“SANDY POND “by Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Birdslayer,
Look to your Private message

Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

The Sandy Creek Fire Department and the Sandy Pond Sportsman’s Association have published their Derby dates. Dom has posted them on the “Derbies and Tournaments “ closed topics page. As a short cut, I am attaching the flyers to this post as well.

[Lucky13]

The Mad River Club cancelled their Derby this year.  It had to be cancelled too many times due to lack of ice, then they moved it later, but those two derbies occupy the other weekends, so another tradition down the tubes.

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

I accessed the Pond at (2) different locations. My visual observation shows the pond to be locked with a lot of blown snow at the north and north eastern shores.
My access @ Blind Creek witnessed 8 to 10”s of snow over a very thin ice build. Clearing  the snow cover I witnessed 2 to 3 inches of wet slush over 2”s of ice.  I was 40 ‘ from shore over 3 fow.

My second access was from Ontario Ave boat ramp. There was a five foot apron of slush from shore. I cut my first hole 15’ from shore through a build of chunk ice which was 4”s thick. The snow cover beyond the first 30’ was only 1” thick. That hole was witnessed to be 3”s in thickness.  One additional hole 35’ from shore witnessed an ice thickness to be slightly less than 3”s thick.

At all times I spud my way out while cutting my holes with my auger.  I was also accompanied by my fishing partner, Annie. I am as eager as anyone to catching some perch and pike through the ice. My observation is the ice is not ready to access at either end of the Pond yet. Stay that eagerness my ice fishing friends. Cold weather tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night “could” get us all on the ice safely by the weekend.

Boggey






This photo shows my scoop handle. The bottom of the white is 4”.

[ActiveTrapChecker]

Hey Bogey,

I don’t fish the pond but wanted to say you are a good man for posting the information that you do for those who fish it.

Have a great season!

[BeenPerchin315]

Thanks for the update bogey. My the fish gods bless us all with thick ice. And may they bless you with tight lines and full buckets for your reports and banter.
It is truly enjoyed.
Perchin

[oneida!!]

Must be making ice by now. Onieda locked up 2 days ago.

Oneda def did not lock up  cant see any  ice from out my window as of right now

[Arkangel]

Thanks Jim...

Sandy Pond is home base for me...I look forward to your updates...always descriptive and targeted with intelligence and humor mixed in..!

Check your PM's...on my way to Clayton for a birthday celebration this weekend...I'll make the rounds and report back what I've found.  Taking basic gear...(maybe?) able to wet a line this weekend - but I'm not holding my breath.

Patience all...the ice man cometh.

Ice ice, Baby!!!

~ArkAngel

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

There were 4 shanties between the WigWam and Ontario Ave ramp at 3:00 pm. There was (1) singular shanty in front of the Elms .

Boggey

[trapper2000]

boogy i think you need  one of them  drone  things  for  early ice reports !!!!!

[New Old Guy]

Yo Trap,
I agree bud. I am concerned a lot of ice fishermen are being quite cavalier about early ice conditions. The ice mat out there is anything but a monolith.

In its first formation a week ago the wind blew the ice off and it reformed several times before locking up . There are clear , dark ice areas where the ice is 2-3”s thick. Many areas where the wind blown ice reformed into  chunk ice , the ice is invariably 4-5 inches thick. These chunk ice areas are in close to the shore. Beyond these chunk ice areas, the newly formed black ice is anything but Safe ice.

I see too many ice fishermen and fisherwomen walking around with out spuds in hand. Totally unacceptable. This is early ice. We, all of us should be hypersensitive to these early ice conditions , especially venturing away from the shoreline. My cohorts are calling and texting me with warnings of thin ice.

Please please please listen to some seasoned ice fishermen and women. It is not a solid uniform ice mat out there yet. Take all safety considerations. Don’t fish alone. Use pfd’s . Carry a long rope with you. Wear your hand spikes.Use good common sense and spud spud spud after all I want a chance to meet and fish with all of you this season.

Boggey

[sandy pond 109]

What's today's report how people were out today.   Looking to head up tomorrow

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

Afternoon warmed to a sunny balmy 22 degrees . Annie and I joined up with our neighbor, Bob and spud our way out to 9 fow . We didn’t set up the new Quick Fish 3. For the most part we were pail sitters. I set up 3 tip downs and jigged with 1 pole.We only fished for a couple of hours.

Annie acquitted herself admirably  for her first time out this ice fishing season. It was a slow start as well as a slow bite working the rust out. Caught many dinks kept 3 perch , lost one pike at the hole. Hard to play a pike on a tip down.

12 shanties were noted having accessed from the Wigwam ramp. Two pail sitters were seen in front of Sebor shores. We accessed further south near Eddie’s Cove.

Most holes we cut were through 4”s of ice. Cut several holes through dark ice witnessed 3”s thickness. All in all not an auspicious start to the season, but we got a chance to work the rust out and examine the prevailing ice conditions.

Boggey

[sandy pond 109]

Ok thanks for the update

[Jigger]

Green. Point will not be open this year, with the changing ice conditions they are worried about everyone's safety

[filetandrelease]

 Guess I can’t blame them with liability
 Issues , I have known that family for several decades , great family

[New Old Guy]

Yo Jigger

Thanks for that update my friend. I haven’t been able to get over to see Cathy, Cheryl or Linda this year. Here I am retired and can you believe it, too busy. Yes Freddy you are right. They are great people and will always be safety conscious
Rightly so.

Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

Had a great day on the Pond. Fished again with my neighbor Bob. We were joined briefly by my old fishing buddy StellaDog.
It was a relatively nice day with temps in the upper 20’s and a mild breeze. It was a slow bite day . I couldn’t jig a fish for nothing. Seems they didn’t like movement. Luckily , I brought out my full contingent of weapons and set my tip downs. Thankfully that turned the tide. Managed 2 dozen nice keepers with (6) 12 inchers in the catch.

I was additionally blessed by StellaDog who left me with the 3 he had successfully jigged, thus disproving my previous contention. The drag wasn’t too bad. All holes cut witnessed 4”s of dark ice with light 2” of snow cover. Got to go now. See if I remembered how to clean bag & tag them critters 😁

Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

Let’s title this little missive
“In search of the Honey Hole “. Figured I’d incorporate it into my current topics page rather than start a new topic.

Every year the search for the illusive “Honey Hole” begins anew”. I say this with all due humility as it is seldom consistent year from year. Some years I don’t find it.

Finding it this year is proving more difficult than years past. Perhaps the late start of our ice fishing season or maybe the fear our truncated season will leave us little time to sort out the vagaries of seasonal and climatic influences on our fav fishing spots.

I , in my own case, would offer a
third consideration. The mileage on these old legs limiting my “In search of” capabilities. Time was when this fishing fanatic could transverse this Pond end to end and from east to west by foot in a single day and that wasn’t that long ago or at least it seems so.

Yesterday was one such day, the realization, them old legs just ain’t what they used to be. Standing here in front of my kitchen sink , cleaning my small catch (13) reminds me of that.

Let it be said, Old Boggey did not find that illusive “Honey Hole “ yesterday. I did however get a subtle reminder from the guy in charge. Be grateful for the search. Be ever thankful for the
“Small catch”. Thankful to the almighty, tomorrow I will again have the opportunity to go out “in search of”.

Boggey

Post Script: it took me longer to write this post than cleaning my meager catch.

[chevy rotbox]

yesterday morning , we went to elms, got on the ice, after dragging though slush .... 50 yards from shore , my spud went though, two wacks, we got off ice, to fish another day

[hunts2long]

Boggey, I really enjoy reading your post, wish there were more that tell a story, make you smile and give "good" info at the same time. Glad you have gotten some "fishable" ice. Only seeing a few guys out over this way and have heard reports of 3 to 8 inches of ice. I am sure the 8" is in the bays. Some very nice pike being caught. The lake is about 10 feet higher than normal and once they start dropping it the ice is going to be a mess. Be safe....h2l

[New Old Guy]

Yo H2L, so nice to hear from you my friend. I pray all is well with you. I enjoy your anecdotes and comments as well. I always look forward to old stories from you and Old Timer to give me a proper perspective of things past and a positive outlook on things present. God bless you my friend.

Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Chevy Rotbox,
Thanks for that report. Your report is much as I surmised. Knowing the slush and thin ice at my own ramp @ Blind Creek and my reluctance to venture onto the ice at my end of the Pond, I wondered as I witnessed first one shanty last Saturday and a couple more this last Monday.
That end of the Pond always bares the brunt of built up snow accumulating from the westerly winds.

One of my friends asked me only today about conditions out of the Elms. I have been wary to set foot to check it. Your post is most welcome. Further , this weeks warming temps and rain will further deteriorate ice conditions at the Elms. Thanks again.

Boggey

[JimmBob]

Chevy Rotbox
Thanx for doing a test run- hopefully things hold until the weather dips again

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,

We are all waiting to see how bad this warming & rain will affect our ice conditions here on the Pond. I’m not making any predictions. A little reality check,  at 12:30 yesterday a quick tour of the Pond, I witnessed (1) lone ice fisherman on the Pond.

The Pond looked like a continuous placid pool of water with an occasional whirlpool of water draining through an open ice hole. Keep in mind, this was an observation made from the shoreline. Apparently there were many others as risk adverse as I.
In one of my previous post I mentioned I was “in search of”.
A group of my friends made the trek to Goose Bay on Wednesday to test our fishing skills. Greatly belabored by the sleet and freezing rain we still managed to catch our share of perch and a couple of slime logs.

Average ice thickness was 8”s. Old Boggey was particularly disadvantaged, my belt buckle broke when we got there. Now fishing with one hand on my pants to hold them up and one on my jigging rod, it was easy to see why all my fishing partners whupped up on me. In the end, Dallas, Don and Dave were fun to fish with and didn’t laugh too hard at me for my predicament.
As I mentioned yesterday after checking out the virtual “empty” Pond, I checked out Lake Marsh. I did do an ice check. it was 5-6”s all holes I checked. I’m hoping my bud Trap will accompany me and give me a follow up lesson on catching and cleaning them slime logs.

My day of “in search of” wasn’t over. My bud, Dallas lured me over to Oneida with a promise of good ice. We finished our day out on 4”s of black ice, can’t say where as Dallas will never invite me again. We met and fished with a young ice fisherman, Josh who had cut 40 to 50 holes and invited us to share his holes. The bite wasn’t great. The size wasn’t awesome, the conversation was great. Dallas and I were so impressed with this young man , we turned over our perch catch as he had promised his 2 young sons a perch dinner.

Let’s close this post out with a message to all my risk adverse fishing friends.  With this shortened ice fishing season I have been looking for an ideal weekend to get my family, kids grand kids and great grandkids out for a family outing on the ice. This weekend is not that weekend. I am hopeful we will still get a good freeze over before our Sandy Creek Fire Dept or Sandy Pond Sportsman’s Derbies. In any event, let’s stay safe out there. Continued good judgment and don’t forget to bring that spud with you and spud spud spud.

Boggey

[Arkangel]

Boggey...

How I enjoy your updates and anecdotes...and yes, this is a good weekend to sit it out and wait for the dropping temps to kick in and firm up the hardwater.

We all see folks using the "LOL" acronym all the time on their phone texts or emails...but I must say - that I did actually laugh out loud at the picture I had in my mind of you holding your britches up while trying to fish with the other hand.  

Sorry for the wardrobe malfunction but...c'mon...that's a little funny.

~ArkAngel

[CNYperchsearch]

I was there to witness the belt malfunction, and it was a LOL scene.

[trapper2000]

no one could  afford to cut a piece of  rope for  a  beverly hillbillies  belt?  poor  boggey 


LOL

[New Old Guy]

Yo Arkangel, Trap and CNYperchsearch.,

Laugh if you must. It just all goes to show you the true dedication and will of the ardent, some might say “fanatical” ice fisherman to succeed at all cost.

Besides that, it wasn’t all bad. I did pail sit a great majority of the time and just jig. The greater LOL occurred while attempting to cut holes with my nils, obviously a two handed endeavor. Ah, the entertainment value of self deprecating humor.

Boggey

[filetandrelease]

no one could  afford to cut a piece of  rope for  a  beverly hillbillies  belt?  poor  boggey  LOL

Know kidding , no respect for an elder , shame on you youngsters 😉
 You know a bungee cord would help 🙄