Fishing Forum

Old Coot and I hit the Berry today. We drove down to Renegade, which is the 3rd time I've been there in 3 weeks. The road is BETTER now that it's been both other times. Pure blacktop in lots of places...but VERY SLICK in other places, so if you go...be careful, but it is absolutely amazing that one is able to DRIVE to Renegade 3 times during the month of January!...and the fishing is really good there!
We went out to our usual spot and within minutes I landed the first fish of the day. Over the next few hours we had lots of action and lots of laughs. The fishing was a little slower that it has been that last couple of weeks there, but we still managed to to ok. We left around 1:00 and ended up with 24 fish between us, 4 of those being Rainbows and 2 or 3 of the Cutts were just about right at 22 inches.

I didn't take any pictures today...but if I would have, here are the ones I wish I would have taken:

1. The picture of the fish camera screen...showing Ralph's fishing pole on the bottom of the lake!

2. The picture of the snowmobile trailer jacknifed on the side of the road driving out of Renegade...(fortunately, we left late enough to come home that the we didn't have to wait at all, but the trailer was still stuck in the bar-pit on the side of the road)

3. The perfect weather and blue sky! (It was beautiful up there today!)

4. The pictures of the s on our faces after an awesome day of fishing at the Berry!
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Ok Randy, share the story of how Ralph's rod went for a swim. We can use a good laugh at another angler's expense.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]Yes it sure was a great day on the Berry today. Partly because we were able to fish my favorite side of the lake … Renegade.[/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]Randy sure had the hot stick today icing 17 very nice trout. His stick was so hot (or maybe mine was so cold) that he had 12 fish iced before my first one. In all fairness to me though, I was doing some new lure R & D while Randy was so busy using tried and true. Once I decided to take his advice and put on a lure like his, I finally was able to ice 7 of my own. [/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]My R & D lesson was to go small. Tubes that work on soft water are really ignored by those fish this time of year. They prefer the smaller stuff under the ice. [/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]It was quite interesting, while watching the underwater camera, to see how later in the day (noon – 1:00) those cuts become bottom feeders. They wouldn’t take a suspended lure but boy, they sure would nose into the mud to get them laying on the bottom … interesting. That kind of stuff you would never see without an underwater camera. VERY COOL STUFF![/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]Man, it is absolutely amazing just how FAST a fish can pull an un-attended rod down an ice hole when you are not paying attention. But again, thanks to the underwater camera technology, we could see my submerged rod right in front of the camera. Thanks Randy for hooking it and retrieving it for me. I seldom ice fish the Berry without sending equipment down a hole (2 lip grippers, pliers, hanger hooks, etc.). But today was the first time I was ever able to retrieve one.[/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]Man it was great out there today. This will go in my journal as “The year we could drive to Renegade right up to the middle of January!”.[/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]Thanks much for the invite Randy. I couldn’t have had a better day.[/#000080][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080]--- Coot ---[/#000080][/font]
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Coot, that reminds me of a trip to Otter Creek a few years ago. My Dad was a machinist and gave me a pair of precision pliers when I was about 15 years old. (More than 35 years ago) The contact surface is so fine they work well as line nippers. Carried them most of my life. I dropped them in the ice at OC and they cartwheeled right into the hole. I was just sick about it. Ruined my day. I got to thinking about it and went to Ace Hardware. I picked up a strong magnet and went back the next day. I drilled three holes around my previous hole, lowered the magnet down on a cord and jigged it. About 15 minutes later I feel a tug and hear a "click" through the hole! Up comes my pliers stuck on the magnet! I'm a lot more careful with them now.
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