The Old Man and the Ice

My friend and fellow DuPage Angler Dan "Pondboy" Byrne was born in January.  Every January on or near the anniversary of his birth he takes the day off work and goes ice fishing all day long.  I've had the pleasure of taking off work along with Dan and joining him for his day-long ice fishing extravaganza the last two years and this year I made it three.

I was joined in my ice fishing birthday well-wishing by two other DuPage Anglers; Ted "Soonerbass" Yates and Chunsum "JC1Crappies" Choi.  We met Dan at 6:30 in the morning to start out on our day with the Old Man and the Ice!

By now you've probably guessed who the Old Man is and this Old Man recorded a not at all candid but very cool video of me drilling or more technically "shaving" a hole in 6-8" ice.  I'm partial to the slow motion water that comes up with the auger once the hole is cut.  Isn't cell-phone video cool!

Back to fishing now. I made some holes and the four of us ran around dropping lures and electronics down into the holes to try to find fish and where they were holding.

Chunsum caught first and got a nice gill topside for a picture.  His electronics didn't show any other fish in the area and he soon moved from this hole.

Ted and I got a double.  His largemouth bass and my bluegill bit at the same time and came up for photos.  No evidence of schooling bluegills or fish of any kind evident in either of our holes meant we both moved on like Chunsum had.

Ted's new hole yielded a crappie....and nothing else.  The fish are very spread out and we were working to find a pattern to the bites.  I took this picture of Ted and his crappie then picked up my flasher and rod and headed to one of the first holes I'd drilled.

Ooooo...a mark came in from the bottom to check out the jig and wax worm I'd just dropped down the hole.  This mark was different from the bluegill I'd caught earlier.  It was bigger.  It took my jig and I felt mushy-weight on my rod.  I set the hook.

My rod bent down quickly like it was iron and the hole was a magnet. Big head-shakes, decent runs. I monitored my drag and held on to the rod. Dan asked me if I needed any help.  I asked him to get my flasher's transducer out of the hole.  He did one better. He got down on the ice and watched and waited for a glimpse of the fish and the chance to help land it. 

The big mark was a nice largemouth bass! I love catching all species but I always enjoy catching bass through the ice.  Usually I'm not targeting them so they are a fun diversion from smaller panfish. On top of that they're a hoot to catch on very light tackle!

After releasing this bass the bite stopped.  We made more holes and caught no more fish.  The decision was made to pack up and have lunch. While we ate lunch at a local burger joint it was decided to make the short trip to a pond Dan grew up fishing.  Someplace we could get on schooling fish and find a more consistent bite. 

Ted had to leave us here so Dan, Chunsum, and I went to the pond.  Dan and I figured out where we wanted to set my shelter up and got settled in to start catching fish.  The crappie, bluegill, and bass we'd catch here were smaller than the private pond but more consistent of a bite.  We ended up catching another 20-30 fish before we decided to pack it in and head home. 

We all had a great day fishing.  Tomorrow we would all return to the 9-5 existence but tonight Dan would get to enjoy the rest of his day with his family.  Fish were caught, anniversaries celebrated, and friendships strengthened.  

Happy Birthday Dan!  I look forward to the end of January 2016 when I'll take a day off work and join you and probably other avid ice anglers in the celebration of your birth the only fitting way we can; by drilling holes in the ice and jigging up fish.

Rippin' Lips with the Zipper

I got out on the ice early Saturday morning. Pondboy and I drove separately and DuPage Angler member JC1Crappies beat us to the pond.  JC1 drilled test holes before Pondboy and I arrived and was taunting us with pictures of crappie he was catching in the pre-dawn snow.  Pondboy and I dragged our sleds out onto the ice.

The snow we had earlier in the week was four inches deep for most of our walk to where JC1 was catching fish.  Pondboy got ahead of me but half way to JC1 he dropped to his knees and then fell on his back.  I yelled his name a few times before he popped up on his knees and resumed dragging his sled.  Once I caught up to him I found out he was making a snow angel.  I reminded him of our age and that I thought he could be having a heart attack.  He promised not to do any more snow angels unless I was close enough to know he was just playing around.

We drilled holes, flashed the holes, found bottom structure we liked and set up our shelters. Pretty soon after setup I was able to tease a mark up to my jig and get it to eat. 

A very nice sized crappie came up for a photo!  I thanked it for eating my jig and let it slip back into the cold water below my shelter.  The bite slowed and not many marks appeared on my Vexilar.  I decided to change tactics and stop using marmooska style jigs and use a bait that would call the fish to it.  Another DuPage Angler member CSimon caught a very decent perch from this pond two years ago.  This memory guided my lure choice.  I pulled out a Plano box and picked a Salmo Zipper in Hot Perch color.  

It wasn't long before the commotion made by ripping the Zipper up and down in the water column made light marks appear on my flasher.  I settled the lure down near the bottom and wiggled my rod to make the Zippper rattle lightly.  A mark moved in quickly.  I teased it up to mid-column before it bit.

A crappie ate my Zipper. Look how far down this fish's mouth the Zipper is.  This would be the way almost all fish would eat the Zipper today.  I released this nice speck and dropped in for a chance at another fish.  It didn't take long.

This guy T-Boned it!  That means he shot in from the side, opened his big crappie mouth and GULP!! This Zipper fishing is great fun!  I wonder if any other species will eat the Zipper.

That's what I figured.  Crappies and Bass are going to be feeding on small perch and this largemouth clobbered my Zipper!  I saw another mark on my flasher so I released the bass quickly and dropped the Zipper back down the hole.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!  The reel's drag squealed!  Bounce, bounce goes the rod tip with deep headshakes!  Three more runs later this estimated three pound bass whacked my Zipper and ran hard away from the hole when he figured out he was hooked.   That was tons of fun!

It was that much sweeter since I made the rod I caught it with.  The rod performed flawlessly after hardly being used last year. I just didn't have confidence in anything that wasn't a panfish jig.  I'm enjoying seeing the error of my ways manifesting in some great fish all caught on a baitless, crank-style jigging bait; the Salmo Zipper!

Most of my fish came on the Zipper.  A few fish ate my deadstick.  A deadstick is a rod that just sits there next to you.  Generally it's got a minnow on a ice jig floating under a slip-bobber all running down the hole.  I had the minnow positioned close to the bottom.  I was hoping to catch a decent perch.  All of a sudden Pondboy yells for me to come over to his shelter.  His deadstick got hit and he had a surprise for me.

The day's only perch.  It was a nice one too! It's always great to have a multi-species day that includes something other than panfish and largemouth.

The snow had stopped and the sun was out.  It was still a bit chilly but we'd had a great morning! I was pleased to call it a day after a lot of catching.  The key to my success today was simple; I thought outside of my little fishing box.  I used tackle that I had purchased to work with a rod I had built that I hadn't used.  It's great to get some confidence in a bait and I can say I now have fantastic confidence in the Salmo Zipper!

First Kayak Bass

I made plans with Chunsum to kayak fish today.  We were going to meet at Lake Patterson when the gates opened, be the first on the lake, and get me on my first kayak bass.

A few weeks ago I turned 41.  For my birthday present to myself I took advantage of a great deal on a decent sit on top (SOT) fishing kayak. The Lifetime Tamarack Angler Kayak was a quality SOT priced well below the other SOT kayaks available.

Back to fishing this morning; It stunk.  I have spotty luck at Patterson and today I had no luck at Patterson.  Chunsum caught one 12" largemouth bass but he had to work his tail off to get anything to bite.  I got off the water at 11 to wait out the heat of the day and head home for some lunch.  

I was back on the water in the 6 o'clock hour but in a different pond a bit farther west.  I started out throwing a swim-jig with a plastic-chunk trailer on my custom casting rod.  The weeds grabbed on to my jig and my line and made it impossible to throw this lure.  I put the rod back behind me in the flush mount rod holder.  I reached behind me on the other side to pull out the first rod I made; a 6'6" MH Spinning rod.

I was already rigged with a Gamakatsu #4 Octopus Circle hook and a single split shot 12" up the 4# mono fishing line.  My finesse bait of choice for this rig is the 4" Berkley Power Worm.  I flipped my rig next to a weed clump and let the worm sink a count of at least 5 before lifting the rod tip up two or three feet then dropping it back down while reeling in your slack line.  On the next raise of my rod tip I felt tightness and a wiggle, then my line swam sideways.  I was going to catch my first kayak bass!!!

Or was I....no I was going to catch my first kayak fish but it was a nice big bluegill!  I'll take that! A nice solid fish that fought well.  My next three casts I caught bluegill roughly this size.  That was nice but if I knew I'd only be catching bluegill I'd have brought my ultra-light rod to make it that much more fun.

I changed spots on the pond, paddling until I saw a feature that looked interesting.  In this case I saw the weeds that had been a foot or two below my kayak had dropped off to a darker bottom deeper than I could see.  I pitched my Power Worm into the water along the depth transition.  

Hooray!  A bass!  Not huge but fun to catch.  After lipping and unhooking I released the bass back to the pond, adjusted my worm and pitched it back at the depth transition.

A better bass!  I didn't think to weigh this one but it was worthy of a picture with me! 

Back to the transition and back to catching bass.  The 4" Power Worm is the perfect size when the bite is a bit finicky.  Daniel Byrne (aka Pondboy) taught me this technique.  I think it's like humans saying I don't want that plate of food but this cookie is just perfect for my appetite right now.

I paddled back to a weed line since I had drifted away from the area I was fishing.  I cast right by the weeds and let the worm fall for a 6 count.  One-onethosand, Two-onethousand, Three-one...hey, why is my line swimming away from me.  

Slack reeled in the circle hook found lip and then a nifty thing happened.  The bass started pulling my kayak.  I took my time and finally got my thumb in the mouth of this lovely largemouth that weighed in at 3# on my Boga Grip .

I would catch more fish but this was the best size wise of them all today.  When the sun started to set I paddled my way back to the launch area, dismounted and pulled my kayak up onto the grass and then a quick drag later I was beside my car.  Gear and kayak were loaded in and I was on my way home.  

The sun set behind me as I drove back to my house.  I'm excited to say I enjoy kayak fishing as much as I thought I would.  I'm happy to be stealthy and human powered.  I'm always happy to catch fish but today I was happy to catch my first kayak bass.