Today's destination was Mausert's Pond in Clarksburg.
I've fished it a few times in the past, but never did very much there, and by reputation it only holds pickerel, perch and sunfish, so I had relatively modest expectations, but I wanted to check off an additional pond on my list for the season.
Sorry if the account that follows is heavy on meteorology, but it's not often I get out on the ice on 60+ degree days, so if I work in a lot of weather-related detail, there's a reason for it.
Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Sunny and blues skies, with hardly any wind, and surprisingly wide swings in temperature.
This morning around 9 AM (when I was loading my car after church) was 28 degrees, and I had to scrape my windshield, but by the time I actually left (around 10 AM) it had gotten up to 36 degrees, and by the time I arrived a half hour later it was 41, and when I left (around 2:30 PM) it was 61. Then, later in the day, when I went fishing (from 4 to 6:30 PM), the temperature crept up to 65 before dropping back down to 41 degrees.
Anyway, when I got to Mausert's, there was between 10 to 12 inches of ice, very slightly mushy in most spots, but with a broad band of hard ice along the shore closest to the parking lot, that (surprisingly) maintained its skating rink smooth surface right into the afternoon due to its being in shadow.
Later in the day, the surface of the ice started to melt a bit, and I observed the sort of "skittering slush" (2/3 ice crystals to 1/3 water) that I saw on Pelham Lake yesterday, unlike the "slushy slush" (1/3 ice crystals to 2/3 water) that I saw on Fish Pond yesterday afternoon.
Toward the end, the glare from the ice (which generally doesn't bother me) was starting to give me a head ache - - particularly when I trudged out in the direction of the sun toward my furthermost tip ups.
I didn't see any other fishermen the entire day - - although there were quite a few hikers and even a few bicyclists travelling along the paths that skirt the pond - - and I was able to chop out some old holes that (I'm guessing) were at least a few days old.
I only had a half dozen or so shiners left from yesterday (Mistake # 1), so I thought I'd maximize my chances by "casting a broad net" and spreading out my tip ups and dead stick pretty far (100 yards) apart (Mistake # 2), but, alas, although serious thoughts went into both decisions, they ended up working against me.
By way of explanation as to Mistake # 1 above, when my older daughter picked up my bait for me during the work day on Friday, my "bait man" indicated his supply of shiners was dwindling since it was the end of the season, so I didn't even try to replenish them last night or this morning.
In any even, the reason my decisions backfired was largely because, although the fish (which I assume were all pickerel) did not strike frequently, when they eventually did, they slammed my tip ups and dead stick (while turning up their nose at my jig rod) with unexpected ferocity.
As a result, I was only able to land two pickerel (one 12" and one 19") of the seven or eight fish that chose to play ball.
The rest got clean away because they either stripped the shiner before I could even reach the flag (due to Mistake # 2), bent the swivel that held my hook to the line in one instance, or swept my dead stick (fortunately tied to the handle of the bucket that I had balanced it across) into the hole and snapped the line in one fluid motion.
Admittedly, I could, and probably should have used thicker line on the reel of my dead stick (arguably Mistake # 3), which was set up more for perch or trout than pickerel, but I have caught 18" pickerel on it before without any problems, so I suspect this one was truly a behemoth).
On the plus side, I caught not just one but two fish (to prove it wasn't just a fluke) - - one of which was an eminently respectable 19" pickerel - - and had a generally pleasant outing.
I brought my "chuck wagon" with me and had a delicious lunch - - steak and sliced fried potatoes (both sprinkled with home made hot sauce), a side of kim chi, a sauce pan of sausage and cantolini bean soup, a bottle of Smithwick's red ale, a nectarine, a couple Lindt chocolates, a pot of coffee with cream and sugar, and a devil dog for dessert.
I also had a pleasant chat with an elderly gent who stopped to eat his lunch while hiking.
But, by 2:30 PM, I was down to my last shiner, and although I could have baited my other tip ups with night crawlers, I decided to call it a day.
