02-06-2005, 04:45 AM
Dan and I hit the Berry today with Dave and his son in tow. Took the machines out to Renegade. Since none of us had ever fished it before we guessed where to fish. What a guess, it was the first time in my long ice fishing carrer I never had to drill more than one hole. We hit the mother lode the first time and never moved. The weather was perfect, the fishing was hot and fast and the company was awesome. The temprature when we left the marina was a balmy 1 degree. It warmed up to 31 when we pulled out at 5:30. The morning was perfect, but the W picked up about 2:00, but was never unbearable. The best part is was there was no slush to deal with.
I started out with a chartruse glow 3" tube with glow head, that was the ticket for the fist hour, Dan used the same head with white glow body, he quickly caught me and then passed me. I switched baits on and off all day with nothing working better or worse until I went to a 4" bone white tube on the same glow head. I then started to catch Dan but he turned back on and ended up catching 10 more than me. I didn't use an attractor but Dan was using a small copper cast master and that seemed to make the difference.
Dave had a pink PaddleBug and Austin used a Chartuse one. It was Austin's first time fishing and once he got the hang of it ended up with 14 fish. Not a bad day for a kid and his first time with a rod in his hands. Of course he got lots of sage advice from me and Dan. Some may say our pontific words might have been harsh at times but I say, only the strong survive in the life or death world of high stakes ice fishing.
We fished half way down on the right side of the bay in 33 feet of water. There wasn't a sole within half a mile of us.
I guess what surpised me most was the amount of Bows we got, about 50% of the fish were Bows. The Bows were up in the water column and when they'd show up we go up to get them. We almost always got a hit. The ghost of JMig visited us many times today as there were Jeffings a plenty.
Bottom line to this rambling, 4" tubes with attractor was the best bait, Tipped with a small piece of minnow. Quality electronics made the difference as we could see exactly what was happening below us. Sping bobbers were a must since most hits were very light. The Cutts liked it moving and the Bows liked it sitting still. If your seeing fish look at your bait and they leave, switch, but remember they may want it again later. We weren't above using Power Nuggets and for about an hour that's all they wanted. I think we got 12 fish off Power Nuggets. We tried earth worms but only got two fish off them, never tried shrimp, or mealies or waxies. I tried a white what-a-cricket for about half an hour but olny got 2 fish off it. I think it was too small and they wanted big baits today. All fish but a few were in the slot and we kept nothing (they're not Perch). How many did we catch? More than 50 but less than 100. I've got the GPS co-ords for the spot and will gladly give it to you guys, but you have to PM me. I have to remember how to pull the co-ords off the menu so give me a day of two. Sorry for not having pictures but I think I lost my digital at the great Porcupine fiasco the other night.
It was the best day of fishing I've had in long time and my sled ran great. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if you guys were there with us.
IFG
I started out with a chartruse glow 3" tube with glow head, that was the ticket for the fist hour, Dan used the same head with white glow body, he quickly caught me and then passed me. I switched baits on and off all day with nothing working better or worse until I went to a 4" bone white tube on the same glow head. I then started to catch Dan but he turned back on and ended up catching 10 more than me. I didn't use an attractor but Dan was using a small copper cast master and that seemed to make the difference.
Dave had a pink PaddleBug and Austin used a Chartuse one. It was Austin's first time fishing and once he got the hang of it ended up with 14 fish. Not a bad day for a kid and his first time with a rod in his hands. Of course he got lots of sage advice from me and Dan. Some may say our pontific words might have been harsh at times but I say, only the strong survive in the life or death world of high stakes ice fishing.
We fished half way down on the right side of the bay in 33 feet of water. There wasn't a sole within half a mile of us.
I guess what surpised me most was the amount of Bows we got, about 50% of the fish were Bows. The Bows were up in the water column and when they'd show up we go up to get them. We almost always got a hit. The ghost of JMig visited us many times today as there were Jeffings a plenty.
Bottom line to this rambling, 4" tubes with attractor was the best bait, Tipped with a small piece of minnow. Quality electronics made the difference as we could see exactly what was happening below us. Sping bobbers were a must since most hits were very light. The Cutts liked it moving and the Bows liked it sitting still. If your seeing fish look at your bait and they leave, switch, but remember they may want it again later. We weren't above using Power Nuggets and for about an hour that's all they wanted. I think we got 12 fish off Power Nuggets. We tried earth worms but only got two fish off them, never tried shrimp, or mealies or waxies. I tried a white what-a-cricket for about half an hour but olny got 2 fish off it. I think it was too small and they wanted big baits today. All fish but a few were in the slot and we kept nothing (they're not Perch). How many did we catch? More than 50 but less than 100. I've got the GPS co-ords for the spot and will gladly give it to you guys, but you have to PM me. I have to remember how to pull the co-ords off the menu so give me a day of two. Sorry for not having pictures but I think I lost my digital at the great Porcupine fiasco the other night.
It was the best day of fishing I've had in long time and my sled ran great. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if you guys were there with us.
IFG
