Quick Henrys Report-Thanksgiving

[windriver]

Started out fishing Staleys before light. We caught 15 fish in the morning with 14 being cutts between 18-21". The other fish was a brookie. We were using white or chartruse paddle bugs tipped with nightcrawler or mealworms. The fish seemed to favor the mealworms just slightly more. All fish were caught before 9:00AM. Then it was like a light switch being turned off.

Then my wife and other kids came at 11:00. We set up Thanksgiving dinner in the command post and cooked our turkey in the deep fryer. Everything went perfect. We had a great Thanksgiving out on the ice.

After packing up and helping my wife get ready to go home. I went to try out another location. This one I can not tell as I was sworn to secrecy. However I can say study maps of the lake and look for the holes and drop offs that are good in the Fall.

It was 4:00PM before I was set up in the new holes. The move payed off as we picked up 10 more fish and broke off two huge ones. It was a pretty even mix of brookies and cutts at this hole. We were running out of light at 5:15 so we packed up and went home.

I will post picks and more detail when I get home tomorrow night.

Windriver
[signature]

[OvidCreek]

Wind River,

Congrats on the great day; the best report I have heard from the Henrys ice marathon. I hope you ice a big one in the next couple of days.

OvidCreek
[signature]

[dustponds10]

Hey what is this paddle bug that you are talking about. ANy pictures of them?
[signature]

[fishingrocket]

WR,

A black Friday update. It was still smoking. I did a little better with small pieces of worm instead of meal worms. One of my jigs can still be seen in the hybrids mouth. He was 22" and just under 4 pounds when I got home.

FR
[signature]

[Kennyshmoo]

Hey guys report to day at henrys was hot this morning! Buddy caught 8Ilb it was quite a sight. Caught alot of brookies, and had a great time. We were over by the outlet. Water was about 8 ft deep. Micro jigs seemed to be the ticket. Over and out!!!!!!!!!!
[signature]

[maghunter]

Made it up there for a few hours Saturday morning. Fishing was ok until about 8:30 and then we didn't get any bites. The wind was howling and made it hard to tell if you were getting bites or not, and COOOOLLLDDD. We didn't catch anything over 19" but some guys near us landed a 25" hybrid. We stopped by IP res on our way home, ice was a solid 3 to 4 inches, talked to a couple guys who had been out there all morning without a bite, while I was talking to them he finally caught a little 10" planter. Hope the fishing gets good up there.
[signature]

[fishingrocket]

Maghunter,

By normal standards, that is a pretty impressive report. It is amazing at how high the bar is set at Henry's that we are almost embarrassed when we report 19" trout. I remember when my goal was to break the 14" barrier.

Since the season is winding down, I want to first point out the obvious based on my observations and the other posts. One could do well fishing Henry's at night.

Also, I want to discuss ice safety briefly. This may be the only chance to fish Henry's on safe ice for quite some time. I ventured out about 2/3 mile from the county boat dock in an easterly direction Friday. There was one obvious scary spot where I deployed all of my (SEAT) - Special Equipment and Tactics. A fracture had produced slush on top of the ice, so with Picks-of- Life in hand, I used my sled (that can double as a boat in a pinch) to surface slide into the middle and chip with my axe for assessment. It was solid ice underneath for several inches so only a false alarm. I was headed to the middle but was stopped by what appeared to be suspicious stuff in the snow at the 2/3 mile point. In retrospect, I was probably overly cautious. A group eventually went further out from a different angle. The point is that due to the manner of ice formation - no snow insulating it while it was very cold for several days - Henry's seems to have grown very thick ice (5-7") during the legal season. From past reports, this year is a freak.

Get them while you can. There are trophies in there....

FR
[signature]

[Kent]

[quote dustponds10]

Hey what is this paddle bug that you are talking about. ANy pictures of them?

[/quote]

Here is a picture of a Paddle Bug. They go on a lead exterior jig head.

[inline pb-9.jpg]
[signature]

[windriver]

Have I ever mentioned how much I like paddle bugs?[cool] There are many twin tails that will do fine in most situations but there is something about the way a paddle bug glides as it falls that drives the trout crazy. This is why you have to use the appropriate line size for the weight of the jig.

Windriver
[signature]

[curt69]

What is the right line size ? Thanks Curt G.
[signature]

[windriver]

You have to experiment a little because every line is a little different. I would say that for most lines 4lb will work well with 1/8-1/32oz heads. The problem really becomes at henrys trying to use the 1/16 oz heads with 10lb test. The paddle bugs just don't glide naturally when the heads are too light for the line. Then you have to change heads to maybe an 1/8, 3/16, or even 1/4 oz head.

When every thing is going right the paddle bug will glide slowely down on the drop or after a big jig. The fish often hit on the drop.

Windriver
[signature]

[jigs]

had to tell you i thought all day about your old lady hitting the ice on thanksgiving day. man oh man you are a lucky guy!!! i think all of us guys will abide by that.
[signature]

[windriver]

There is no doubt that I am a very lucky guy. My wife does fish quite a bit. She is currently working on her masters degree which has slowed her down a little but she will go out a few times this winter.

We are currently planning our yearly family ice fishing trip where we travel somewhere, stay in a hotel and fish for a couple of days. It has become a fun holiday tradition.

Windriver
[signature]