Drove over Cameron Pass Saturday to Lake John. Saw a red fox on a snow drift atop the pass, then followed a moose down the road for 1/4 mile just east of Walden. Roads pretty snowy, but well-plowed. Some brief whiteout conditions, but overall passable.
Set up just east of the picnic area below the resort about 8 am. Ice about 24" thick. Lots of vehicles on the ice. Met some nice folks from Brighton who were at John for the first time. Water clarity was spectacular. I could still see the jig at 12'. Caught most of the fish about a foot off the bottom in 14' of water. Used a Ratso glow head jig with tube removed and put small krill on the hook (got the frozen krill at a pet store). They seemed to like it, though everyone else was doing pretty well with mealies as well.
The catch is different from last year. For every bigger fish I caught (14-17"), I caught about 5 small recent stockers (8"ers) a lot like the ones at Red Feather. But the promise of a big one kept me at it. Here's a pic of my nicest of the day - a fat 17" cutbow.
