Checked By Lady C.O.Tonight

5:20-6:40PM Bulldog Lake
Conditions: 27-22℉, Cloudy, NW Windy
Depth: 27'

9" VMC Tubb/maggots

Crappies weren't interested in minnows again tonight. I got my first couple of crappies on the Glow Demon Spoon. Then a long lull.  I switched to the VMC Tubby.  The lady C.O. checked my license.  I got one fish on the Tubby.  That's it 3 crappies.

8.75" Demon Spoon/Mayfly/maggot

 3 Crappies

277 Crappies for the Winter

It Wasn't AWWWN But I Had Fun Anyway

16" VMC Fly Jig w/Maki Jamei (purple) & spike

I had a close call on the way to the lake this morning with some deer.  I was really lucky to the first one crossed so far in front of the others so I slowed way down quickly.  I had to come to a complete stop to avoid hitting the second one.  There were several other deer in the ditch looking at me.  Whew!

7:15AM-1:30PM Rock Lake mostly at my spot.
Conditions: 31-28℉, Mostly Sunny, Windy to Very Windy NW, waypoint holes to 11'

When I first got out of the truck

I fished in the morning because of the forecast for high winds in the afternoon and evening.  The plan was to fish with my old Aqua-Vu so I drilled out the waypoint holes first thing.  I sent the transducer down the hole and immediately was marking fish.  I sent down a minnow on the Glow Demon and was bit immediately.  I maybe got a little anxious with the hook set and lost the fish and minnow half way up.  I quickly put on another minnow and immediately got bit again.  I landed a 9.5" crappie and thought to myself.  It's AWWWWWWWWWWN.  By the time I got the next minnow down the crappies had moved on.  That was my only crappie for the morning.  I saw one other come through on the camera.

7" Tubby Jig w/Jamei and wax

 I started getting some sunfish and also had spottail shiners nibbling at me.  The sunfish started only pecking and staring at my bait and a few perch showed up as well.  I had a pike come in a couple of different times, but it didn't show any interest in hitting my baits.

I went and drilled holes on the four hole house spot and in 11' of water.  There was nothing but perch in the four hole spot, so I moved on to the shallow spot.  I was seeing perch and had a small pike come through once again showing no interest in hitting my baits.  The wind started cranking up and I was just about to give up when a bass appeared out of nowhere (it came in from behind the camera) and came in and hit the Fly.  I set the hook and she immediately started peeling line (2lb test Gamma).  I went to pull the transducer out of the hole and the Fish Trap started moving so I had to sit down immediately.  It was a real challenge getting the transducer out of the water.  I thought the bass was possibly hung on the Aqua-Vu cable because something didn't feel right, so I pulled that up as well.  The bass finally came up the hole.

16"

I stayed and fished for another hour hoping another bass might come through, but all I saw was perch.

I then decided to tow the Fish Trap just to the South of the access.  I fished there in 11' to 6' of water and didn't see any activity on the Vex.

I brought the Fish Trap back to the truck to pack up.  It was pretty warm out so I wrote in my notebook when I quit fishing  and went to put my jacket in the truck and pulled the Ipod out of my pocket so I could continue to listen to it while I broke things down.  I decided to reposition one of my pole clips, then got everything in the car.  I went to put the Ipod back in my jackets inner pocked and my cell phone wasn't there.  What?  Crap!

I went and looked at the holes I had been fishing, nothing.  I went back to the truck and my notebook wasn't in the pocket either.  I could have sworn I put it back in the pocket.  I looked around outside and didn't see anything.  I was really puzzled.  I was in a semi-protected area and it wasn't really windy enough there for my notebook to get blown away.  I got in the truck to go and drive back to where I started to look for the phone.  I grabbed to inspect my jacket one more time.  That is when I realized there are interior pockets on both sides of the Ice Armor Jacket, not just one like the Arctic Armor jacket.  The phone and notebook were right where I left them. Doh!

1 Bass
2 Crappie
2 Pike
5 Spottail Shiners
12 Sunfish
14 Perch

Same ole Same Ole

10.5" Glow Demon w/Minnow

4:15-9:45PM Rock Lake My Spot
Conditions: 40-31℉, Partly Cloudy, Light SW Wind

7" Fly Jig w/Jamei and spike

I started out in the waypoint holes using my old Aqua-Vu again.  First fish was a crappie before I had the camera down.  First thing I saw on the camera was a pretty good sized pike.  It was interested in the camera not my presentations.  It stayed for about 5 minutes before moving on.  Eventually some sunnies and crappies showed up.  The fish didn't want anything to do with the minnow and sunfish weren't real big on taking in the Fly so I could get a hookset.  The crappies that came through were very aggressive on the Fly for the most part, except for a really big one that nipped at it once and then left.  I'm guessing it was a 13" fish at least.  I did get one decent bluegill.

8.5" VMC Fly

Got a couple of perch

   I started hole hopping after it got to dark to see with the camera.  I picked up maybe 1 more sunfish.  The rest of the night was spent on crappies to 10.5" and down to 6".

6" VMC Fly

10.25" Glow Demon w/minnow

I'd pick up 2 maybe 3 fish then I'd have to move on.  It was warm enough I never used the heater.  I stayed out until 9:45PM

30 Crappies
18 Sunfish
4 Perch
1 Pike

Rock Again

8" VMC Fly w/Jamei

4:00-9:30PM Rock Lake My Spot
Conditions:  33-27℉, Sunny, Windy West turning calm after dark, Moon was up after 7PM

10" VMC Fly w/Maki Jamei

I picked up some more minnows and Bear Trax and forgot the maggies and wax worms, so I bought some waxies as well.  I started out by setting up the old camera at the waypoint holes.  All I saw at first were a few perch  and I was almost ready to give up when a school of crappies and sunnies showed up.  I had a sunfish hit the Rippin' Rap but not hook up.  First fish was a 10.5" crappie on the Demon.  I caught quite a few sunfish do to being able to see them on the camera and a few crappie on the Fly and the Tubby Jig.  I took my eye off the camera for just a moment and I had what I assume was a pike hit the Fly and then the Demon; I didn't lose either, but the fish came off.

8" VMC Fly

Once it was almost to dark to see from the camera a couple nice bluegill came through.  Once I pulled the camera out I got a couple more crappies then I went out hole jumping.  It got really slow.  I would get a bite about every 15 minutes or so. I stayed later tonight with the nearly full moon. It was cooler today than forecast, supposed to get to 40℉ tomorrow.

Smallest Crappie of the night

24 Crappies
26 Sunfish

Long Sucky Day On Rock

1st Fish of the Day 7" VMC Fly w/Jamei and spike

6:30AM-2:00PM Rock Lake My Spot
Conditions: 21-18℉, Windy North, Snow then turning clear.  Enough snow and wind to be very annoying.

Since the forecast temps where for temps to drop once the front passed I elected to go fishing in the morning.  I didn't get anything for the first half an hour or so.  Then I pulled up 3 descent sized sunfish on the Fly Jig.

8.75" VMC Fly with Jamei and spike

I missed a couple bites on the minnow then got this pike.

Corner of the mouth

22" Glow Demon w/minnow

 I then got my only crappie of the morning.  At least it was a fairly descent one.

10.75" Glow Demon/minnow

After getting the crappie I struggled to find the fish for about an hour.  It started snowing.  Finally I got some gills in a hole.  That action lasted about 45 minutes.  After that all I could find were perch.

5" VMC Fly

The sun came out around noon, but my body was shot and I didn't feel like making a big move, so I died on the spot.  The reason the day was so sucky was the combination of wind and snow.  That made holes I drilled disappear.  

1 Pike
1 Crappie
8 Perch
13 Sunfish

Back On Rock

1st Fish/9" VMC Tubby w/Jamei (purple)

2nd Fish/5.5" VMC Fly w/Jamei

3rd Fish/5.5" VMC Fly w/Jamei

4:20-8:10PM Rock Lake My Spot
Conditions: 19-16℉, Mostly turning cloudy, Wind SW, 14'-16' of water

I needed to get new water on the minnows, it was reasonably warm today, and I needed a break from the Internet, so I went fishing at Rock today.  Since it snowed this week nobody had been in my area.  I drilled 3 sets of holes and started on my hot spot from last time.  I put the minnow down first and nothing was happening.  I then called some fish over with the Rippin' Rap.  I put down the VMC Tubby with Maki Jamei and got that first crappie on it.  I then caught the Sunfish on the VMC Fly with white Maki Jamei.  I got the perch on the Fly;   Immediately after taking the picture my bobber went down. It was a big fish that broke my line 4" down on my foot long dropper line;  It may have been a pike, but it didn't cut me off.  I just misplayed the fish trying to rush it up to the hole.

I got my bobber rod retied and started getting a few crappies on that, the Fly and the Tubby.  Then at about 5:40 the fish disappeared.  So I went to the second set of holes.  First thing I pulled up there was this nice gill.

8.5" VMC Fly w/Jamei (white)

As it got dark the crappies moved in and I caught a bunch of them.  Mostly on the Glow Demon minnow, but I got a few on the VMC Fly and Tubby as well.  The fish were running a half to three quarters of an inch smaller than my last trip with a couple 7" and 8" thrown in as well.  I got 3 that were legitimately at least 10" and nothing over 10.5".  The bite was consistent enough that I never moved until I left.  It wasn't the mad house bite like last trip, but I still got over 8 fish an hour on average.

27 Crappies
2 Sunfish
1 Perch  

Rock Lake Smack Down!

13.5" Glow Demon w/minnow

4:00-8:00PM Rock Lake My Spot
Conditions: 32-31 degrees, Cloudy, Light W Wind, the water on the ice had frozen up pretty much.

I was not happy that I didn't get out the door until 3:30 or so.  I forgot the maggies at home, so I picked up wax worms along with the minnows at Bear Trax.  I started out by drilling a second hole at all the holes I drilled yesterday.  I then stared at the first holes I did yesterday.  I never moved from that spot.  I sent down a minnow first thing and it was bobber down almost immediately.

10" Glow Demon w/minnow

I caught a couple more quickly then they stopped biting so I put the minnow down in the far hole.

5.5" VMC Fly w/Wax Worm

I then started getting crappies and sunfish on the VMC Fly with Jamei and a wax worm.  I got a this bass on the Demon with minnow.

12" Glow Demon and Minnow

 Two trips two bass.  Never would have guessed that after not catching one out there last winter.

10.5" Glow Demon w/minnow

The crappies started biting the minnow so frequently I only fished one line for about an hour and a half.  At about 6PM it slowed down and I resumed fishing with two lines.  I caught a few more crappies on the minnow.  I got a couple of crappies on the Fly, a couple on the Tubby Jig, and couple sunfish on the Tubby Jig.  This was the biggest sunfish of the night.

7.5" VMC Tubby Jig w/Maki Jamei

 I decided to leave at 8PM

39 Crappies
9 Sunfish
1 Bass

With the one slab being the exception all the crappies were no bigger than 10.5" with most of them being from 9.5-10".  I only got two that were shorter than 9".  The Rock Lake specials are definitely growing.  One more year and I'll have a pretty good crappie lake.

My lower back is really feeling it.  That has never happened from sitting in the Fish Trap before.

First Ice Fishing Trip of 2017

17.5" VMC Fly Jig w/Maki Jamei and maggie

9:00AM-1:30PM Rock Lake My Spot 14'-17'
Conditions: 34 degrees, Cloudy and fog in the morning, light W wind, sloppy and wet on the ice

Sloppy and Wet

With the warm weather we have been having my motivation meter finally started ticking up and so today was the day I put it all together and got out.  There wasn't much going on at Rock Lake and two parties pulled their permanents off of the lake today.  I'm taking that to mean the bite hasn't been very good out there this winter compared to other area lakes.

I had a thought before I started drilling holes that since I didn't have any minnows all I needed was a single hole instead of my usual double.  I found one open hole in the area but that was it.  I didn't really look to hard to see if there were any others.  I think I drilled 6.  I started in the farthest North.  And my first fish for 2017 was a...

1st Fish of 2017

Bluegill on a VMC Tungsten Fly Jig w/white Maki Jamei with a spike

All I got in the first hole was sunfish and they were finicky.  My line on the VMC Fly's rod was getting caught on the spool where I tied to the backing.  I took the time to get the not put at the very bottom of the spool where it is less likely to catch.  Turns out that was a good thing I did that.  

In the second hole I busted the bass first thing after not getting a hit with fish down it on the Rippin' Rap.

17.5" VMC Fly w/Maki Jamei and spike

Not where it was actually hooked

The way the bass ran I thought I had a decent sized pike on.  I was pleasantly surprised it was a bass seeing as how I didn't catch a single one out there last winter.  That fish made my trip.

I also caught some perch.

7.5" Rippin' Rap

This was the only bite I had on the Rippin Rap.

I was satisfied I knocked the rust off and packed up at 1:30PM.  I should have moved around more quickly and drilled a few more holes.

1 Bass
6 Perch
12 Sunfish

Crappies and Sunny's Tonight

Almost 10" VMC Tubby Jig

4:30-8:00PM
Conditions: Cloudy, cooler 28-24 degrees, wind out of the NW

Today may be the last day I take the Ford Expedition out on the ice.  Dad is taking it on a church retreat this weekend and it's suppose to get close to 50 degrees on Saturday and will be above freezing from Friday afternoon through Sunday night.  I'll find out if the Fish Trap fits in the KIA Soul tomorrow.  I'm guessing not with fishing gear.

I felt good about how I fished today.  Nothing was going in the sawdust holes.  I discovered a small group of crappies and sunfish in my North waypoint holes.  After they left I drilled holes but was unable to locate any more fish.  I went in by the maidencaine and got a couple sunny's and a crappie.  As it was getting dark I moved out.  I switched to all minnows on the Glow Demon's.  The crappies weren't very active, but I managed to catch 9 of them before my propane ran out and I called t quits.

I had 3 trumpeter swans do some fly bye's.  Pretty Cool.  Also saw an eagle on the way to lake soaring as I got to Richardson's Corners and saw an eagle while fishing yesterday.

14 Crappies
10 Sunfish

Missed ??? And Got Some Crappies

Last fish of the night 11.33" Glow Demon w/minnow

4:45-9:10PM
Conditions: Mostly sunny, light wind out of the NW, 32-28 degrees

I started out at the sawdust holes.  Nothing doing.  I worked my way closer to the maidencane where I got a couple of perch on the red VMC jig.   I had either a pike or a bass hit my red crawfish Rippin' Rap but quickly get off.  I switched VMC jigs and moved towards the middle of the maidencane and got some sunfish.  I moved out to the sawdust holes for prime time and camped.  That turned out to be a good call as I got 11 crappies on the Glow Demon.  I would have caught more but I had my line get caught under the spool on my reel and it took me 20 minutes to get untangled.

    

9" Glow Demon w/minnow

I hooked the crappie after I had the line off the reel, but didn't have the tangles out of my line yet.  Fortunately I was able to get my line straightened out and land the fish.  The fish disappeared at about 8PM.  I did some hole hopping and didn't find anything.  The ice was making noise and the moon was up by the time I left.

1st fish of the day

Sunny's were slightly bigger than yesterday

11 Crappies

7 Sunfish

2 Perch

I Thought It Was Gonna Be A Crappie Fest

9" VMC Jig w/maggots

4:30-7:45PM
Conditions: Overcast, 35-32 degrees, wind out of the WNW

It probably would have been a crappie fest had I fished smarter.  My first 3 fish were crappies and 6 out of my first 10, but then I was mobbed by small sunfish.  I was fishing out were there weren't any fish yesterday near the sawdust holes.  I was content to catch sunfish for about half an hour until I caught 20 of them.  I moved North and got one crappie then nothing.  I then moved shallower and got some little sunfish there.  I was hoping maybe a bass would come through but that didn't happen.  I broke off the brown, orange, and glow VMC Tubby Jig on little sunny that got tangled in the transducer.  I put a smaller red glow VMC Tubby on and got a few small sunnies on that.  It was pretty dark before I went back to the sawdust holes.  I managed to get 4 smaller crappies and bullhead out there on the Glow Demon and a minnow.

Most were this size or smaller

Close to being a keeper, but not quite

Bullhead got on the scorecard again

33 Sunfish

11 Crappies

1 Perch

1 Bullhead

To catch more crappies I should have put a minnow down sooner and I should have stayed out and drilled holes out there.