Valentine's Day On Erskine Lake

 

3:00-7:45 PM 6' 7' NW Weed Flat

31-47℉, PC, 0-4mph SW

Ice Depth 23-26"

I drove to the NW corner weed flat. There were no signs of anybody drilling holes in the immediate area. There were some tracks that went farther North. I should have taken a look, but I am an idiot. I parked and went NW toward the pad line, drilling the first holes a way out, and it was 6/7ish, with sunfish and green curly pond crap beginning to sprout. I wanted to find 9/10ish. I drilled and looked for an hour, as finding sunnies in the second-to-last set of holes 7/8ish. There were perch in most holes. I got tired of drilling, so I drilled a set in both sets where I saw sunfish. I started in the deeper set. I got the camera down and positioned it when I had a big school of crappies, sunnies, and a big bass move in.  I got a crappie on the Switch Wonder Bread and then saw the bass, so I put the Switch down immediately and got the bass to eat, but I didn't set the hook hard enough, and it spit it, doh. Sunfish stayed, and perch stayed, crappie and any bass left. I played with perch and sunfish for a good hour before trying the shallower holes. Had perch to start in the shallow holes. A good-sized pike moved in briefly. Some sunnies joined the perch. I got up to move back to the deeper set around sunset and turned the camera for one last look, and there was a bass right there. So I put a lure back down. Sunfish moved in, but I was intent on going back out. In hindsight, I should have stayed. Out deeper, I missed a couple of crappies, and there were sunnies and perch. I played with the camera angles, getting to the down view too late. When it gets dark, using the most extreme up view is the deal.  I did go back shallow after dark, and also jigged in the other holes as the Vex battery got low.

1Bass 

1Crip 

10Sun 

27YP 

Rock Lake Kind of Sucky Trip

 

4:3-6:15 PM Rock 12' and 17'

30-36℉, M Cloudy, 2-5mph W

I went to my shallow holes and drilled the deep ones as well. Put the camera down, and there was a school of sunfish that came to the camera. Put the Chicken Nugget down and got the camera centered. I was just about to put a Fathead down when a nicepike came on screen. I quickly grabbed the Chicken Rod and the Pike hit. I didn't get the best hookset, and the pike came off after about 7 seconds. The black truck guys drove through to my NE, and the noise scattered the sunfish. It was slow after that. I bailed for the deep holes. I changed the propane on the Little Buddy. I caught a couple of small crappies and had the Vex go wonky and quit. Thankfully, it seems that the battery went bad, not the Vex itself. When I brought it home, I almost didn't figure that out, as the Norsk Lithium was undercharged for some reason. The Vex website said to double-check the battery charge level to make sure it is 12 volts, so I did and found out it was mid-11s. I charged overnigh and the next day, I was good. I had a good battery in waiting. The Vex battery that died lasted a long time.

2Crip 

1Pike 

1Sun 

Slow Night on Rock

 

GPS must have been drunkI caught all my fish sitting in two spots.

4:15-8:40PM 12.5' next to the Caneand 17' NW of the Perm

20-22℉, Mostly Cloudy but visibility was better today, 0-4mph W

I spent a little bit of time with Bean and let Luca and Belle out into the field. I then headed over to Rock. There was a truck at the wheelhouse. I went to my area and drilled the first hole a tad deeper than I wanted. I drilled another one about a yard closer to the cane and called it good, and drilled four holes. I then went and drilled three holes out deep as a backup.  Visibility was a bit better today. I saw a few sunfish swim through and missed a crappie on a fathead. Then I missed a pike because I was screwing around getting the camera out of the hole. I got the camera back down and centered, then almost immediately had a fish blow it out of position. Then I missed a bite on a fathead that I think was a pike that I didn't set the hook hard enough on. While I was trying to get the camera back on track, a big pike swam by. I got the camera recentered, and by now it was getting hard to see the Booyah. I did see the little pike hit it, and I took its picture. I did get a couple of decent crappies on the glow demon/minnow and maybe one small guy, and missed a few bites. It wasn't happening shallow, so I bailed for the deeper holes. I did get into a short flurry after about 15 minutes without much, but then it went back to being slow, so I headed back shallow and ended the night there with a little housekeeping. My phone holder completely broke. I probably landed about 50% of my bites tonight.

12Crip 

1Pike 

Personal Best Ice Pike, Rock Lake

 

4:15-9:00 PM 14.4' jus tout from the Cane

0-20℉, PC, 0-4mph W

I drilled out my holes from yesterday, then drilled two sets of holes closer to the cane. I was a bit of a clown show and drilled the set of holes a littledeeper than I would have preferred in 15' of water. I set up in the set by the cane, and that was the only place I fished. Camera visibility wasn't good.  I could not see past the Chicken Jig. I did see some sunfish. After sundown,t I started getting some crappies. Action was slow, but it never stopped. I did a much better job of catching my bites tonight. I ran out of propane, went and scoped the other sets of holes for life with the Vex and a Trap. I didn't see anything that excited me. I went and got a new propane cylinder for the Little Buddy and got it fired up. I caught a crappie, then had a bit mark stare down the crappie minnow for a good minute before it bit. It was a big pike and put up a great fight, and so I landed my new ice fishing PB Pike, a very fat 29". I caught a few more crappies before calling it a night at 9:00 pm

19Crip 

1Pike 

Terrible Bite to Land Ratio On Rock Tonight

 

4:15-8:05PM 17' East of where I had been fishing by 10' 

18-24℉, Cloudy, 4-15mph NW

I almost didn't go because of a lack of motivation.I set up just a bit to the East of where I had previously set up. There was a wheelhouse SE of the Access, and a hub with a couple of trucks, about 100 yards to the East of me. I got set up, but it was dead and had little visibility. I eventually saw a few crappies move through on the camera. I had the Little Buddy run out of propane just before I caught my first fish of the evening. I started out terribly on landing bites. I missed my first bite, landed the second, then missed six straight bites. I think I missed 70% of my bites tonight. I had lines get tangled a couple of times, and I threw a Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon that was only attached to a minnowdown the hole. I had very few pods of fish move through, but once it got dark, I would get a bite every 5 to 10 minutes. It was windy on and off, and windy when I left.  Most fish were 9/10ish. I discovered I don't have to use the boat ramp to get on and off the lake, how novel. I'm an idiot for not having thought of using the south side of the ramp on my own.

19 Crips 

Slow Cold Evening On Rock

 

4:14-6:45 PM 17' NE of where I fished last night.

2-6℉, PC/Cloudy, 3-8mph NNW

I got out a little later than yesterday. There was one truck in the public access lot with a trailer and one in my area, closer to the cane. I went right to where I intended to fish and got set up as quickly as I could. The ice is over 20" thick now. Visibility on the camera wasn't great, and I only had a few small pods of crappies swim through before the camera was useless. I only had a few pods of crappies swim through period, and they got small once it got dark. I missed a few more bites tonight than last night. The guys toward the cane were still fishing when I left.

13 Crips 

Srrait Out From The Access Again On Rock Lake

 

4:30-8:00PM 17' NW of the E Point

33-26℉, Cloudy, 4-8mph N

I probably could have gotten out at least 30 minutes sooner. Because of the overcast and my getting out so late, the camera was almost useless. There was only one truck at the access. I went straight to where I fished yesterday. I drilled a few new holes because the wind was out of the NW. I put the camera down first and immediately spotted a pike, so I put down a red tail and jigged the Chicken Nugget. I was never able to see either in the camera.  First fish was a nice crappie on the Switch. I missed several bites on the Switch. I went to two minnows down, and the dead stick was the preference. I was just about to pack up as 7 pm approached, but then I got some action on the VMC Fly w/Maggots. I ended up not packing up until almost 8 PM. I caught fish from 4" to 11".

16 Crips 

Last Trip of 2025, Rock Lake

 

2:30-7:00 PM NW Corner and My Area

28-34℉, Cloudy, 0-4mph S

I arrived at the lake a little after 2:30 PM. The Permanent Crew of 3 was heading off as I was just about underway. A fair number of people are fishing out from the sunken island. I headed to the NW corner to search with the Aqua-Vu. It was a bust. At about 3:50, I finally sighted a sunfish off the weedline and a couple of perch in the next hole. That wasn't going to cut it, so I headed for the holes I used last night. I drilled new holes because the wind was out of the south. It turned out that it was unnecessary as the wind died as it got dark. I got set up and had some little crappies move in. It wasn't happening, so I drilled a couple more holes to the North and checked them along with some other holes drilled today.  Not much, so I went back to where I was set up after drilling another three-set closer to the Perm. I caught a  22.5 pike on the Cubby and missed a bite or two. I went to the other Three Set and caught a sunfish and a small crappie there. The crappie looked forever, thought for sure it was going to be a sunfish. I missed a few other bites, with one being on the Glow Demon and a minnow. I would have stayed longer if it wasn't so dead. Everybody was off the lake by the time I was packing up.

4Crip 

1Pike 

1Sun 

Morning at Rock Lake

 

1st Sunfish through the ice

1st Crappie of the morning

Sun came out as I was leaving the Rock Access

6:45-11:15 AM Rock 17' and 8.5' 

22-30℉, PC, 5-12 mph WNW

Wind was out of the WNW, so I drilled new holes, rather than use the ones I drilled last night. It was on the slow side, with fish coming through occasionally when it was dark out. They didn't really want minnows. I put the Aqua-Vu down a bit early; Visibility isn't great anyway. But having the Aqua-Vu down did seem to keep fish around. I caught a few small sunfish. I caught one crappie on the deadstick. It took the minnow and swam up to 9'. I could see the fish sitting there on the Vex. I fished a half hour longer than I should have out deep. I went to the NW Corner and drilled a hole, then looked in the Aqua Vu. I drilled  8 to 10 holes before settling on a spot along the deeper weeds. I saw a pike on my last drop about 20 feet away from where I decided to fish. I switched to the Sunfish color Chicken Nugget and immediately had a pike come through, but it didn't hit. That was the last thing that I saw. Visibility was better around the weeds/shallower.

7 Crip 

3 Sun 

Crappie and Pike On Rock Lake

 

7" VMC Fly/Maggot
1st Fish

Almost respectable

4:15-7:00 PM Rock Lake 17'

30-34℉, Mostly Cloudy, 0-3mph SE NW

I arrived at the Rock Lake Access around 3:45 pm. No trucks at the access and nobody on the lake. As I was getting the car unloaded, a truck showed up pulling a wheeler. It was a group of 3 or 4 that were heading out to the one permanent on the lake. Basically, about 50 to 75 yards out, further than where I usually fish. If they didn't show up, I was planning to drill a series of holes, bit South of the permanent and set up when I saw life. As I was making my way out, they passed me up, and so I audibled to fishing in my normal area about 40 yards to the NW of where the Permanent is sitting. I drilled three holes and got set up. There were fish down there immediately, but I didn't get a bite. I figured there was enough light, so I sent down the Aqua-Vu, and I saw a nice crappie and a couple of good-sized sunfish toward the bottom. A guy with a wheeler headed north and was back off the lake well before I quit. I took a picture of the pink sky after sunset. I got a 7" and a 8" crappie on the pink VMC fly and maggies. I got a few bites on the Glow Demon and Minnow, including the pike after dark; the pike made my night. I tried the baitfeeder rod and caught three crappies on that, including the night's big, 10". I think only one other crappie was 9" or bigger. I think I missed about half of my bites, give or take. It's not like the Vex was lit up and there were a few 10-minute stretches when I wasn't marking anything.

9 Crip 

1 Pike 

Last Ice Fishing Trip Of 23/24

Last fish in the last hole

 

Finally a fish

7:10 AM-1:45 PM: Rock Lake 17', 12'

24-47℉, PC, 0-8mph SSW

Water clarity poor to start and the ice made noise until 9AM

I got started loading the car about 10 minutes late and it took me 50 minutes before I was ready to leave the driveway. I had to go get the Fish Trap first. When I got to the access I should have repositioned the car before unloading, which was a slow clown show. I turned my headlamp off after parking the car. The ice was cracking and groaning, which kept on until about 9AM. As I came around the corner to the PRO Bay there were a bunch of swans swimming and on the ice. I couldn't make out where my old holes were, but I had the Garmin 7 with so I was close. I was a rust bucket at first and visibility was terrible. I only got two crappies and only saw 3. Sunfish and perch were around. I saw 3 pike in the first set of holes. At 9AM I drilled a second set on the maidencane drop, right next to my previous holes. A pike came in quickly and bit the minnow, but I pooched the hookset. I then fished my way back to the access spying two pike, catching one in the last hole. The northern half of the access had standing water and the ice was getting soft. This will be my last trip of the 23/24 ice season.

5Crip 

6Pike 

30Sun 

12YP 

Fairly Good Morning To Afternoon At Rock

 

Double

8" VMC Fly/Maggie

10" BT Glow Demon/minnow

6:45 am - 1 pm Rock Lake 8' to 17' of water

35-45℉, PC, 0-4mph S

I headed out even though I didn't feel much like fishing after last night. I didn't mark much or have a bite in the first 45 minutes. The crappies did move in as the sun came up and I had a pretty good bite for about 35 minutes. Then sunfish with a few perch moved in. Only a couple of pike showed up. The second of which I saw after I had just set the hook on a sunfish; It flew into frame crushing the Gem-N-Eye. It was just a hammer handle and the only pike I caught. I got one 8' sunfish and saw maybe a couple of others.  Eventually, I decided to switch holes. I dropped right on a pike that inspected my offerings but never went for them. There is not much in these holes. I fished my holes on the Maidencane break. A few perch and sunfish. I decided to fish my way back to the access along the reed weedline break hoping to find some bass. Didn't see anything in the first three holes. I think the 5th one had a nice pike take some shots but not hook up. I was sightfishing that guy with my eyes looking down the hole. I caught a bunch of perch in the final hole hoping a pike or bass might show up. It was a wet sloppy mess as I came in. I was the only person on Rock today. There were a couple of trucks at Bulldog. I also stopped at the GOMH.

20 Crip 

5 Pike 

43 Sun 

19 Perch

Slow Night On Rock

 

9' on Gem-N-Eye/minnow

Potato Chip

Two swans a swimming

4:50-7:30PM My Area Rock Lake

30-44℉, PC, 0-2mph S

I got a late start because Dad went to Walmart today. My back was barking at me on the way out. I drilled new holes right by the old ones and one set of three to the North. I don't know why I only put one camera hole. The one where I put the camera hole was near the 8" Sunfish Hole. Unfortunately, not much showed up there before it was getting too dark to see. I ended up catching 5 sunfish. I did hole hop for about 15 minutes. I came back and the bobber was down, but nothing on it. I put another minnow on and caught a crappie about 5" minutes later right before I was going to move to the holes where I had marked fish. Nothing more showed up and it was now dark. I hole-hopped with the Fish Trap and didn't mark much.  I ended at the first set.  I ended my Fish Swami trip with a minnow down. Sure enough, I got a bite but missed it. I sent down another minnow and the Cubby, which immediately got jumped. Giving me two crappies for the trip. No more life. It was making ice. I slowly packed up. Plan to be out in the morning and if that doesn't work I'll have to formulate a new plan. 

Oh yeah, open water at the PRO Opening narrows with Swans swimming and flying about.

2 Crip 

5 Sun

Saw a few small perch and sunfish on the Aqua-Vu 

Another Fun Morning Trip

10" THE Jig

 

The bigger of the two bit, thankfully

Finally started biting

1st Pike was totally lethargic 

1st bite of the morning

6:30 AM- 1:30 PM Rock Lake, 15-16' Used 3 different sets of holes this trip.

27-41℉, Cloudy/Fog, MC, 2-10mph SW switching WNW

I was slower getting out than planned. I had to drill out holes which was unexpected and made one new set as well. Total turtle time. Fishing was slow for the first half hour, and fish were small/missing bites. I had to re-rig to a Glow Demon and busted my line lowering a jig again. Eventually, the fish got active, and when I put the camera down, crappies were everywhere. That bite lasted until about 8 AM, then slowed down considerably. I did much better at landing fish than last trip, but still a lot of room for improvement.I switched back to the Gem-N-Eye after the first pike loitered through. It left and I actually got a crappie on the Gem. Saw two pike swim through. Not as many sunnies or perch around today. Finally, around 9:30 the pike started biting. I got the first couple on the Gem, then one dropping the Switch to an immediate attack. Things slowed. I went to the new set of holes I drilled. I got a pike fairly quickly as well as a few sunnies. Saw a pair of pike for the second time and caught the bigger one (25"). I went to a third set of holes, not much there and the wind came up so I called it a day. Less sunfish but better size. I was often unprepared for those bigger gills as they came through. Fun trip. No bass.

44 Crip 

33 Sun 

10 Pike 

8 Perch