Hog Island First Day of Spring report

[jbritch]

So I got on the ice at 9:00 with some big perch bait but only small shiners; all she had at the store.  I was so happy to see that someone had plowed out the access at Tabor Point, so a very hearty Thank You to that person.  The walking was MUCH improved and even out on the ice the snow has gone down some and I could walk on top on the way out (not so much on the way back in). You can see how close I am to the rocks along the shore.  There's a little less ice than last time; one of my holes only had 6 inches of good ice with still 4 inches of snow slush on top.




The perch bite started right off, slow but steady and this time it didn't stop when the pike were in the area (big perch aren't scared by the pike must be) which made it hard because I really wanted a big mess of perch but the flags kept going off and I got this one which was only lip-hooked so I put her back.



I was running back and forth and had to take off my ski-doo suit and then eventually even my hat which was a big mistake because all those wispy clouds went away and the sun was very hot and my whole head is as red as a beet and tender to touch.  At 10:00 the perch really started biting one right after another and all were very good sized, the vast majority were 10 inchers.  I didn't want to put the jig stick down but the flags kept popping and I got this one.  She wasn't hooked too bad so I put her back, too.



When I got back to my jigging, the bite had slowed down a lot but they kept coming steady and very good sized throughout the rest of the day.  I lost a couple of pike getting caught on the structure there, think it was tree branches and I lost some tackle.  The Quebecers came back around noon but stayed a ways off (hope they didn't read what I wrote about them last time) but they kept moving closer 'cause they weren't getting anything in those mud flats and they could see me yanking in the big ones until I had this mess:



You can see they're pretty nice due to the big perch bait and hardly a parasite in the whole bunch which was a nice bonus compared to the day when the water was so cloudy.  Now it's much clearer, but still can't see the bottom even where I was jigging in 8 ft of water.  The bite stopped at 2:30 and my bait was almost all gone so I came home and got them cleaned before my girlfriend got home (a big deal for her) but she was too tired to fry them up so we'll have them tonight.

[rbobby]

Nice.
Thanks for all your reports. Always enjoy reading them.

[woodyvt]

Nice Job and Report! 

I am taking off work Friday, but have not decided where to go yet.  Found some decent ice in Mallets Bay (closer drive for me), but the bite has been painfully slow.  11 flags and 3 fish in two days!!

If I head north I will let you know.  Watching the conditions, but still believe it will be ok this weekend.

Wdy

[Yeti]

Congratulations!! Excellent write up and the pictures where an especially nice touch.  Thank you for posting.

[lingcod]

Thanks for the info; you da best! I spent 6 hours on Carry Bay today, a couple perch and a pike lost on a tip-up.

[lowaccord66]

Very cool. I like that area in open water. A lot!

[fishingidjit]

JBR, Nice catch of fish , thanks for posting !

[woodyvt]

jbritch,

Took the day off Fri and will be up there to fish.  Hope we can meet up! 

Wdy

[bootstrap]

nice pile of hogs thanks for the report.

[jbritch]

Hey, Woody,  The weather is suspect today.  When they say 10-20 mph winds with 25 mph gusts, it'll just be brutal out there and with the rain/sleet/snow thing,.. I'm just going to hang around the house today.  Make sure to tell us how you did.  There's still lots of ice that will last another couple of weeks even with the warm temps coming.

[lowaccord66]

Hey, Woody,  The weather is suspect today.  When they say 10-20 mph winds with 25 mph gusts, it'll just be brutal out there and with the rain/sleet/snow thing,.. I'm just going to hang around the house today.  Make sure to tell us how you did.  There's still lots of ice that will last another couple of weeks even with the warm temps coming.

Thats excellent news.  Perhaps I will head up that way next weekend. 

[woodyvt]

Well.......lets just say it wasnt bad from 7-10.......then the wind kicked in high gear!  Jbritch- smart for staying home today! Was still better than going to work!

Was off the ice by 11.

Bad news is the pike bite was non existent ......one flag all am.  Had tip ups spread in 3-12fow.

Good news is the jumbo perch are in there......got about 10 in the 10-12" range in between a bunch of smaller ones.  Found them in 12fow about 1-2' off bottom.  Finicky to say the least.

Ice is generally 6-9" with some areas with crust and slush and some areas you would need creepers.  And did I mention blowing snow!

Nice spot.....just need to try it a few more times to better understand it.

Might try it again next week. 

Good luck to all......wdy

[jbritch]

I'm glad to hear about the big perch still being there; too bad about the pike, though.  Been watching the weather for the coming week; maybe after the rain stops toward the end of the week looks good...  have to give it another try, will be starting back to work soon...    Hint for next time: if the weather girl says the wind is 5-10 mph that means at the Burlington Air Port; on the open lake at Hog Island it'll be tolerable if it's a warm southerly breeze.  But when she says 10-20 mph with 25 mph gusts, forget it, it'll be no fun fighting it all day.  I wear glasses and they get snowed over pretty quick.  Thanks for the report.