Hog Island Report for the First Day of Spring

[jbritch]

OMG!!  I just had the absolute best perch fishing day in a very long time!

I got on the ice by 8:30 with the usual complement of Stephanie's fat heads and a half dozen "pike bait" shiners and set up in the usual place.  You can see all the rain and snow melt has frozen and we now have more ice than at any other time this year and it's rock hard.  You definitely need your creepers.  Even though there were a couple of trucks out there I walked out 'cause there's some big cracks at the access that will be trouble soon.

The perch bite began immediately which was good because the wind was whipping around sometimes from the southeast and then from the south west and when I put my back into the south it whipped around me and took my line and wrapped it around me and I had lots of knots to untie which was frustrating when I knew they were down there.  And they were!  It was one right after another all day and it started out with the same ratio as last time, a couple of little ones and a "big" one but about 10:00 the wind died down some and the fish changed to almost all big ones.  My arm had gotten used to expecting a small one so when I got a ten-incher it was quite a treat.  It was really fun and it stayed that way for a couple of hours and then my bigger bait was all used up and so the perch started to have more of the small ones, about one for one, which was still good and then at 2:00 there were no more big ones and my bait ran out. 

The bite was still crazy fast; a lot of the time they bit when my spoon was going down.  They must have been swarming down there 'cause I had a lot of foul hooks.  I know it's not legal but I couldn't see putting a severely injured perch back down the hole; they were hooking themselves in the eye and on the belly, just about everywhere.  And if you've ever caught a good sized perch in the belly, well, that's a real fun pull.  And they were biting everything I put down the hole, eyeballs, tails, chewed up minnow, it didn't matter.

I had a few flags but no pike today... maybe that's why the perch were so heavy???

Remember, blue mountains means rain coming...

[fishingidjit]

Nice haul,it was  a great day to be on the ice!

[Hardwater Renegade]

Few good meals right there sir, I'd say you had one awesome day perching.

[gogetthegaff]

That's how it's done! Congrats on a fun day!

[lowaccord66]

Awesome!

[WVBoy]

I thought that was you out there! I've seen you a few times this year. I've been the solo guy wondering around behind you. Was out there again today but didn't see ya.

[jbritch]

Thanks for all the kind words; it really was a very good day, not just weather-wise or numbers-wise, but the cleaning was especially good, too; no cancer this time; lots of big healthy fish with broad shoulders.  And, surprise, surprise, my girlfriend offered to fry some!  She had sworn them off 'cause of her cholesterol )so high her doctor can't measure it) and only wanted the poor man's shrimp method but I guess she knows how much I enjoy the way she fries them, way better than any other thing I've ever had fried, ever, period.

After a couple of meals, I think most of this haul will go into the freezer and brought out this summer for Poor-Man's-Shrimp-on-the-Bar-B.  I soak them in beet juice for some color and sweetness and grill them in a basket.  She'll eat them that way, too, so it's worth the effort.

Hey, WV Boy, next time stop over and chat (I used to live in Highgate Springs, over on the Saxs Monument farm); you know where I sit every time now.  I really can't go as much as I'd like; once a week is all I can handle; I get stiff the next day or two and need some couch/tv time to recuperate.  I'll be 65 soon, you know   But I'm planning on going again soon, weather-dependent, of course.  It's been a great season and I dread the day I can't get on the ice anymore...

[Light liner]

Great write up.
Beet juice, im going to try that.

[lowaccord66]

Doing a good job at 65.  Keep those trips alive! 

[jbritch]

Thanks again.

You'd think after 50 years of fishing I'd get the knack for it, no technology needed except for my Jiffy which was a medical necessity (I tried to get my urologist to prescribe one) and on a hard-carved jig stick, too.  But when I saw that full moon on Wednesday morning I just knew it was going to be a good fish day and it was.  No need to walk around looking for them; there must have been quite a cloud of them down there in that horseshoe of structure; lots of change in depth in just a few paces, good spot for sure.  This morning my shoulder is sore from jigging...