Open water New Hampshire 6/15/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, air temperatures upper 60's, water temperatures 70 degrees and gusty winds

With this being Fathers Day, my plan is to head to New Hampshire and spend a good portion of my day fishing a favorite lake. Arriving at the lake at sun up and having the whole lake to myself, where does one start with so many locations that can be fished. Not sure how the lake was going to fish because every where we have fished so far this spring, it has been fairly tough with the late winter affecting the lakes conditions. I am not one that likes to fish shorelines looking for bank runners and would rather fish deeper structure looking for a better quality fish. So starting on a fairly large flat where typically catch numbers of fish, fished all around and started noticing that this lake as well as others, is void of the weeds and I attibute that to the thick ice and lots of snow this past winter. Throughout the day I moved from deep water to shallow warm water to calm areas to wind blown shorelines. Fished a number of baits from small worms, jigs, crankbaits, carolina rigs and weightless plastics as well. Was picking up a small pickerel here and there and the lake was really going to make me work today. I finally connected on a good fish on the edge of a drop and didn't even feel the bite as there was just weight on the line. Caught this fish on a small plastic worm fished Texas style and was the only fish that was caught that I was fishing for. I spent a lot of time idling around the lake watching the electronics and was finding areas that there were schools of fish hanging, but with the high winds was fairly hard staying on the area and try to get them fired up into biting. I like catching fish just like the next guy, but my real enjoyment is just being on the water and trying to figure out what the fish are looking for and wanting.

It is going to be a fun few weeks coming up as I am being forced to take vacation and my son won't be at camp yet so we are going to be on a number of different lakes around Massachusetts and New Hampshire...until our next report...may your lines be TIGHT and FISH ON...

 

Open water Massachusetts 6/8/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, air temperature 80 degrees, water temperature 74 degrees and zero wind

Arrived at the lake early as I wanted to do some sonar mapping with the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. This unti allows you to record sonar as you move around the lake and Lowrance has a online program that allows you to upload that data and they send you back a detailed contour lake map. The maps that are available on the East Coast are very generic and be doing this process, this allows us to see a lot mot things on a body of water that a good majority of anglers have no idea what is down there.

After doing this for a while, and still thinking that the fish may be spawning, I started the morning on a flat in a creek mouth that generally holds a number of fish this time of year. Fairly shallow water, from 2 - 8 feet of water and generally there are good clumps of weeds that the fish can hide in. After fishing around the area I am seeing that with the late winter that we had, The vegetation isn't close to where it should be at this time of year. In general, I am finding that consistently wherever we have fished this spring. Fishing this area produced nothing for bites so went back to mapping a different part of the lake. This area is a cove that has some very irregular contours with a few underwater humps as well. Started fishing on one of these humps and it is around 6 feet deep and has a good amount of vegetation on top of it. Didn't take long and connected on the first fish of the day, didn't even feel it bite as it was just there. Was fishing a lizard plastic bait Texas rigged with an 1/8oz weight. The fish gave a great fight and was a solid 2 pound largemouth but was long and thin. Basically continued doing the same thing all around the lake and just looking for different little things that maybe the fish were concentrated in. Made for a tough day of fishing as the heat and no wind really started taking a toll and we left the lake before noon.

We will probably be heading back to New Hampshire soon again and head for a lake that we fish very frequently...until our next report...may your line be TIGHT and FISH ON...

Open water New Hampshire 6/1/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, upper 60's air temperatures, mid 60's water temperatures and no wind

Since all of the local lakes were busy having tournaments going on we decided to hit the road and drive up to New Hampshire and fish a lake that we fished this past winter a couple of times. Apparently this lake is busy is the warmer months as we arrived at the landing fairly early and it was busy with anglers already. The landing is shallow so needed to take a bit of a walk into cool spring waters and it wasn't long and we had finally gotten the boat into the open water for the first time. I wanted to spend some time working with the Lowrance electronics and get a feel for the lake as we have a new lake mapping software, Insight Genesis, that allows you to create very detailed lake maps. We motored across the lake to where we wanted to try this winter and started fishing a rock flat searching for smallmouth bass. We fished the top and outside edges and just couldn't find any active fish. We moved to an close shoreline and watched to see if there were any spawning fish in the shallow sandy shore. We seen a few small bass cruising but never seen anything that looked to be spawning. We arrived at an underwater point and followed that out into the lake where we caught perch on crankbaits off the end of the point. Spent sometime doing the mapping and after getting home and uploading that and taking a look at it, I will definitely be doing a lot more of this mapping this summer. We moved over to the area that we fished a lot this past winter and still was unable to find any actively biting fish. We watched a few of the other anglers out there and you could tell that the bite was very tough and we didn't see anyone catching anything. Other than the few perch we caught the sun was getting very strong and without any suntan lotion, we needed to get off the lake and head out.

The local lakes should quiet down now with tournaments and we will be on one of them this coming weekend...until our next report...may your lines be TIGHT and...FISH ON...

Open Water Massachusetts 5/27/14

Conditions: Cloudy skies, 60's air temperatures and little wind

The fish in this lake have got to be getting ready for the spawn this spring or maybe the late winter and cold waters, they may not even spawn this year. That is never a good thing if the fish absorb the eggs back into their bodies and the lakes will lose a year class of fish. Going to keep searching for some shallow, cruising active fish and eventually they will be found. Today's location is a shallow shelf that is covered with gravel and rock and should be prime smallmouth spawning area. Was fan casting from one side all around to the other side and on the last cast before moving, connected on a fiesty smallmouth. The fish gave a great fight and jumped out of the water a few times as well when it was coming in. The bait today was a Zoom finesse straight tail worm in watermelon color and fished with a 1/8 oz weight Texas rigged. After leaving this area moved down a bit to a trough location that has some good green weeds growing. Fan casted all around the area for a bit and wasn't able to find any biters in this location. I am fishing fairly fast as time is limited and only going for the aggressive fish instead of taking my time and working any fish that are there that may be a bit more non-aggressive.

Hopefully this weekend we will finally get the boat wet and still haven't decided if we are making a trip to NH yet but definitely need to get out on the open water at least...So until our next report, may your lines be tight and...FISH ON...

Open Water Massachusetts 5/19/14

Conditions: upper 60's air temperatures and light winds

This spring has been one crazy time with the late winter and spring just not wanting to come around at all. Luckily I am fortunate enough in my work location, to be back near a great body of water with nice variety of species of fish to catch. This time of year the smallmouth and largemouth bass are spawning and once you can locate the spawning areas, you are able to catch some nice fish. So I will be fishing a few times during the week at different locations around this lake and will be interesting to see what kind of fish will be caught. The fish that I caught today was caught fairly shallow and came as quite a surprise as it hit the bait on the fall from the cast. Using an 1/8 oz sinker and straight tailed pumpkin Zoom worm, was able to trick the fish into biting and gave up a great battle. This was the only fish for this lunch break, and hopefully we haven't missed the smallmouth migration as there are some very nice smallmouth bass in the lake and nothing like catching them in the spring.

Until next time, tight lines....

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 3/29/14

Conditions: Cloudy skies, upper 40's air temperatures and little to light winds

We are really getting to the end of the ice fishing season here in New England. The ice in Massachusetts is inaccessible as the shorelines have opened up and no access is attainable. So to keep the ice season going you have to drive to New Hampshire to find ice that is fishable. We made a drive to a southern New Hampshire reservoir and were surprised to only see two trucks at the landing. You could go anywhere you wanted on the ice and upon the thickness inspection, there was a good 16-18 inches of ice. As the morning wore on, pools of water were forming on top of the ice and made it a bit sloppy if you weren't paying attention. This reservoir was the first place that we started this year's ice season and we wanted to give it another try as it is a high producer of crappies. Once we were able to get all of our set lines done, and catching pickerel as we went along, it was time to start searching for crappies. There is a ditch that goes through the area we were fishing and staying inside of this ditch is where the crappies were located. If you ended up on either shallow side of this ditch, there weren't any fish that could be found. All of the fish that we were catching were inside of this ditch and the deepest part was 26 feet deep. It didn't take long and we were catching crappie after crappie but these fish were so small. We drilled holes all over the area staying in the ditch and no matter where you drilled, you were catching crappies but there just was no size. We were fishing the Northland Tackle Mooska Tungsten jigs tipped with a couple of EuroLarva for scent attractant. We would catch crappies and a few sunfish but then we would get into pods of golden shiners and some of them were quite large. You could tell on the Vexilar's when these shiner pods would come through as they would light up the whole screen. After drilling holes everywhere in the area that we were in, I started moving a bit further downstream and later in the day did hit a few much nicer crappies. Could only get a few of the nicer ones and by the time we left the other anglers had left long ago. This reservoir definitely has a population of crappie in it but there needs to be a bit of management to getting the size back to being respectable.

There is a lot of rain forecasted for the next couple of days across New England as not really sure as to what that is going to do for the remaining ice.

We are hoping to get out one more time this coming weekend and hopefully find a good crappie lake to cap off this awesome ice season. So until next time may your lines be tight and smiles on your face...FISH ON...

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 3/23/14

Conditions: Snow to sunny skies, upper 20's air temperatures and high winds blowing snow around

We made a long drive to the lakes region of New Hampshire and wanted to try a new lake that is supposed to have good sized crappies in it. On the drive up we had clear sunny skies and the temperatures were holding very nicely but as soon as we hit the lakes region the snow started falling and so did the temperatures with it. Upon arriving we knew that we were at the right location as there were already a number of anglers out on the ice. Conditions were going to be tough as now the sun was shining bright as well as the winds blowing very hard and with it a lot of drifting snow. The location that we wanted to target was already occupied by a big group of anglers. So we set up in between them and another set to our left. There is a deep trough that hugs around the island in the lake and we started setting lines from deeper water of 25 feet up towards the island that was in 6 feet of water. The ice conditions were 4 inches of snow on top with 27 inches of solid ice. With the electric auger, it is getting quite a workout this season and after 12 holes we needed to replace the battery to keep drilling more holes. It didn't take long and the fish were biting our set lines and we had setup in a pickerel hole because we were getting pickerel after pickerel and these fish were small. We haven't caught pickerel this small this season and after a while it was getting very old as we wanted to be targeting bass and we never did find one. Once all of the set lines were ready, I started drilling holes in 20-26 feet of water and we started hole hopping in our search for crappies. With the thick ice we weren't able to drill all of the holes that we typically drill and for the ones that we did have all that we were catching through them were perch. The winds had been relentless and with only catching perch on our jig rods, it was getting to a point that we were ready to leave. By this point all of the other anglers on the lake had left and we were the last ones left and it was still early afternoon. This would be another lake that would be nice to visit in the open water with the boat and explore the lake and mark numbers of locations for future reference.

This trip didn't pan out like we had hoped, but we were still ice fishing as it is getting to the end of March. This next week the weather is warming dramatically and may be the last time on Massachusetts ice.

So till next time may your lines be tight and smiles on your faces...FISH ON...

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 3/22/14

Conditions: Sunny skies turned to rain and then back to sunny skies; upper 40's air temperatures and moderate winds

We are definitely getting towards the end of this much extended New England ice season for the 2014 ice fishing season. We have never fished this much and also never this long as generally we are in the boat by now. Today's lake is one that we frequent a lot but we haven't been to yet this year but generally there are a number of pickerel caught and this is why we haven't been here yet this season. We are getting reports that there are good sized bass being caught so with a late start to the day, was a good option for us to go to. I had some concern as to what the shorelines are going to look like as with some warmer sunny weather, the heat is starting to open the shoreline and not allowing access to the ice. We got there and it was frozen solid on this particular side so we headed off across the ice in search of our destination. The area that we had thought was the producing area you could see that there was no activity anywhere on the ice so we kept exploring and finally found the location that we were looking for. This reservoir is very consistent with its water depths and all the holes we drilled there was only 5-6 feet of water below. We would set our lines for four feet deep and it didn't take long and we were catching fish. Started out with some small pickerel but it didn't take long and we were into 3 pounders. Mixed in with the pickerel we were starting to catch largemouth bass as well and the sizes of them were approaching the three pound class. This lake is very weedy as well so when you would set your lines you definitely wanted to keep your bait above the weeds so that the cruising fish would be able to locate them.

It was a fun time out there and many fish were caught and we will definitely be back to fish here again, not sure if it will be this winter anymore, but we will keep this one in our back pocket.

Tomorrow is going to find us in the lakes region of New Hampshire searching a new lake that is supposed to have nice sized crappies in it as well as many other species so until then, tight lines and FISH ON....

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 3/16/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, upper 20's air temperatures and high gusty winds

The temperatures dropped over 20 degrees overnight and the winds really didn't let up at all either. We headed up to New Hampshire to fish another lake that we haven't been to in the winter that we frequent quite a bit in the open water season. With the colder temperatures any melting from the previous day was froze solid this morning and with the strong winds made for a difficult walk across the lake. There is an underwater bar in the middle of the lake that usually is very productive so that was our plan for the day. We started setting lines in water depths from 23 feet of water all the way up to 5 feet of water. We started having fish bite fairly quickly once again but also had a number of false bites as the winds were so strong and that would vibrate our set lines and trigger them as well. There is a good population of crappies in this lake as well and we had the Clam Vista fish house set up in 25 feet of water hoping that they would come through. There were definitely fish below us but the few that we were able to catch showed that they were very small sunfish. With the conditions that we were fishing in, the bite was good the beginning of the morning with a variety of fish caught but as the morning went into afternoon, things slowed down immensely. The most active depths for us here today were the shallower 5 to 10 feet of water. There were only a few anglers out dealing with the winds and from watching them across the ice, didn't look like their fish were that active as well. It is always fun trying new lakes as you always have big hopes in mind because you know what the lake can produce. But when the weather conditions limit you to how you fish makes for a long time out there if they are not that active.

We were able to still catch a handful of fish but glad to have that day behind us and look forward to our next adventure in a few days. The plan for the next trip will be local as we are hearing that some big bass are being caught as well as another trip to NH and this time may find us up in lake country.

So until our next report may your lines be tight and your dreams fulfilled and...FISH ON...


 

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 3/15/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, low 50's air temperatures and high winds that turned very gusty

Was a busy morning once again and we didn't get out to the lake until lunch time. Was supposed to rain in the morning as well and that never really happened. There were already winds blowing but they were tolerable and the ice had pooling water on top from the warm air temperatures and melted snow. There were only a few people on the lake and we had a choice of any location that we wanted and tried a new area that heard there were better numbers of smallmouth being caught there. The lake on this day has around 14 inches of ice and the top layer of a couple inches you can tell that it is starting to soften and honeycomb. We started setting our lines in 30 feet of water and didn't even have the second one set yet and had a fish on the first one. It took us quite a while to get all of our lines set as we were continually tending to fish on the lines that were set. We have been fortunate this ice season that we have only had one day that we were able to get all of the lines set before the fish started biting so by having it taking us a long time to get all of them set, is a lot of fun for us. We were definitely into the jumbo perch in the location and they seemed to keep getting bigger as each fish came through the hole. With the high winds we would also have a number of false alarms and with the standing water, makes it very messy trying to keep up with them. We were only here for a few hours and the winds were getting so strong that if you would move a bit too fast they would literally push you across the ice and you had to make sure that you didn't fall into the standing water. We never were able to find the smallmouth in this area and the jigging action was fairly slow as well. We were fishing mainly 30 feet of water and hoping that the big crappies would come through as well but to date there has been only two locations that those have been able to locate. So with the winds and clouds increasing dramatically it wasn't fun anymore having to deal with this so we pulled the plug a lot earlier than we generally ever do.

Tomorrow the temps once again are supposed to drop 20 plus degrees again and the winds are not supposed to die down either. We are heading to New Hampshire to a lake that we have fished a lot on the open water and never have been on the ice and there is supposed to be a lot of crappie in this lake as well.

So may your lines be tight and you catch that trophy of your life and enjoy this extended ice season...FISH ON...

Question for day March 13

Q: Do you rely on a certain color for your ice fishing jigs?

A: Not really. For the fish that we are seeking to catch underneath the ice sheet, we are normally only looking for the aggressive biters. Most holes that we drill have fish underneath them and we can see them on the electronics, but if they don't bite right away, we call them sniffers and move on to the next hole. The fish that we are looking for are the ones that as soon as you drop a jig down there, one will come screaming right to it and either hit it right away or after a little jigging coaxing, they generally will bite then. The sniffers that we leave behind we will go back every now and then as at some point they may or will turn on and become aggressive as well. The way that we move around, we only catch a fish or two out of a hole unless we are getting to a time, especially before dark, when they become very aggressive and we may not leave that hole as the fish keep replenishing themselves. There are times when color does matter but if you are only looking for the aggressive fish, it may not matter.

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 3/9/14

 

Conditions: Sunny skies, 30 degree air temperatures and high winds

What a change in weather from yesterday of over 50 degrees to 30 degrees and high winds. We headed back to New Hampshire to a lake we fished over a month ago and wanted to give it another try for the smallmouth bass that live in that lake. When we arrived we were surprised as there was only two other anglers out there. So we headed back over towards the area that we were at the previous time which is a small underwater point that comes out not far and has rocks and boulders for structure on it. We set our lines fairly deep this time around as the previous time the lines that were shallow didn’t produce anything. With the high winds that we had, there were a number of false signals given for our set lines as they would go off with no fish there. We were setting 12 lines out and when you are getting fish before you can finish setting up, that is a good sign of what the day is going to be like. So far this winter we have only had one trip that we were able to get totally setup before the fish started biting so we really can’t complain about that. The one side of this point always seems to attract pickerel as it didn’t take long and the pickerel were biting but we really weren’t getting any size for them. Also, the perch moved in as well as there were a number of them caught and I think a lot of our false bites were coming from the perch pulling on our baits and not taking them. My son typically runs all of the set lines and I follow behind resetting them and there was a time that 2 or 3 of them went off at the same time so I had an opportunity to take one. The one that I did take when I set the hook I could definitely tell that it was a much better fish. It gave a great fight coming to the hole and as I could see it coming up, the hook popped out of its mouth. Luckily it was already halfway up the hole with its head pointing up and the size of the fish wouldn’t allow it to turn around and go back down. So with that I put both of my hands deep into the water to try and again to try and finally was able to get a hold of the fish and pulled out a nice 3 pound largemouth bass. That fish was the largest for the day and my son was a bit upset but since I don’t get to catch a lot of fish when he is along, I am not going to complain. The bass bite really took off later in the day and we caught a number of two pound largemouth but we were not able to locate any of the smallmouth that are here. The winds really took a toll on us as they were nonstop but we had our Clam Vista popup house and once we had that setup it was a nice place to get out of the wind. When we left we went and checked out another area quickly as the other anglers were fishing it and what we found was that there was an underwater hump there. We really want to bring the boat out here in the open water and drive around the lake watching the electronics and get a good feeling as to what the lake really has to offer for structure.

It was another fun weekend and the coming week looks like some warm weather moving in so hopefully it doesn’t take a toll on the ice yet. We would like to fish for another 2-3 weeks yet and feel that we will still be able to do that.

So until our next trip out we hope that you can catch a trophy of your life and may your lines be tight…FISH ON…

 

 

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 3/8/14

 

Conditions: Partly cloudy skies, low 50’s air temperatures and moderate winds.

We had a busy day for sure so we didn’t get to the ice until after lunch time and also went to a lake that my son has never been to with me before. This lake is the one that I search for big crappies on and he was fired up to give it a try as Saturday’s are typically much quieter angler wise on the lake. There were 6 groups of anglers already on the ice and the lake is quite large so no one is crowding each other and there are many different locations that people can fish on. Once we could see where everyone was situated, there is a long underwater point with a large end flat that I wanted to target and see if we could find fish off of the deep edge. We set our lines around the edge of this flat with a few on top as well. The typical depth that we were fishing was 20-24 feet deep and a couple of lines were a bit deep in a deep pocket. This lake contains jumbo perch, smallmouth and largemouth bass and the elusive giant crappies that we are always looking for. It didn’t take long and the jumbo perch started biting and my son was in his glory as these were much heavier than any others that he has caught on other area lakes. We typically set our lines around 2 feet off of the bottom and that way the fish near the bottom as well as the ones that are suspended a bit will be able to locate our baits. We had bites going on all afternoon but noticed that when the sun was shining versus when there were clouds, we would get more bites with the sun. With the warm temperatures the latest snow that we had melted and it was fairly sloppy with a lot of standing water and you could also see that the top layer was softening up. While the set lines were sitting we started drilling holes and search for the crappies in this lake. We were never able to locate any but jigged up a bunch of perch also. Towards the end of our time out there we got a bite that once the fish was iced it was a beautiful smallmouth bass and gave up a great fight. That was the first smallmouth that we have gotten through the ice on this lake as in the open water season we catch a lot of them on tube baits and top-waters. I think that I have spoiled my son a bit with the size of fish that this lake gives up that we may be making a trip here once again very soon. The ice should be fishable for another 2-3 weeks for sure and then we will have to see where we are with its condition.

Tomorrow will find us in New Hampshire again chasing smallmouth and largemouth bass on a lake that we fished previous this year. So until next time, may you catch that trophy of a lifetime…FISH ON…

 

 

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 3/2/14

Conditions: Cloudy Skies, low 30's air temperatures and light winds

Since last weekend we had a banner day out on this particular lake, we wanted to go back and see if we could repeat what we had done. The ice conditions were so much better this time around and everything was totally frozen and there was around 16 inches of ice. We planted half of our lines in the same holes that were productive last time and the others we moved out into deeper water. We setup up our jigging in the same location where we were catching the jumbo perch and bull sunfish the previous trip. After getting all of the lines setup, this was the first time this season that we were able to do that without getting a fish biting. That was the sign that today was not going to be the same as the previous trip. We were getting a number of bites, but there were no fish there when we would set the hook. We were starting to see a trend happening in this area. The jumbo perch had taken over and that was the main fish that was caught throughout the day. There were only a few small pickerel caught and a few bass as well but the perch were playing with our lines and they definitely were the dominant fish today. The jigging lines were fairly quiet as well and you would pick up a nice sunfish here and there but the numbers of them were not there as well. I was able to jig up a decent bass which is always fun on the short rods. For the day we caught some numbers of fish but definitely compared to the previous trip, was somewhat disappointing. We were fishing depths from 6 feet of water out to 14 feet of water. It didn't really seem to matter as there was not any certain depth that was better than the next. This lake has been very quiet for anglers out there and not really sure why as the fish are definitely there and willing to bite your lines. We have another week of cold weather coming so that means that our ice season will be getting prolonged by another week or two at least. Maybe fishing until April this year on the ice and here in New England that really never happens.

Not sure yet as to where we are going to be going coming the next weekend but we know for sure that we will be on the ice for the weekend once it gets here once again. Tight lines and go and catch that trophy you are seeking...

Ice Fishing Massachusetts 3/1/14

Conditions: Sunny skies, mid 20's air temperatures and light winds

Since I was going solo today, decided to stay local and head to the lake that has big crappies in it that I was not able to locate last time and try a different area today in my search. Now that we have had a week of sub-freezing weather, the slush from the previous week is totally gone as it has frozen solid. This lake I was seeing around 13-15 inches of ice and the sheet was making the cracking noise the whole time out there. There is very little snow on the ice which makes it very enjoyable walking to the fishing area. I wanted to fish a flat point off of an island but when I got out there, there was already a couple of angler's setup there. So I went back towards the same area that I had previously fished here but wanted to concentrate more on a sunken island that is in this back corner. Started drilling holes and I always had fish in each hole but a lot of the times they were more lookers and sniffers than biters. I would give each hole a few minutes and if the fish were not aggressively biting, I would move and drill another hole. On the fourth hole I finally hit a spot that was showing some big marks on the Vexilar and it didn't take long for my Salmo Chubby Darter to get slammed and when the fish came through the hole is was a nice 2.5 pound largemouth bass. After my excitement calmed down and a picture was taken he was released and I went back to the hole to see if there were any other fish there. Didn't take long and there was another fish about 4 feet off the bottom and a little jigging magic and the fish slammed the Darter. As I was reeling the fish up, I was hoping that it was a smallmouth as I had never gotten one through the ice in this lake yet. The fish came up the hole and it was a 17.5 inch long crappie and this was the fish that I had come here to find. It took me a while to calm down with this one as this lake has these sized crappies but you generally only catch a couple if you can find them. A few pictures were taken and he was released back into the water and just between those two fish in the few minutes that they bit, my day was fulfilled and anything after that was all an extra bonus fish. This hole died after those fish and my search continued to finding the underwater hump that I wanted to fish the edge on. I was catching jumbo perch here and there and there were a few that when you dropped the Darter down there they would come flying off the bottom and slam the bait. These are the fish that I am always looking for as it is much more fun catching biters than sniffers. After drilling 30 holes I had finally found the island and certain holes were loaded with fish but most of them were sniffers. At this point I also killed the battery on my Strikemaster Auger and with a swap for a fresh battery I was off and drilling again. You would catch a perch or sunfish here or there but as morning turned into afternoon the bite started slacking off and I had other engagements that I needed to be at so called it a day around 1pm. With the catch of the bass and crappie my day was fulfilled and will keep me coming back as now the search for the smallmouth bass that live in this lake will be my next objective.

Tomorrow we will probably hit the road for New Hampshire again and see if we can repeat last weekend's catching. Tight lines and may you catch that trophy of your life...

Ice Fishing Question

When going to a lake, what or where do you look to start fishing during the ice season?

Answer at the following link:

http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/Ask_BWS_OutDoors.html

Ice Fishing Question

Q: In your fishing reports, I see a variety of fish species that you are catching on the same outing. How are you able to catch a variety of fish on one trip?

A:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/Ask_BWS_OutDoors.html

Ice Fishing New Hampshire 2/23/14

Conditions: Cloudy, low to mid 40's air temperatures and low winds

Since yesterday was a slop fest in Massachusetts and is only going to get worse today as the temperatures are still warm and more slush and water to form. So we decided to take a road trip to New Hampshire and see if we can try and get away from the slush and visit a lake that we frequent a lot in the warmer months and haven't been there this winter yet. Upon arriving at the lake, first thing we noticed was that the ice top layer was more stable than Massachusetts and also noticed that the snow covered areas were a bit softer than the bare ice areas. For the most part the top ice layer held up for most of the day and was starting to get soft by the time we left. We started setting lines in water depths of 5 feet deep out to around 12 feet deep. We were not even half way done setting lines and we were catching fish and the fun was already starting. Not sure if these fish have seen much for anglers this winter as we could not see any sign that anyone had been out there and that is always a good thing as then the fish are not as aware as they are if they are highly pressured. We typically set our lines roughly 2 feet off of the bottom and that way if there are any weeds down there the minnows are going to be able to stay swimming above those weeds. It is always a lot of fun when you are already getting biting fish before you are even setup yet and the second fish that we had caught was a nice 3 pound largemouth bass. While I am tending lines and sorts my son will work the set lines and when he starts yelling and screaming about the fish he has caught, I know that he has a good one on. This went on for the first few hours of the days and there were numerous pickerel and largemouth bass caught. Once we were able to get all of the lines setup, and things started to calm down, then it was time to start jigging the area and see if we can entice more bass into biting on the rod and reel. Right away we had fish in the jigging holes but those fish were reluctant to hit the bass lures that we had down there. So my son put that rod down and grabbed his panfish jigging rod and started working that. It didn't take long and he was into the jumbo perch which always put up a great fight. There was a period that we caught a number of jumbo's between the two of us as there was a good wave that had come through. As we are jigging our set lines have slowed down a bit but we were getting consistent bites throughout the afternoon. As the perch slowed down, and it was getting into later afternoon, the bull sunfish came in and the fishing turned into fast and furious once again. He typically fishes sunfish in this lake in the warmer months but has never caught the size that we were now catching. I don't think that I had ever seen this sized sunfish in all of the years that I had fished this lake. We really wish the sunfish would have started a lot earlier as these fish fought as hard as the bass did and were a lot of fun to catch. As the sun was getting lower in the sky, they just kept coming in thicker and thicker as you could see them on our flashers as we were fishing. Unfortunately, we still had a drive ahead of us for going home and it was time to start packing it up. He really didn't want to leave and I didn't either but the day had come to an end and was another stellar day on this particular lake. We went thru 3 dozen minnows, caught 4 species of fish and also a nice wind burn on our faces. We will definitely be coming back here before the end of the ice season as this lake never disappoints.

Not sure if we will be doing a road trip next weekend as the weather is going to be turning cold once again and that is going to firm everything up in Massachusetts and set up for another couple weeks of good fishing there.

So tight lines and may you catch that trophy of your lifetime...