Update on the shack-on-a-track:
Well apparently the fact that I am not sitting over any weeds with the ice shanty mounted to the pier has made that particular spot unproductive for large fish. Other than an occasional bass I'm only getting small fish. For those of you that don't ice fish, sitting on top of a spot that has everything to hold fish i.e. food, cover in weeds etc. is critical. Good icefisherman keep moving to find the fish but unfortunately in my situation, with no ice, that is hard to do on the shack=on-a-track.Therefore I changed to plan B. Plan B involves staying in the Shack-on-a-track to stay warm but now I'm casting out of open end facing the end of the pier. I rigged up two spinning rods with slip bobbers, and commenced to casting to different places on the pond, I have taken good size fish before on the ice. Caught and released 6 perch and 2 bass but no bluegills. (Of course I need a big bluegill for a customer!
) One pole was rigged with waxworms the other with fatheads. I think the problem is bluegills are notorisously light biters in this cold of water. Trying to detect these light bites in choppy water over 30 feet away is hard to do. Bluegills have been observed in cold water inhaling and exhaling bait without even twitching the line.
Ice oh ice where did you go? Please come back!
