton for suggesting them to me when I was stocking my fingerlings. Has given the kids something to catch from day 1, and they are loving it out here. They really are a blast to catch, will hit all sorts of artificials and put up a great acrobatic fight. Going to miss them come April when it warms up.

Thanks! I know we pick and poke at each other with the Texas vs the world stuff, but it's all in good fun. I had never thought about the weather window of solid ice you guys get, but I have to admit it looks like a blast.

If I'm ever that way, I'll certainly look you up. Right now an Eldora Speedway roadtrip is right at top of my northern bucket list. Dirt racing, greasy french fries, and TS choking an innocent race official would be a dream trip.

Nate...thanks for the info. Last i heard, on friday, there were a few inches solid left under piles of slush, and open around the shorelines. It should be good to go for my trip up, but i'm walking on an extension ladder with a life line tied to shore when i first test it out, just to be safe.

Hey tj, good to hear from you too. I havent been posting because i never get up to dads pond anymore, so i have nothing to report. I got a big fancy pants promotion, and unlike my old position, it doesnt require frequent trips up to milwaukee or sheboygan, much to my shagrin, that means less weekends on dads pond.

Last time was my ice trip last year, i think... aside from the drought, with water ridiculously low, nothing really major to report anyway.

Pike still bite strong, still cull them out whenever they are caught. No known evidence of breeding with them yet. (Waiting to see them show up in minnow traps, or for a 14 incher to hit a beetlespin or something).

Fewer bass & crappie biting from what i hear from dads creel data...and he retired this year, so he has more fishing time than usual. More warmouth, though, which is fun on an ultralight, and apparently some tiny little walleyein were pickeda up, ive never seen them, other than the one or 2 somebody bucketed in a few years ago.

2 summers ago, we laid into some 3-4 lb lmb, which i posted, so i guess that counts as evidence of stunting being remedied.

Dad says somebody pulled an 8 lb lunker off the bottom this year...i'll believe it when i see the pics, i guess.

Anyway, this is a fishing thread, not an "update on mikes pond" thread, so ill end it there. If i get my tip ups out on saturday, and anything hit them, ill post pics.

Thanks
-skinny

Congrats on the promotion amigo. Missed you on here...who cares if you're fishing your Dad's place with regularity - your presence is valuable! Stick around!

Headed out to a sandpit along the Platte River tomorrow - worried about ice integrity as sandpits are spring fed and we're coming off rain and a 50 degree Friday. We have only fished it once before, middle of Summer on a 100+ day, and to cool off we speed trolled cranks down the middle of channel in 30' depth without hope of catching anything. We ended up with 8 suspended BCP from 15-17.5". Biggest crappies I've ever seen, and we swore we'd come back someday and try them through the ice. So, tomorrow is the day.

I am typically the point man, with auger, as I'm the lightest by 50 lbs of my buddies, and the others follow with vexis to check for depth and fish. I'll be tied off tomorrow with 50' rope behind me, just in case. I hope I don't need to be rescued.

After the last 2 days of weather here, and the rain that's coming down there's no safe ice left around here.

Have fun!