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Ice Camping Henry's 12-(10-12)
#1
Just got back from my ice season opening adventure... Socially distance joined a bunch of ice addicts on Henry's this weekend for the some what traditional kick off ice show and lip ripp'n adventure.  It was a great time joining old friends, catching some fish and seeing everyone's newest ice toys...  Plus I learned how to spend the night on the ice, on purpose...  I got a new sleeper shelter set up and I was able to give that a go and I survived and actually had some of my better night sleeps I've had in awhile...  (I really need a new bed at home)  

Anyway on Thursday I couldn't sleep for excitement so I got up at 2:15 and hit the road as soon as I could get out the door... Arrived at Henry's at 7:15ish and then tried to get my junk out on the ice... Pretty much a Clampet convention, but by 10:30 I finally got a line in the water and started fishing.... Yes I took way too much junk... when it won't fit in 3 big sleds and you have to take additional trips back to the truck to get gear, you have a problem...  On Thursday the fish were biting all day, but I forgot how to catch them... I ended up with 10 fish, but missed over 32 hits... Yes I had a note book and was counting... First day most of my catches was on the jaw jackers if I could get to them before they got off.. Got 8 on the JJ's and only 2 on my jigged rod...  Oh I forgot when I first got there and met Joe as he was showing me his ice castle (no lie a full up Wisconsin ice house) and a jigger tripped so he had me catch that fish to see what it is like to fish in style... It was a chub, my only one of the trip...  But it got the skunk off my back... later in the day as I'd settled in my shack and started to get comfortable with the new set up I got a big fish on, and I had punched 6" holes inside my shelter so I hopefully wouldn't step in them or lose stuff down them... Anyway this fish kind of like a cork came popping up the hole an it's head barely fitting through the hole was sticking out about 6" and I forgot you can't horse fish out of ice holes and I pulled the hook right out of it's mouth... That was my biggest fish of the trip lost at the hole...  I dropped right back down that hole and nailed another really nice fish, probably my second biggest of the trip, and I proceeded to do the same stupid thing and lost it coming out of the hole... Well I finally learned a lesson and started to take my time and use my lip grippers to get a hold of the fish before I tried to pull them out of the hole and i don't think I lost anymore fish like that... I did have a few brush the hook loose as I'd try to pull them up into the hole and I also had second hooks catch on the edge of the ice snagging there while the fish below was able to get slack line and slip the hook, but most of my bad luck was on the first day... I think the best fish landed on day one was a 20" Cutthroat... Gorgeous fish as always, in fact I kept and filleted one that swallowed my jig too deep and their meat is as red as salmon, boy they are pretty fish...  That night a bunch of other guys joined the group and folks kept catching fish clear until 11:00, but for me it pretty much ended by 7:30 or 8:00... Sad part was I was there all day (I know I wasted half the day setting up) and only got 10 fish... Skyler joined us about 5:00 PM and ended up with 20 fish...  

Day two or Friday, I found I didn't die from freezing to death over night and all of the thunderous cracking from the ice sheet didn't suck me under so I was alive for day two, which I rolled out of my comfy down and flannel sleeping bag at 5:30 ish and immediately dropped two lines in the water and started fishing... I picked up two fish and missed two by 7:30 and then the drought started... I didn't have another hit until 3:30 in the afternoon and this was my most active fishing day... Lots of fish went by but I couldn't make them take anything... I tried most of my lure ideas and nothing was working for me... Then as everyone was going around the lake visiting the rest of the crew, I stayed behind to fish and at 3:30 they started hitting, I had been trying my new glow cup and hitting stuff with lots of glow and tipped my Maniac's with night crawlers and it turned on and from then until about 6:00 I couldn't get both poles back in the water before I had another fish on... It was great!!! Had a couple doubles, which is not a good thing with holes about 5 feet apart... I got more tangled and wrapped up around transducers and about relearned all those sware words I've been trying so hard not to say... But it was so fun, I ended up with 22 fish in that flurry and some were really nice fish, the best I measured was 21.5" and I got several from there to 19" in a run of bigger fish... Alan was trying to get me to answer a text, but I wasn't very cooperative, it was a fun flash....   

Next night was about the same except for the wind and snow that came in... However the shelter stayed warm at 50 degrees and I slept great... Nailed two fish first thing Saturday morning and then started to pack up to go home.. It took till noon to get loaded and start down the road, but it was sure a fun trip...

Details i forgot to mention, there was 13" of ice, so strong enough to hold the trailer... We were about 2 miles out from both the county dock and Wild Rose so about in the middle of the lake...  The Blackstone grill worked great for cooking burgers and breakfast burritos of egg, bacon and hash browns... It was a blast to ice camp, however, I took too much stuff... I hope I learned a lesson on how to do better with that...  Biggest fish caught by the group was  29" near 11 lber... I didn't get to see that one, but sounded like an incredible fish... We didn't see the usual numbers of fish in the 24-26" range that are usually caught, I think 22" was the average big fish that most caught... If you plan on a Henry's trip remember the season closes January 1st, so a little less than 3 weeks remain this year...  Fishing was streaky, meaning when the bite was on everyone was catching fish and then there was a lot of slow time between... Some caught fish in the lulls, but they were smarter than me and kept changing lures till they found one that worked, but after a while their taste changed and you needed to find a different lure that worked...  For me Pat's dart jighead in glow tipped with a nightcrawler worked best followed close by the Maniac Cut'r bugs in glow, orange, black and white with red spots all caught fish for me... Oh on day two the jaw jackers didn't catch hardly any fish, in fact i think I only got one fish on the jacker... I had to finesse jig each fish by hand to entice a strike, it took a lot of concentration and effort to get the hits on the second day and they were biting really lightly so you about had to anticipate the strike.. We were fishing 17 FOW so it wasn't a good area to use the camera, so I relied on the Marcum to tell me what I needed to know... Was so hard to see the fish right on your jig, but not be able to feel a bite... Had lots of swings and misses, but did find some fish too...  Well if anyone followed that whole story you need a prize... Let me know if there's anything I didn't cover that your curious about and I'll try to pass it on... I'll get on my phone and see if I can add some photo's probably not much for fish, you've seen one, you've seen them all from this trip nothing too exciting for size.. Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#2
(12-14-2020, 07:52 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Anyway on Thursday I couldn't sleep for excitement so I got up at 2:15 and hit the road as soon as I could get out the door... Arrived at Henry's at 7:15ish and then tried to get my junk out on the ice... Pretty much a Clampet convention, but by 10:30 I finally got a line in the water and started fishing.... Yes I took way too much junk... when it won't fit in 3 big sleds and you have to take additional trips back to the truck to get gear, you have a problem...

LOL, Jeff, you crack me up.  You are the only person I have heard of that is a hoarder ice angler. Wink
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#3
What was the water depth where you were at?

I was there 2 weekends ago. fished 6-8 ft of water. you did better than I did. My group caught mostly brookies.
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#4
Great write up of the trip Jeff, glad you got out and had a good time, let me know if you need a hand at the yard sale so you can thin out your stuff lol.
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#5
I've got to work on that... I took a 5 gallon tote of tackle and didn't even open it up to try anything out of it... What a waste of space, most of it was lake fishing gear so I don't know why I took it, just in case i guess... I also took a 5 gallon water jug, which I didn't use a drop of the water... along with the box of hot chocolate mix that I never got around to fixing... Took a dozen ice rods and maybe used 7 of those... Fixed a yard light that I thought I'd need for night time to see outside... headlight worked fine and it was too much of a blizzard to set up and cook outside... Took a second set of ice clothes just in case... might be a good idea, but I think they would have been fine to stay in the truck and then go get them if needed... I haven't got my power needs figured out yet, I took a jump box to use for power and for some reason it ran out of power just changing my phone and headlamp... so I think I'll change over to a regular 12 V battery that I use for my pontoon... It should last the whole trip... That would eliminate the need for the generator... So if I keep it up maybe you'll let me reduce my hoarder status... I think after the first trip of knowing I don't need the kitchen sink, I should do better in the future... Too many what if this happens I might need this led to too much gear... but hey I had everything I needed... Later Jeff

Hey Alan you know how the addicts don't think they have a problem... well maybe that fits me too well... was a great trip... did you get the second elk? Glad you made it out okay... We'll have to find a spot and go try a fish soon... I promise I'll cut down on gear so the ice don't break... Later Jeff

(12-14-2020, 08:41 PM)ratnest Wrote: What was the water depth where you were at?

I was there 2 weekends ago. fished 6-8 ft of water. you did better than I did.  My group caught mostly brookies.
We were fishing in 17 FOW and the fish came through about 5' off the bottom... The spot we were at was a mudflat in the middle of the weed forest so the fish just roamed through this area... The guys that were closer to the weedline had more fish going through, and I should have moved, but I didn't learn this until I had the palace all set up and I was too lazy to move after...  We had maybe 14 - 20 guys in the group and I only remember seeing like 3-5 brookies caught in the whole group, so you did well... They were really pretty, the ones caught in the group were all colored up this year...  We had a couple guys fishing shallow and they did really well early in the mornings, in fact it was dead in the middle and those at Stahles and Wild Rose were having the best fishing of the day.  So knowing what I know now, I'd fish shallow until about 10-11 and then move out to the middle if you wanted to be on fish all day...  Fishing was a lot better Thursday before more folks showed up, pressure really reduced the fishing productivity...

Let’s see if I can get a few pictures. Later Jeff


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flag for cayman islands

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How do I post a video? It’s not very good and may make you seasick, but the timing was good. Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#6
Jeff
Well better to be ready for stuff then not have it especially on a “1st trip” doing something new. Haven’t got the 2nd elk yet but we’re getting closer each day, snow has them moving which is helping.
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#7
Wow Alan that’s a long time on the mountain. Good luck to you and the crew. We’ll see you when you get back. May need a rest before someone talks you into going ice fishing. I caught a monster tonight. Later J
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When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#8
(12-15-2020, 12:58 AM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Wow Alan that’s a long time on the mountain. Good luck to you and the crew. We’ll see you when you get back. May need a rest before someone talks you into going ice fishing. I caught a monster tonight. Later J
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That is good striper size bait there  Big Grin  One of my friends has a house over where we’re hunting so it’s pretty comfortable elk camp for sure. I’ll be ready to roll when I get back Cool
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#9
Jeff, that sounds like a fun trip.  I've only fished Henry's once during the summer a few years ago and have been wanting to go back ever since.  Great report.
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#10
What a great trip it was Jeff. Your story makes me think back to our 1st ice camping days. Man we hauled a lot.  Still haul quite a bit now but it gets used. My 3 day total came out to 60 fish. 1 brookie, 2 chub and the rest cuts/hybrids. My biggest only pushed the 20" mark but definitely worth every minute. I did see the Pic of the 29" and it was a hog. It was released immediately.  With the great phone service we had I was watching all kinds of stuff on the tablet and lazy fishing with my jigging jacker most the weekend. Only fishing one hole up there was new for me. With the weather the way it was it did keep us tent bound but I can say the drive for or crew was the best we've had in 6 years doing this trip and the ice conditions phenomenal. Here's a couple pics of took. It needed 2 wheeler's in tandem today to get Joe's ice seeker off. He's really looking at utvs now. Lol

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#11
Ok Kent now check out what Matt takes, note I didn’t have the TV in my tent. So I still have some room for hoarding. Matt and crew really have a great set up going for those multi day trips. I’m amazed each year by the new ideas they come up with and they are incredible fishermen. They usually double or triple my catch on any trip I join them, but they are always good to share what’s working if I’m not too bullheaded to try it. I think Matt was posting some videos on ice camping, I’m looking forward to checking them out. Later Jeff

PS. Alan we’ll see you when you return. After the fall thru at Mantua yesterday, maybe it’s not quite time to go yet.

(12-15-2020, 02:55 AM)Jig-fisher Wrote: Jeff, that sounds like a fun trip.  I've only fished Henry's once during the summer a few years ago and have been wanting to go back ever since.  Great report.
Henry’s is sure a fun pond. I think it’s a little better than Strawberry and a beautiful area to be at. Lots of fun stuff to do around where we live, just not enough time to do everything. But that keeps life interesting. I love to do stuff outdoors. Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#12
(12-15-2020, 04:49 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Ok Kent now check out what Matt takes, note I didn’t have the TV in my tent. So I still have some room for hoarding.

An insulated tent and that flooring would be nice.
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#13
The foam on floor would dry out by morning so you could stand up to get dressed without getting your feet or bibs wet. It was really nice.. I just needed to put an ice anchor in it so it wouldn’t move on me. Next time I’ll be a little smarter. J
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#14
WOW....thats more stuff that you have on your boat....   Smile  .  

Way back when I was still on active duty in USAF,  I spent some time at Wurtsmith AFB up near Oscoda Michigan.  I saw large wooden shacks, on skids that were towed out on the lake for the season.   And saw one that had partially fallen thru some ice, then the water had frozen back around it.  

Decided then that wasn't the kind of fishing for me....  Big Grin . 
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
    Or so it says on my license plate holder
                                 
Cool
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#15
A good sign the ice is not ready or done for the year

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#16
Looks like quite the party. Hot breakfast on the ice sure looks good. I should make more trips focusing on the whole experience, rather than on just catching fish. Little disappointed that the recliner on skis didn’t make it out this trip. Congrats on a trip well done
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#17
(12-15-2020, 07:35 PM)Tin-Can Wrote: WOW....thats more stuff that you have on your boat....   Smile  .  

Way back when I was still on active duty in USAF,  I spent some time at Wurtsmith AFB up near Oscoda Michigan.  I saw large wooden shacks, on skids that were towed out on the lake for the season.   And saw one that had partially fallen thru some ice, then the water had frozen back around it.  

Decided then that wasn't the kind of fishing for me....  Big Grin . 
Guess I do more ice fishing than boat fishing with that farming habit I have. I asked Joe what happens if the ice won’t hold the trailer, he said the wheels go through till it hits the frame and then it spreads the load out to where it will stay on top. I didn’t want to find out so I set up a ways away from his spot. J

(12-15-2020, 11:07 PM)EyLayo Wrote: Looks like quite the party. Hot breakfast on the ice sure looks good. I should make more trips focusing on the whole experience, rather than on just catching fish. Little disappointed that the recliner on skis didn’t make it out this trip. Congrats on a trip well done
Oh you’ve seen Joe on ice before. Guess when you have the ice castle you don’t need or have room for the recliner. The breakfast was fun, I think my father-in-law will get a kick out of that too so I’ll probably try it at Hyrum when it gets safe. Drop by I’m sure I’ll have extra. Later J
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#18
 Drop by I’m sure I’ll have extra. Later J

I can vouch he will and it is delicious, thanks again for the burrito last friday morning Jeff
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#19
(12-16-2020, 02:39 PM)Muskyon46 Wrote:  Drop by I’m sure I’ll have extra. Later J

I can vouch he will and it is delicious, thanks again for the burrito last friday morning Jeff
You're very welcome, I should have did more on Saturday morning, but I started cleaning up and didn't want to cook after I'd packed  up the giddle...  I had sausage instead of bacon for the next day planned, but didn't get around to that till I got home... But my Wife and all enjoyed that go round...  Fun trip, wish we had more and better ice around here I'd like to do it again... Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#20
(12-16-2020, 04:40 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote:
(12-16-2020, 02:39 PM)Muskyon46 Wrote:  Drop by I’m sure I’ll have extra. Later J

I can vouch he will and it is delicious, thanks again for the burrito last friday morning Jeff
wish we had more and better ice around here I'd like to do it again... Later Jeff


Our start for Gorge is not to far out, for sure after the new year. Been looking at a maybe Blackfoot reservoir also this year if you can still get to the dam without going all the way around, not much snow up there yet. Always wanted to ice fish/camp that area.
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