Newton 1-20-25

[SkunkedAgain]

Well I debated back and forth about where to go, and since I had just put together a new smitty that is kind of heavy and was totally unproven, I didn't want to get too far from home, plus my wife is watching the twin grand daughters and I didn't know if I might be called home to help... So wanted to stay close on thicker ice...  Well, 2 degree temp and 10 mph winds didn't make for a warm trip especially since I didn't have a tent...  Set up by dam to start and didn't see much, finally had a nice fish take it and as I tried to reel I figured out everything from the supposed to slip bobber on was frozen... Ended up losing that one and it was by far the best fighter of the day...  At Newton the sun doesn't peak around the mountain until about nine and just about the time I was frozen near defeat and ready to call it a day very early, the sun came up and saved my trip...  Ended up moving back to the other side of that bay where it wasn't quite as windy and first drop it was fish on, one after another for about twenty minutes... Only problem was, the biggest was 7.5" and smallest was probably 3" if it was that big... I couldn't even feel it after the strike... Total minnow fest.  I'm not sure how many I got but sure it was at least half a dozen maybe more, they were so unmemorable that I lost count quickly only had two over seven.. most were sub 4".... So the skunk was broken, but I'm not sure that counts, I still feel sort of defeated...  New smitty works, but had several findings that needs improvement.. Hopefully it will do better next trip... I'll see if I can find a few pix on the monsters and post later... J

[SkunkedAgain]

Oh a couple things I forgot to mention, Ice by dam was 5", over closer to ramp it was at least 7" looking west it had capped, but had big cracks oozing water, so I didn't go out to check thickness, and further north I think there was still open water, or else it capped since last snow and is so clear it looks like open water... anyway no machines on the ice yet, but main bay would probably hold them if you could resist the urge to go on the thin ice towards the west side... was about a half inch of snow on the ice and it made it so it wasn't too slick so I didn't need cleats... I'm not in a big hurry to return due to fish size, but the ice conditions were good... Later J

[Jig-fisher]

Well at least you put the skunk to bed. Too bad the quality wasn't better. I know how the ice build-up can mess up landing a fish. I removed the spring bobbers from 2 of my poles yesterday because of ice build-up and difficulty landing fish.

[wiperhunter2]

Glad you were able to get out there and beat that skunk. Was there anyone else out there fishing, if so, could you tell if they were catching anything?

[SkunkedAgain]

Well at least you put the skunk to bed. Too bad the quality wasn't better. I know how the ice build-up can mess up landing a fish. I removed the spring bobbers from 2 of my poles yesterday because of ice build-up and difficulty landing fish.

I did the same thing yesterday after losing that first fish, I went to my ultra light rod that doesn't require any spring bobber to show the slightest bites and it was awesome for showing the tiny fish nibbles... I wish I would have taken a picture of the one fish, it was so tiny I don't know how it got the hook into it's mouth... But I had to re-learn a lot of icefishing lessons yesterday from years gone by... Between tents and warmer winters, I hadn't fished in real cold for a while so I didn't take my bubblers or anything like that... But it worked out with some tweaking.. So maybe next trip I'll be on top of things and prepared... Hope so, and hope I can find some size to a couple fish to feel like I caught something.. Although it was really fun to get on those really light bites and be able to hook them... Thanks for he reply... Jeff

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Glad you were able to get out there and beat that skunk. Was there anyone else out there fishing, if so, could you tell if they were catching anything?

Hey Curt, there were six groups there, I was the only one dumb enough to not have a tent so I couldn't see what the others were doing, but I did talk to one guy that left about the same time I did, he said he seen fish all morning on the camera, but couldn't make them bite... Sounded like he was using the gulp maggots and I guess they didn't like them...  I used the real maggot and they really like them... If there were fish around, I was getting at least nibbles.... I did have some suspended fish come through several times and I pulled up to their level, but couldn't ever get them to bite...  Maybe crappie, but just a guess... Thanks for the reply... Jeff