Ice fishing ???

[slugger]

Got this one in a small farm pond just behind the house...


Well may be stretching things a little. I was looking through some old pics and couldn't resist, sorry.
BUT is any one doing any good fishing on the ice looking through a little hole? We have plenty of ice but a lot of the lakes I normally fish are so snowed in I'd need a snowmobile to get in to them ,which I don't have. YOU ALL ice fishing?

[Rifleman]

Whenever I get the urge to go ice fishin, I buy a plane ticket to Florida.

[jgar]

Guys were slaying the fish around here a couple of weeks ago. North east Indiana.
The smaller lakes were all safe but the larger ones had just gotten there and then the warm spell hit.
Hoping to get out Sunday for the first time if the ice is safe.
Love ice fishing, got a lot of lakes within 20 min of my house just do not have the time anymore working 55hrs a week.

[slugger]

Ha Ha Sucks to be you!!!
One word --"Retirement"

[jgar]

yep Slugger sometimes it does. I have been unemployed only one time in the past and it really sucked.

During that time i could ice fish all i wanted but it did not pay the bills only kept me fed.

By the way I really like your posts. Keep the stories coming i really enjoy them and i am sure a lot of others do too.

[kennacl55]

I thought there was a size limit on the size of hole made while ice fishing. Guess I will have to check the laws.

[slugger]

Jger... Sorry just messing with you.
Thanks I do love to tell a story.
The only thing that dictates the size of the hole is how BIG a tractor you have!!!!

[youp50]

Yup,


I got the bait for our next outing.

[10ga]

You yankees are SICK, SICK, SICK! The words ICE and fishing are oxymorons, each excluding the other. The only time I have anything to do with ICE while fishing is to keep the beverages cold. Cold beverages are necessary when fishing in the south! Not hot beverages. LOL! In March I'll be setting the trotline and gillnet out. And nipping/picking up some oysters. Hope all are well. 10 ga

[DBinNY]

You're missing the boat (oops, I mean sled) 10ga. Few things top a fish fry of yellow perch or bluegills that came through a hole in the ice.

[wilmsmeyer]

That is so true DB....a perch caught in 30+ degree waters is some of the finest tasting, sweet freshwater fish you can find. The difference between summer caught and winter caught perch is 180 degrees.

Nothing like a nice hut and a good bite going on. Cooking steaks and burgers on a small charcoal habache for lunch.

It really is fun 10ga....but I understand. I can't imagine fishing for bass in 100 degree heat and worrying that a snake will fall in the boat. Or a gator will grab my arm when I reach for a fish.

[10ga]

I learned early on that you don't keep your fish on a stringer overboard. In saltwater you're just chummin the sharks and crabs in and in fresh water it's just an easy meal for the turtles and crawdads. And jeez, you just change up the bait and methodology and bag and eat them too! LOL, I am ready for spring. Pickerel and ringperch biting good here now. Catfish coming on and in March the croaker and rock will be back. Ringperch are good eatin but bluegills and other sunfish are just "bait" for the big flathead and blue cats, need bout 100 -150 for proper trotlinin and set pole layout. 10

[DBinNY]

Yeah, I've had snapping turtles attack my stringer in the creek when I was a kid. Just went out this afternoon and caught a bunch of your "bait" through the ice. I'm gonna eat that bait! The only cats we have up here are channel cats. We also have brown (mostly) and yellow bullheads. Wilms and I would have to travel a distance to fish the salt water.

[wilmsmeyer]

I do all my saltwater fishing at Wegman's and Palmer's. And in the long run, it's probably less expensive that way. LOL