Finally had the chance to get out this weekend, pretty sad that I can count the number of times I have been out fishing/spearing this ice season on my hands.
Spearing was good saw quite a few fish and finally after seeing quite a few big fish dart through my hole I had a nice 12 to 15 lb pike linger on the outside staring at my decoy and had one angled shot; however I missed just over his back. What I learned through this experience is angled shots are tricky and I need to remember to aim below the fish instead of at the fish as the spear always darts through the water higher than your aiming point; and just like a big buck I still get excited when a large pike comes through my hole. It’s what keeps me going back out.
I was able to do a little panfishing this weekend with a buddy, we were on a search and destroy mission to explore new spots for gills and crappies. First spot was a bust and never marked or saw a fish on the camera. Second spot was slightly better and we were able with the use of the camera to locate and get on the fish. The bite wasn’t real hot n heavy but we were able to pull one 14″ crappie and some nice gills the biggest being 11″ out of our holes.
We did however make the dumbest rookie mistake; in the excitement of locating fish in a new area and making swiss cheese out of the lake we forgot to grab the pail from the truck; and began piling the fish in one spot. Since we were the only two fisherman within a half mile of anybody of course someone had to drive by park their truck about 100 yards away and literally run over to us. Now I wouldn’t have been mad until he ran direclty over to our fish kicked the pile to spread them out to take a look and then has the nerve to ask us if we are doing any good without ever looking at our faces. Now I can get pissed every now and again but I stayed focused on fishing; however my buddy who is much larger than I am just about came unglued. Lets just say at one point I dropped my rod and stood up because I thought he was going to pummel this guy as he continued spread our fish out to get a better look at what we had.
Other lakes in the area have been doing pretty well for panfish as well, Little and Big Splithand have been producing some nice crappies and a few sunfish. The walleyes had been biting on Pokegama pretty steady up until the cold front hit and has now slowed significantly. Other than that haven’t heard much as the new group of hockey parents I hang out with this time of year conincidently don’t have much time to fish either.
Hopefully I can get out again soon as the days are getting longer and my determination to get out on the ice exceeds my willingness to go to hockey games and tournaments. I am just about burned out on hockey for the year; thankfully there is only a few more weeks left.
