IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Maine => Ice Fishing Maine => Topic started by: WishnIwasFishn on Mar 12, 2017, 12:20 AM
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to brave the elements last night? Buddy and I did an overnight excursion for cusk despite probably the worst conditions I've ever fished in. Low temp for the night was -10 without the wind chill, sustained 15-20 mph winds w/ gusts upward of 40 mph. Not even an insulated 3-man Eskimo tent and a Little Buddy heater could keep the chill out at 3:00/4:00 in the morning when the temps dipped into the -30's. Fished from 4:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon until 9:00 this morning, luckily we had action - a 15" rainbow just before dark and 6 cusk overnight with the biggest weighing about 2 1/2-3 lbs on roughly 15 flags. The plan was to stay until midday but the conditions simply didn't allow it and we had to leave. All in all a good night but everything you touched was a cluster, bait bucket frozen to the ice, traps frozennin the holes, ladle frozen to your fingers, tent poles frozen, rubber iPhone case on the outside of my Otter Box shrunk (and eventually broke) to the point it kept shutting my phone off throughout the night which had me stumped until I was on my way home, windward side of the tent blew in - had to tie it off in addition to tying off the other side and havin all 4 spikes holding it in place.......just something every time Ya turn around. A couple of my reels fell off which only later did I realize was caused by banging the traps around as I pulled them out though a 1/2 of ice, must have jimmied the pin between the reel and the trap just enough to allow water to seep in which then froze and expanded and allowed them to fall right off. One of my a Heritage traps snapped as I picked it up, frozen solid to the lake thought I freed it all but guess not.........and in my disgust I quickly pulled the other half of the trap out and THAT reel fell in the drink. Casco/Otisfield area we had 16-18" of solid black ice and one hole was closer to 20. Some tricky spots near shore but otherwise plenty. Only my 2nd trip of the year and quite possibly my last but most definitely one I'll remember for the rest of my life.
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That was an adventure I never though anyone would even attempt. I didn't see anything about you banging your head? ;D ;D
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I thought I was the only one with that kind of luck. Its a cruel world so things don't necessarily have to get better.
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Wow!! You guys deserve a medal!! I would go to my hardside today but the thought of setting traps just makes me cold thinking of it. This kind of weather is just brutal. I do have to admit though, it is a nice feeling sitting in the hardside sipping coffee and jigging in my tee-shirt as it is -20 outside ;D
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I've cusk fished in -10 before, but only when there was no wind. I'm impressed you guys still managed to catch some fish!
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to brave the elements last night? Buddy and I did an overnight excursion for cusk despite probably the worst conditions I've ever fished in. Low temp for the night was -10 without the wind chill, sustained 15-20 mph winds w/ gusts upward of 40 mph. Not even an insulated 3-man Igloo tent and a Little Buddy heater could keep the chill out at 3:00/4:00 in the morning when the temps dipped into the -30's. Fished from 4:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon until 9:00 this morning, luckily we had action - a 15" rainbow just before dark and 6 cusk overnight with the biggest weighing about 2 1/2-3 lbs on roughly 15 flags. The plan was to stay until midday but the conditions simply didn't allow it and we had to leave. All in all a good night but everything you touched was a cluster, bait bucket frozen to the ice, traps frozennin the holes, ladle frozen to your fingers, tent poles frozen, rubber iPhone case on the outside of my Otter Box shrunk (and eventually broke) to the point it kept shutting my phone off throughout the night which had me stumped until I was on my way home, windward side of the tent blew in - had to tie it off in addition to tying off the other side and havin all 4 spikes holding it in place.......just something every time Ya turn around. A couple of my reels fell off which only later did I realize was caused by banging the traps around as I pulled them out though a 1/2 of ice, must have jimmied the pin between the reel and the trap just enough to allow water to seep in which then froze and expanded and allowed them to fall right off. One of my a Heritage traps snapped as I picked it up, frozen solid to the lake thought I freed it all but guess not.........and in my disgust I quickly pulled the other half of the trap out and THAT reel fell I'm the drink. Casco/Otisfield area we had 16-18" of solid black ice and one hole was closer to 20. Some tricky spots near shore but otherwise plenty. Only my 2nd trip of the year and quite possibly my last but most definitely one I'll tember for the rest of my life.
Me! I Went Out😂😂😂🎣
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I sissy'd out this sunday morning.I was going to togue hunt on Jordan bay . At 6 am zero with a wind I bailed on that. Now I'm bored.
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Yep, Im the other idiot. except we didn't get anything. FN COLD
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Yes, fishhunter and I did all day in a pop up and heater was not working stayed till 7 PM can't wait for next Saturday it's going to be in the 20s saw you guys as we drove by and said F$$$$#### that
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With all the snow we are supposed to get it will be slush and more slush
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I have done things like that in past, and it usually only takes once to learn a big lesson. I never
do those things now. interesting story....
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My buddy and I went out on champlain for a day once, -15 or so, with 25-30 mph winds with no shanty. Had to find a wind block behind a rock face, and peroidacally run in place to stay warm. One dink perch in about 9 hours. We still laugh about it though!
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It was definitely crazy but an adventure never the less. My buddy wanted to go tonight instead but I'm not sure it's gonna be much better, they're still calling for highs in the low teens with sustained winds of 10-15 mph so not sure it woulda made much of a difference. The problem was the winds were completely different when we got there so we set up accordingly which was tucked in a small cove with just enough tree cover to our right and left to break the wind. Had we gone to the other side of the lake we could have tucked in a cove the other side and been blocked from most of the wind altogether........my buddy wanted to move the tent about 2:00-3:00 in the morning but luckily I talked him out of it. Had we walked the tent over like he wanted to I suspect we woulda been going for a little ride Mary Poppins style. Only scary moment of th night was when I went in close to shore to take a leak and felt the ice under both feet start to give.......took two big steps back and made sure I didn't make that mistake again!!!
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to brave the elements last night? Buddy and I did an overnight excursion for cusk despite probably the worst conditions I've ever fished in. Low temp for the night was -10 without the wind chill, sustained 15-20 mph winds w/ gusts upward of 40 mph. Not even an insulated 3-man Igloo tent and a Little Buddy heater could keep the chill out at 3:00/4:00 in the morning when the temps dipped into the -30's. Fished from 4:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon until 9:00 this morning, luckily we had action - a 15" rainbow just before dark and 6 cusk overnight with the biggest weighing about 2 1/2-3 lbs on roughly 15 flags. The plan was to stay until midday but the conditions simply didn't allow it and we had to leave. All in all a good night but everything you touched was a cluster, bait bucket frozen to the ice, traps frozennin the holes, ladle frozen to your fingers, tent poles frozen, rubber iPhone case on the outside of my Otter Box shrunk (and eventually broke) to the point it kept shutting my phone off throughout the night which had me stumped until I was on my way home, windward side of the tent blew in - had to tie it off in addition to tying off the other side and havin all 4 spikes holding it in place.......just something every time Ya turn around. A couple of my reels fell off which only later did I realize was caused by banging the traps around as I pulled them out though a 1/2 of ice, must have jimmied the pin between the reel and the trap just enough to allow water to seep in which then froze and expanded and allowed them to fall right off. One of my a Heritage traps snapped as I picked it up, frozen solid to the lake thought I freed it all but guess not.........and in my disgust I quickly pulled the other half of the trap out and THAT reel fell in the drink. Casco/Otisfield area we had 16-18" of solid black ice and one hole was closer to 20. Some tricky spots near shore but otherwise plenty. Only my 2nd trip of the year and quite possibly my last but most definitely one I'll remember for the rest of my life.
I should have guess you guys were Shanty Members as we are the type of guys that go out in all kinds of weather. LOL We were the guys you ran into on your way out.
It was darn COLD that morning for sure, we got there just before 6:00 am and stayed until about 2:00 when the action got slow. We caught some really nice Bass and lost a nice Salmon. We had lots of hit and runs and went thru about 3 dozen bait. The Wind always seem to be at it's strongest when we had a flag. :(
When we left we went up to the store and the lady in there said you guys look Cold, we told them we were out on the ice fishing. She said she told folks in there that those are Real Men out there or a bunch Crazy People out there on the ice. After talking with us, she said she decided were Real Men who were a bit Crazy. :) I told her there was some guys that spent the night and they could not believe it.
I could not close up my ice traps do to the ice build up on them, so I had to put them in the sled open. After sitting in my basement overnight here is what they still look like this morning.
(http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii213/coach04222/B854E5F2-FEBE-4DC7-B4E6-97C2B1FB4B7D_zpslivcu1mr.jpg)
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Allagash trap?
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Allagash trap?
Yep, I got some of all brands.
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YES!!!, We drove 3hrs from mass. and fished Messalonskee. Sat. and Today :nono: My fishing partner guilted me into it. It was his last available weekend of the year so I caved.The reasoning is that we could drive on the ice and use our vehicle to block the wind!! Saturday was unbearable, any exposed skin was done in less than 1 minute, I have never felt that much pain in my hands in my 50 yrs. Today was ok at best. We caught 3 pike between 8 & 12 lbs. Sat. was the coldest day that I have ever fished. I WILL NEVER CAVE AGAIN AGAIN'ST MY BETTER JUDGEMENT!!
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Pain was a 10. Cracking thin ice enhanced the pucker factor. All for two flags and one YP....still better than playing Xbox
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I should have guess you guys were Shanty Members as we are the type of guys that go out in all kinds of weather. LOL We were the guys you ran into on your way out.
It was darn COLD that morning for sure, we got there just before 6:00 am and stayed until about 2:00 when the action got slow. We caught some really nice Bass and lost a nice Salmon. We had lots of hit and runs and went thru about 3 dozen bait. The Wind always seem to be at it's strongest when we had a flag. :(
When we left we went up to the store and the lady in there said you guys look Cold, we told them we were out on the ice fishing. She said she told folks in there that those are Real Men out there or a bunch Crazy People out there on the ice. After talking with us, she said she decided were Real Men who were a bit Crazy. :) I told her there was some guys that spent the night and they could not believe it.
I could not close up my ice traps do to the ice build up on them, so I had to put them in the sled open. After sitting in my basement overnight here is what they still look like this morning.
(http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii213/coach04222/B854E5F2-FEBE-4DC7-B4E6-97C2B1FB4B7D_zpslivcu1mr.jpg)
I was trying to figure out why I kept getting my buddy's floor wet when we got back to his house, Id wipe up a big puddle and 10 minutes later it was there again!!! I had an egg-sized chunk of solid ice frozen to the cuff of my pants that would've needed a hammer to break!!! It was a wild night for sure but I would highly recommend the spot you saw us in if you head back out there in better weather. Had we had the option of drilling more holes and covering more ground we could have really cleaned up on the fish. I would have liked to cover that point and also put a few traps out in the middle of that channel but like I said, it was all we could by the end of the night to psyche ourselves up enough just to check traps, which took about a half an hour each time in between warming your hands and shielding yourself from the wind.
I was the big guy in the blue coat (names Will) who dumped his sled over, that wind literally and figuratively kicked my a$$ until I got back in the car. My buddywas the guy in the red Cabela's suit but he isn't on Ice Shanty!!
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Great outing :woot:,been through a few cold wind storms myself,not fun :o.
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I circled this weekend early in the season as a great time to bring the kids up for their first overnight outing in the northern Maine woods. We figured it would be some nice spring fishing and we wouldn't subject them to the weather we fish through on our late January trips.... So much for that. The kids got to pull in a nice brookie and a whitefish and I was happy to let them tend the traps. I was a bit worried we might lose a kiddo blowing down the lake. The wife wouldn't have been impressed. ;D
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-30 including the wind chill. Thank you striker suit, face mask, gloves, and ski goggles. Blue gills and yellow perch were plentiful but the gloves eventually froze solid from handling them and their slime. Still a great day with friends if prepared.
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I was trying to figure out why I kept getting my buddy's floor wet when we got back to his house, Id wipe up a big puddle and 10 minutes later it was there again!!! I had an egg-sized chunk of solid ice frozen to the cuff of my pants that would've needed a hammer to break!!! It was a wild night for sure but I would highly recommend the spot you saw us in if you head back out there in better weather. Had we had the option of drilling more holes and covering more ground we could have really cleaned up on the fish. I would have liked to cover that point and also put a few traps out in the middle of that channel but like I said, it was all we could by the end of the night to psyche ourselves up enough just to check traps, which took about a half an hour each time in between warming your hands and shielding yourself from the wind.
I was the big guy in the blue coat (names Will) who dumped his sled over, that wind literally and figuratively kicked my a$$ until I got back in the car. My buddywas the guy in the red Cabela's suit but he isn't on Ice Shanty!!
Thanks, I sent you a PM with some info. Good Luck
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We went out to Minni in Mt. Vernon. I didn't even finish drilling (too damm cold and too much ice to crank through witht the hand auger) and just fished 3 traps each and 1 jig. Lots of flags (both strikes and wind). Only 3 fish between us, all on jig. G hit a tubby white and a dink yellow, and I got a 16" brookie with a full tail!