Introducing A Bud to the Hardwater

One thing that I've always enjoyed in any of my activities is to introduce someone that activity who has never done it before.  Even more rewarding is that if they have fun and want to go again.  Last weekend, I took a fishing buddy, Rodger, who swore a couple years ago that he'd never do it, out on the ice for an icefishing trip.  Well, never say never because I convinced him to give it a try, and I think we hooked him.  Now we have to reel him in...

When taking someone out for the first time on any outdoor activity, the best way to get them to go again is to make sure that they have fun the first time.  With icefishing, the first thing is to make sure that you pick a lake that has a bunch of willing fish, because catching is more fun than working hard to catch them.  The lake we picked has a reputation of that, with a mix of average sized panfish along with some jumbos, and they're usually very willing.  You can't beat jigging for panfish when the action is hot, a perfect recipe for a newbie to have fun at icefishing.

The next thing is to make sure that you teach them what you know, including how to use your electronics, what to look for, how to read the moods of the fish, and most importantly, to improve the odds that your newbie friend will have a better chance at icing some fish.  That means that you may have to sacrifice your fishing time to do the teaching, as well as the use of your electronics and other equipment.  The purpose of this trip wan't for my icefishing fulfillment, but for the fulfillment of doing something rewarding, putting my buddy on fish and introducing him to the sport.  Fortunately, I had a spare sonar unit so I wasn't fishing blind either.

Rodger watching the fish react to his jig on my sonar unit while we were searching for active fish.  Eventually, we found active fish and Rodger caught a bunch, and had a good time.

Rodger is a little sensitive to the cold anyway, so picking a good day for comfort helps.  I was worried a bit that he'd be too cold to enjoy it, but as the day went along, everything worked out.  He dressed for the occasion, perhaps overdressed a bit, but at least he was pretty warm.  He also brought a bunch of hand warmers and used them as well to help.  I also let him use my Fish Trap pullover shanty for most of the afternoon once we found fish.  Again, that meant that I had to bear the elements like the good old days prior to me owning a Fish Trap.  But, that was OK, except that the wind was a bit annoying, and was a constant reminder of how much I love using my Fish Trap!  Remember about picking the right day?  It's about as much as for you as for your buddy.

My other friend Glenn and I used our sonar to search for active fish.  We both took different directions and cut a bunch of holes and checked them with our sonar.  We were hoping to mark fish, and hopefully, a bunch of them suspended off the bottom.  To me, those are active catchable fish.  I don't mind finding fish on the bottom either, and they're worth checking out for sure.  A faint flicker of the bottom on the sonar could indicate fish holding tight to the bottom.  Those fish are usually a bit more finicky, but not always.  Definetly, they are worth dropping a lure down to.

And that is what we did.  We marked fish, dropped lures down to see how active they were, then either fished them a bit or moved on.  If you want to catch a bunch of fish, you need to be mobile.  It took a while to find fish, and we were looking for biters, not lookers.  There were a lot of lookers early on though.  But eventually, Glenn found a bunch of active fish on a point and gathered us up to join him.

Glenn was the first to find active suspended fish off a point at the channel edge.  After locating fish, he called us over to join him.  Thanks to Glenn, Rodger caught a bunch of fish shortly afterwards.  That may have been the difference if Rodger icefishes again or not.  It works to team up to find fish for everyone, and is a common practice among friends.

I had been cutting all of the holes up to this point (between Rodger and me), so as to teach, I had Rodger cut a few holes so he could learn how to use the hand auger.  He cut two holes and that was all he needed.  We marked a bunch of fish in the very first hole, suspended as much as five feet off the bottom to the bottom.

He used a jigging rod with a spring bobber that I set up with two jigs in tandem about nine inches apart, the top jig being a red glow Fat Boy (namesake of this blog) and the bottom a gold Fiskas jig, both tipped with a few maggots (aka spikes).  On the first drop, the fish hammered one of the jigs and Rodger had his first fish on the ice.

I quickly cut another hole set up my Aqua-vu camera in the same hole as my sonar transducer, so he could fish out of the second hole and reduce fish tangling in the camera and sonar.  Once we had the camera set up, I set up the pullover shanty and had him snug as a bug indoors and catching fish.  I could hear him giggling and laughing a few times, so he definitely had fun.

This is a pic from a prior trip of me holding a bluegill, but shows my setup inside my shanty with the sonar and camera in one hole, as I fish out of the other.  This is what I wanted Rodger to experience, catching a bunch of fish, seeing them on the camera and using the sonar.

Meanwhile, as I ran back and forth to check on him, I cut a few more holes and found some fish, but not as thick as the spot that he and Glenn were on.  At this point in time, they were caught fish about two to my one.  At my spot, the fish would show up suspended, and I could get them to bite, but then they'd leave.  The fish never left at Glenn and Rodger's holes.

At my spot, I caught some medium sized crappie and some yellow perch, and then hooked into a big fish that went ballistic on me at the hole and popped off.  My initial thought was bass or walleye because it was a bronze color, but the fight didn't match, and the fish looked to be about 15-16 inches long or so.  I later found out that there are brown trout in there, so that is probably what I had on.  It was exciting, but it would have been nice to land that fish and get a picture.

As darkness approached, we set up for the night bite, hoping for crappie or anything else.  By that time, I'm sure that Glenn and Rodger caught twice as many fish as I did, and that made me happy, knowing that this trip was a success.  Now it was time to teach Rodger how to catch crappie at night.

I put the camera away, although it is fun and useful, it's not as helpful at night fishing for the suspended fish, at least in my opinion.  The model that I have tends to attract a ton of daphnia and other tiny aquatic life, making it difficult to see your jig or the fish after dark.  Plus, removing the camera reduces the risk of fish tangling on the camera cable.  Plus, fish can suspend at any depth, especially at night, sometimes right under the ice.

I cut a hole just North of Glenn, closer to where the point meets the channel and wow, when I checked it with my sonar, that hole was stacked from the bottom to about ten feet full of fish.  I couldn't fish there earlier because some other guys were close to that spot, and I didn't want to encroach on them.  I explained those ethics to Rodger as well, to not encroach on another angler's spot, whether it be jigging or a set of tip ups (which they also used).

After cutting that hole, I tore up the medium sized crappie until we had to leave.  At one point, I caught crappie on 16 consecutive drops as they were very aggressive.

This crappie was a bit on the small side, but I caught several dozen crappie that averaged about 9 inches or so all night long.  The fish were stacked on a point near the creek channel.

Glenn and Rodger stayed at their holes and continued to catch fish.  Glenn eventually hooked into something huge, and fought it for twenty minutes before the two pound line finally gave out and broke off as the fish made a last charge before coming to the hole.  We never saw the fish.

About an hour and a half after dark, Rodger and Glenn were still catching a fish here and there, but I was slaying them, so I called them over.  I gave up my hot hole and gave it to Rodger, while Glenn fished an old hole that was nearby, and they both marked and caught fish right away.

I cut another hole about ten feet closer to the point and still marked a bunch of fish, and continued to catch crappie one after another.  At one point, about an hour before we stopped fishing, I counted thirty five crappie iced since dark, and then lost count.  I guess I landed a dozen more after that plus one bullhead.  On the day, I caught about 50-60 fish, so it started very slow for me but turned out to be a good numbers day for me.

This bullhead was suspended at ten feet off the bottom and slammed my soft plastic jigs.

Glenn and Rodger probably caught about the same number of fish that I did.  Between the three of us, we caught a total of six species, crappie, yellow perch, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, a creek chub, and a brown bullhead.

Of course, when you bring someone on the ice that is new to the experience, there is an element of fear.  I found it important to talk about ice safety several times, and I have more to teach him on future trips.  One thing that he discovered was that while ice forms, pressure builds up and forms cracks and makes booming noises.  I explained to him that was a good thing, but a couple times, pressure cracks shot past him at a very close range and prompted him to yell out some words that I can't type here!  I told him that was music to my ears, that the ice was building, and is always a good thing.

The fishing was still hot when we decided to leave, but I had a long drive home, and I was very tired.  I considered fishing all night, but was just too exhausted, and I wasn't sure if the other guys could do that or not, so we left the ice at 10 PM.  The fish were still biting.  It is tough to leave fish that are active.

The downside to this trip was that it was a good 3 hour plus of a drive one way for us.  We arrived late, so it was important to us that we caught an active bite, and we did.  But, I'd rather have had an earlier start, several events happened that delayed our fishing start time.  I won't get into that here though.  It was a good thing that we ended the day on a good strong evening bite, because it made that ride home a bit easier.  That is a problem every year for me though, finding good ice close enough to home.  I love icefishing so much that I'd drive further away to do it than I would otherwise to fish during open water.

The bigger story, however, is that I think that despite the long drive home and getting home late, that Rodger had a fun day on the ice, caught fish, and learned why we like icefishing so much.  Both Glenn and I taught him many things that day, and Rodger caught on, and joined the fun.  That's what it's all about.  That's how Glenn and my good friend and icefishing mentor, Jeff Redinger, got me hooked.  I was merely passing that on.  At this point, Rodger is now an ice angler!  Now that he's hooked, let's see if we can reel him in for another trip!

My ice fishing mentor and good friend, Jeff Redinger, posing with a huge sunfish that he caught through the ice.  Jeff introduced me to sonar, and taught me the importance of being mobile to catch fish through the ice on my first ice fishing trip 27 years ago.  

On the Hardwater - Salvaging a Tough Day

In my last blog post, I discussed my approach to finding fish on a small lake.  The major theme basically was to move until you find good sized fish, ingnore the sniffers, and move away from catching small fish, or "dinks".  Usually by following the plan laid out in that post, On the Hardwater - Attacking a Small Lake for Panfish, you will eventually find the fish that you are looking for, although it may take time and a ton of effort cutting many holes.   But what happens when you try those suggestions and things just don't work out?  How can you salvage a tough day?

My enthusiastic ice angling friend, Glenn Cumings, working fish that he marked during mid morning.  Glenn kept moving and eventually found a few nice bluegills mixed in with mostly small bluegills.  Remembering what he did at this hole helped us finally solve the puzzle later.

My buddy Glenn Cummings and I decided to hit a lake known for good sized panfish.  In the past, we've had great success icing a mixed bag of fat keeper sized perch, slab crappie, and bull bluegills.  My experience on this particular lake was at a different area than we opted to fish.  Glenn insisted that this spot, new to me, would produce the output that we were hoping for.  Conditions were perfect, leaving us both feeling very enthusiastic about our chances at finding big panfish.

After finding a suitable parking place to access our lake, Glenn poses with his gear, nearly ready to attack our small lake in search of jumbo sized panfish.

Glenn and some of my other buddies have had good experience at this new spot on our lake, and Glenn assured me that he could put us on fish.  I was game to expand my horizons and find new spots.  My past experiences were very productive at my spots on this lake, so previously, I had no reason hunt for new spots.

Once out there, we began our regimen by moving out to the mid basin of the cove, a typical location to find panfish during mid winter ice.  I cut a series of holes through sixteen solid inches of ice with my hand auger until my shoulders cramped.  Twenty six cranks on each hole had me stop after six holes, each spaced about thirty feet apart.  But, it was enough that I could scoop out the ice chips and check them with my sonar.  Each hole was over twenty four feet of water, a prime area for this time of year.

Well, things looked up right off the bat as I marked fish at each hole, some suspended and some on the bottom.  The next step, of course, is to drop a lure down there and find out what we're dealing with.  My rig of choice was my favorite dual Ratso rig, my hottest set up of the year so far.  But the fish were sniffers in each of the holes.  It was weird because the fish charged up off the bottom, then either bit very lightly or not at all.  My first impression was that I was dealing with dinks.

I moved toward the far shore a bit and cut six more holes.  Again, after checking the holes and marking fish in each one, I dropped a different offering down there to see if that would make a difference, this time, a tiny tungsten chartreuse Northland Fireball Jig teamed with a pair of spikes to add some scent, in case the sniffers were decent sized finicky fish.  This time, a fish charged up and nailed my jig, confirming my earlier suspicion.

My first fish confirmed my suspicion...dink.  that's a tiny lure, and a very tiny bluegill.  I wasn't interested in catching these all day.

Meanwhile, Glenn was doing the same thing, but heading toward the center of the cove.  He was also catching dink bluegills now and then.  After chatting with another guy on the ice, Glenn used some of his new intel to move to another spot.  His next hole produced a few nice bluegills mixed with the dinks.

I, on the other hand, moved again.  I noticed that one shoreline had a nice draw, leading to me to think that a spring or creek, even a runoff one, might provide enough structure out into the lake to hold fish.  I moved over to that area and mustered enough energy to cut eight more holes.  Again, I marked fish in every hole, this time in twenty one feet of water.

After working these fish a while, I picked up a few nice bluegills, a decent yellow perch, and a small crappie mixed in with some dinky bluegills.  I bounced around from hole to hole and caught fish here and there, but didn't have that hot hole so that I could set up my camera and haul 'em in.  Plus, the water seemed too dingy to use the camera.  The dingy water may have played a role in the mood of the fish too.

We had action, and including the dinks, my totals were just shy of twenty fish for about five hours of fishing.  That's not the bite that I'd hoped for.  Plus, the size of the fish weren't impressing me.  So, at three in the afternoon, with the magic hour looming, I convinced Glenn to make a major change.  He agreed, because it really wasn't happening for him either.

We had two options for a major change, move on this lake to an entirely different depth and structure, or make a spot change to another lake.  We figured that the latter would waste too much time, so we took a hike to a new previously productive area.

The major move included a long hike during prime fishing time, past the guy on the left and around the point to a deep thirty eight foot basin.

We had a nice hike ahead of us, but with the ice pretty slick, towing our portable Fish Traps full of gear wasn't an issue. But, it did use up valuable fishing time.  We went to one of my past productive spots, around a point and into another cove.  We head out to the deeper water basin, a notorious hangout for fat yellow perch and crappie in the past.

I cut eight more holes.  Again, each hole held fish, and the result was the same.  I quickly managed a seven inch perch and a small bluegill, but not the size of the fish that I had hoped.  This group of fish were far more active, but my third yellow perch of the day sealed my decision to move again.  It may have been the smallest yellow perch that I've caught in my life.  It couldn't have been even three inches long!

Glenn was working the fish in his holes, and hooked and lost a couple fish on his ultralight outfit.  But, he agreed that this might not have been a good move.  I headed toward a long sloping point, hoping to find twenty to twenty five feed of water off the end of the point.  After cutting five more holes, I found that spot.  My first four holes didn't mark fish, but my fifth one did.  I caught that one fish, another dinky bluegill.

Now, I was getting discouraged, and after Glenn met up with me, he was too.  So, we agreed that we had enough time to hike back up the lake to our original spot.  Again, another half hour of hiking wasting fishing time.  By the time that we reached our old holes, the magic hour was half over.

Our long walk back to our original holes cost us half of the magic hour.  Our destination was beyond those folks in the distance.

Remember in my last post when I wrote this?

"Later in the day though, it might be wise to remember where those sniffers are, especially if you catch one and it's a good sized fish.  Because, often low light conditions, commonly thought of at the magic hour, that last hour of daylight, finicky fish might become more active later."

I checked my best holes from earlier and one of them had fish stacked on the sonar.  So, I set up camp there for the evening bite.  My first drop with my tandem Ratso rig resulted in a nice fat crappie.  The next drop was a bigger bluegill, followed by another one.  After that, I lost a slab crappie at the hole that was easily thirteen inches.

Daylight ran out quickly, so Glenn, who had also been catching better sized fish, and I fired up our lanterns and set up for the night bite.  After dark, the fish became finicky again, but, if you worked them enough, you could coax them into a solid bite.  The bite wasn't hot, but I marked enough fish to keep me interested, and enough of them were reacting to my lures.

This isn't a monster bluegill by any means, but a much better average size compared to the dinks earlier in the day.  I caught several of these after dark, jigging aggressively, trying to imitate the tiny hopping crustaceans that flooded my sonar.  The fish were mixed with them, actively feeding.

I caught several more crappie and a nice bluegill that was suspended at ten feet over twenty four feet of water.  Glenn struggled a bit with tackle problems and also problems with his lantern, but managed to catch some nice crappie and bluegills too.

Remember earlier in the post that I mentioned that the water was dingy?  I think that the fish didn't seem aggressive because they had a hard time seeing the lure in the murky water.  I used glow jigs and worked them very aggressively.  As it turns out, when the fish finally found the lure, they were very active and hit readily.

Here's a medium crappie that I worked for and caught after dark.  Aggressive jigging in the dingy water was the key to catching this crappie along with several more of his buddies.

I finished with a forty fish plus day, if you include the dinks, but we worked hard for them.  It was my toughest day of the year on the ice.  But, that final move paid off, the one where we went back to old semi-productive holes where the sniffers were actually decent sized panfish.

I'm sore today, two days later, from cutting holes.  We had twelve inches of snow last night, so shoveling my hundred foot driveway isn't helping my aging bones either.  I was miffed at my decision to make that major move to deep water, because it may have cost us a dozen or more nice sized fish from wasting half the magic hour.  But looking back, even though it was a tough day, the reward was that we finally solved the puzzle.

The system worked, finally.  But, perhaps some patience would have worked better this time by sticking to holes that gave up a few nice fish early.