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Tincanfsh and I fished Strawberry last evening. Started fishing at about 6:00 PM and quit at 8:30 PM. Fished at the Strawberry Marina south of the ramp. Didn't realize, until we were all set up in the ice shelter that we were in 45 feet of water. We considered moving shallower, but with it snowing so hard, we decided to say put. Fishing was good for about 1 1/2 hours, then it slowed down considerably. It was about that time when the underwater light went dim, which may or may not have been related. I caught 4 and Tincanfsh caught 7. They were all about 16 to 18 inches, with one small one that ran about 13. We both lost several others and missed far too many bites. I thought I had a huge one when I set the hook and my rod snapped; however, when I reeled it in it was only about a 17 incher -- not sure why my rod snapped. Ice was about 6 inches thick, and some places had a thin layer of ice on top, and about 6 inches of slush. Wind wasn't too bad to start with, but it picked up considerably before we left. We started out with just the lantern, and then we also lit up the small propane heater at around 7:00 PM. It got so wet in there with the water dripping from the roof that it felt like fishing in a rain forest. Spent about an hour pulling a pickup out of the median by Jordanelle on the way home.
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Sounded like a semi decent trip!!!! I cant wait to get up to the berry!!! How much slush was on top of the ice??? I might try and hit that tomorrow.
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Nice report kentofnsl. I've never had the chance to use an underwater light...how does it work? Have you used them on a regular basis?
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Polo -- as stated 6 inches of slush. There wasn't slush everywhere, but in some areas, between the slush, and breaking through a thin layer of ice on top -- it was tough walking. I have used my underwater light twice. Both times were at Strawberry -- once in the summer and this trip. Both times it seemed to attract fish, but I was disappointed at how quickly it ran down my small 12 volt battery that I use with my fishfinder.
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Great report kent! I was up there at the Strawberry Marina from noon till 3:00 on on the 31st. Fished with a small silver kastmaster, with a dropper below holding a tubejig, then switched to one of TubeDude's baitbugs. Tipped the lure with a mealworm. Fish about 200 feet East of the ramp. I believe it was about 20 feet of water. Tried fishing all depths of the water column. This was my first time actually icefishing. Didn't catch a thing. My brother in law caught one 12 inch cutt on a small spinner tipped with a mealworm fished motionless.
I really have no idea how to icefish, don't know if it's better with no movement, slowly raising and lowering the rod, just twitching it once in awhile, who knows. It was beautiful up there though, and I had a lot of fun anyway. My father in law, brother in law and I all went and it was the first attempt at ice fishing for all of us.
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Nice report Kent, Do you put the light into the hole you are
fishing in or do you drill a seperate hole and just sit it on top? It might be worth while to take an extra battery if your main battery is runing out of juice that quick. WH2
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We drilled a separate hole between both of our holes and about 4 feet away. I then submerged the light so that it just reaches the bottom of the ice. It just about killed us dragging that ice shack through all of that fresh snow and slush -- so carrying many more batteries would really be a pain.
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What type of light are you using? I use a light that I got out of Cabela's that is 250,00 candle power and only draws 3.5 amps. It will stay lit for 8 to ten hours depnding on the temp. I only run the light off the battery. In the summer I tried to run the fish finder and light at the same time and only got 3 hrs of use. It is a Starfire II and only cost $18.00. The other key is not to keep your battery on the ice. Bring a towel and place it in your sled as an insulator. This prolongs your battery life quite a bit.
I know what you are talking about with the snow up there @$##@%. I thought I was going to have my brain explode pulling the sled with a battery, propane tank, aqua-vu, bucket and gear. We need more traffic on the snow to pack it down for easy movement. Most of my bite happened for 10pm-2am.
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[cool][size 1]In the OLDEN DAYS, I used to take a propane lantern...with an aluminum foil light deflector. Cleaned an area free from snow and slush as much as possible and set the lamp over it. It produced quite a bit of deflected light down through the ice and brought fish to the area. [/size]
[size 1]There were some nights in the north marina at Willard when I know the cars passing by on the highway wondered what us nuts were up to...out on the ice at night. But, we got lots of the bigger crappies...much bigger than the dinks we got in the daytime.[/size]
[size 1]I am guessing that the lantern over clean ice would work as well as a short lived battery light. It also works well as a quick hand warmer. Bad news if the wind comes up though.[/size]
[size 1]Another thing to consider for the battery is to keep it in a small styrofoam container. Extreme cold kills batteries fast.[/size]
[size 1]At least you broke the string of bad luck and got to stretch the string on your ice rod.[/size]
[size 1]CRAZY GOLFERS.[/size]
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Not sure the brand of the light I am using. I purchased it at one of the local boat shops one day, while I was looking around.
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Yes I enjoyed stretching the string, but I could have gone without snapping the rod.
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I have the battery sitting in a plywood box that holds my fishfinder; however, I am sure that the 1 inch of snow that was on top of the battery after dragging it out on the ice didn't help prolong the life of it. I will have to do a better job of keeping it warmer next time.
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[cool][size 1]Hey, Kent, I am thinking that your rod may have been affected by the cold too. High modulus graphite does get brittle in severe cold conditions. That's why a lot of guys sacrifice the feel of graphite in favor of more forgiving composite or glass rods.[/size]
[size 1]I feel your pain. No matter how many rods one gathers about him, there is always that sickening feeling of personal tragedy when you lose or break one. Doesn't matter if it was a Snoopy special. By golly it was YOUR rod, and you just hate to part with it...especially if you lose a nice fish in the process. [/size]
[size 1]Glad you at least landed the perpetrator. Some measure of consolation. The only downside of that is that if you DIDN'T see the fish, it could have been as big as you wanted it to be. After all, we are all fishermen too. We would never question your veracity. (We might need you to buy into one of our own TRUE stories some day)[/size]
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Nice Report Kent .Glad to here you got into a few . When I was there I moved shallow and seen some big bows cruise by in close to shore . I didn't get them to bite but did hook a nice cutt . I was right below the gas pumps for the vehicles at the marina in 11' of water . I just sit there looking down the hole watching them come by in the daylight . Might be good at night there but could be slow too . Night fishing I always done better closer to shore but I always did it early on the ice when it was about 4" and most of the fish are closer then I believe .
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[cool][size 1]Gotta be careful if you get Kent in the shallows. First thing you know he will be cutting a big hole in the ice and throwing his cast net.[/size]
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[#000080][size 2]Didya call for a Medic? I'm sorry to hear that one of your troops is wounded. Is it KIA or WIA? There might be clones available if you look hard enough. [/size][/#000080]
[#000080][size 2]I can't taste my beer! Medic!!! Ok, Pepsi... [/size][/#000080]
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It was a great Adventure night fishing with Kent on the Berry. The weather on the way up and back was just nasty. The fishing was red hot for the first little while. Kent had 3 cutt's and missed just as many before I caught my first. When Kent broke his pole, It scared me so bad I almost wet my self. I thought that he shoved His pole threw the top of the ice tent. Most of the fish were caught on the way down or 2 cranks off the bottom
Thanks again Kent for the trip.
[  ]Tincanfsh
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He must set the hook like I do . I set the hook and try to bring them thru the hole in one move . LOL
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