Ice fishing or fishing for ice?

[rgang4]

Not sure if I went ice fishing today or I went fishing for ice. Looked at a few places today and decided they were not ready. Hunts Meadows is a local setback that has big crappie during the winter and early spring, but the ice was thin there especially where I would prefer to fish. Left there to check another crappie hotspot and that looked unsafe as well and a local guy told me the same. Went to a remote spot that usually socks in early only to find open water nearby and no place to get on without a plank.
So I ended up at the Retreat Meadows.

Started right where I began last week and got off to an interesting start. Hooked something large that did not move when I set the hook.That does not say much considering I fish 4 lb. line on a 24" buggy whip rod but for sure it was something larger than what my equipment was meant for. After a long careful battle the hook popped out and it was gone. No idea what or how big but it was fun!

Today I got a bit of everything but not really much of anything as far as a take home catch, but I caught enough perch, crappie and bluegill to make fish tacos or fish tostadas tonight. To make up for my lost fish the fish gods blessed me with two Master Angler 'gills, a 9.25" and a 9.5". The larger of the two had a torn jaw and had been caught at least once before. Brian, do you know this fish?


9.5" 'gill pictured with Jeff Kerylow Jr.


9.25" gill

Both released, I was very proud of myself .

[rgang4]

Managed to get to the spot I wanted to fish yesterday. Should have stayed home where it was nice and warm! Did not catch the Master Angler crappie I was looking for.But this is not the purpose of this post. I want to mention that although the weather has turned sharply colder, ice conditions are still very tricky. Chopped a test hole as I got on today and found 5" of good black ice. As I moved along with my chisel in hand I kept banging the chisel in front of me. Suddenly the echo was different. I stopped, backed up a bit and chopped another hole and found less than three inches. We need to be careful out there and be sure what we are walking on is sound. This was on the Hunts Meadows setback of the CT river in Vernon VT.

[Brian]

Jan 14, 2012 16:57:53 GMT -5 rgang4 said:

Brian, do you know this fish?
.

Hmmm, looks familiar but I can't recall the name.

[rgang4]

Jan 16, 2012 17:50:34 GMT -5 vtbass said:

Man, I suck at ice fishing. I went to a small local pond for 2 hours today with my 5-year old. A 1/2 cup fatheads and a bucket of tipups, I thought he'd at least see some action. Not a flag. And jigging never produced a thing. I jigged small Northland RattleShot jigs tipped with either a Berkley Gulp Alive grub, or a Berkley Gulp Alive minnow head, from 6 feet down to 35 feet. Nadda. When's open water?

By my count 88 days until the C/R season starts. Hang in there! And try real bait icefishing. Can't beat live maggots. No answer for why you didn't get bit on the fatheads though. Maybe you do suck. And your Spanish needs work too! Solamente hay un "D" en nada mi estimado amigo.