Rockport ice fishing report not over just yet

[Mildog]

I’ve been watching the weather and noticed a few very cold days and nights since reports of bad edges. Jmorfish mentioned he was heading up to try and I told him that a buddy and I  were going as well and we may meet up on the lake. We Left Sandy at 7:30 (Jmorfish mentioned he was meeting Mscott at lake 6:45. I decided no rush and we got there about 8:30 saw M Scott and Jmorfish’s tent. And a few other people out, we could see the edges looked solid as we walked out and they were good solid no
Problem. Walked by M Scott and Jmorfish’s tent, we ventured down a bit to
The area I wanted to start, where I have been doing well. Both were catching fish. I will let them post details n
There success if they want. 
The ice has a few inches of blown snow a few slushy spots but not bad. Ice thickness varies
A bit, where we were I would say it was  7 inches, 3 clear ice at bottom and 4 grey hard frozen slush on top.  (When we left edges were still
Good at 1:00 ish a little water showing up
But solid) 
It Took us 10 or 12 holes and 15 minutes or so to find depth (26-27) I
Like and also to find fish. Once we did it was game on. From 9am to 11:45 there was solid school of fish and action was constant. I had 30 fillet size keepers in no time and let a bunch go. Jason and I finally decided we might has well keep limits. I kept 50, 8 inches plus to the biggest 10.5 inches on 3 or 4 that big but all were good size to fillet. Jason 45 by the time he realized he was short a few they had moved off we decided 95 to would be. We both let a bunch of keepers go. Lots of fun good action.
Tag team filleted the two buckets in 49 minutes. Washed cleaned and we made dozen vac packed bags for future yummy meals! I’m guessing temperature dependent it will
Be safe for a “few” more days. The way the weather has been and upcoming warming it can and will
Change fast. Always use caution don’t assume check for yourself and watch local weather and temperatures . BE SAFE !!

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[icerman]

Thank you for the report!  I hope to head up on Sat. morning!  What was the morning temp?

[Piscophilic]

Thanks for the report and the cool pictures! I haven't had a mess of perch in a while. You have gotten me all excited, but I will wait until the water is soft again.

[Mildog]

I didn’t remember to check the temp. when we got there think it was in the mid 20 degree range. Holes were refreezing and a bit of ice forming in rod guides right when we got there at around 8:30. It warmed to above freezing pretty early. Looking at temps today and for the next couple of days it appears it will be above freezing for much of the next 2 days. Friday night and early sat morning it is forecast to get into the teens. Hopefully it will still be safe for a few more days. Don’t assume it’s safe until you see that it’s or check for yourself. Be careful and stay safe.
I’d like to make another trip. I keep a close watch on it. I have the WANSHIP area pinned on weather app and keep a close eye on temperatures. It won’t take long to deteriorate if it stays warm for long periods of time.

[Jmorfish]

Good report from Mildog...MWScott and I punched a few test holes at 27 FOW, 'saw' fish right away. I caught a few and set my tent..it WAS cold with a strong wind blowing, making it difficult-for me at least- to keep up with the bite when hands are cold and damp from handling fish...MW moved about 30 yds East and started doing very well also...I've noticed that the average size caught "Here in the South" were a good 1/2" shorter than my last 4 or 5 trips "Up North" where I'd been fishing in 47 FOW...as noted before, however, the many 5 to 71/2" dinks are more safely released at this shallower depth..so my average kept here were 8 to 9", with just a couple over 9...35 were way plenty for me...Chnl 4 just happened to be at our parking spot when I came up and did a Rockport interview for their 4:00 news...Hope you missed it!! Actually they did a pretty good job...Wind made it seem a lot colder when we arrived, temp at 0700 was 21*...Guluk and be careful if still heading out...

[MWScott72]

It was nice to meet up with JMore and get to meet Mildog yesterday. Sorry we didn’t get to speak longer Pat. I had to leave for to meet a plumber at 12:30 or I would have stayed longer.

Not much else to add than has already been said. Our first set was probably lines in water around 7:45 or 8. It was somewhat slow although JMore was having no issues getting into them. For whatever reason, they didn’t want much to do with me, so as JMore said, I moved about 30-40 yds away to try again. Depth was the same and it started off slow there too. When I saw Mildog, it was about 9am and when he asked how it was, I told him it was slow and those caught were small. As soon as he moved off though, the fishing started to pick up. From 9-11:30, there was constant action. Lots of small ones but releases were easy in the shallower water. If I’m keeping 35 fish, it might as well be 50, so that’s what I did. Probably threw back just as many that were under 8”.

I was using a green glow Hali with a yellow rat finke above. Never bothered to charge the Hali as it wasn’t needed. Perch eye was preferred although I used a couple pieces of JMore’s marinated perch belly and this worked well for awhile too although the fish seemed to tire of that after 11am. Put eyeballs back on and it was game on again.

Edges were fine both on and off. The top of the ice was noticeably softer when coming off the lake. With the warmer temps, I’d still be very cautious as that grey ice seems to deteriorate fairly quickly under “warm” conditions.