caveat: an overview of the topic of each conversation is in parentheses and there are some nerdy details that maybe of some interest.
here is the breakdown of every trip of 2021 which resulted in 615 fish across 10 species.
yp-yellow perch, cb- calico bass/crappie, bg- bluegill, pm- pumpkinseed, cc-channel catfish, gs-golden shinner, pk-pickerel, smb-smallmouth bass, lmb-largemouth bass, rt-rainbow trout
22 yp 23cb 3bg 1lmb (49)
59yp 1cb 4bg 1cc 2pk (67)
44yp 1cb 3bg, 8cc, 2pk (58)
26yp 1bg 10cc (37) this was that 6f-23f day during cold front(it made most the other days i would not have fished feel better and exploited the weaknesses in reels and lines enough to finally address them; sometimes you need to get a little cold to find some warmth in your life.
23cb 62yp 20pm 6lmb 1bg 2gs 1pk (115)
99yp 1pk 3cc 4bg (107)
4rt 1yp (5) new water, and 3hrs of fishing
5rt 12yp 1smb 1lmb 1bg (20) 5 hours and returned to ice after a couple days reflecting on previous struggle.
9rt 11smb 23yp 4bg 25lmb 2cb (74)
9rt 20smb 14lmb 11yp 1pk 2cb 5bg (62)
most of these fish are small and overlooked so i will include the largest specimen i caught for each respected species.yp 14", cb 14.5"+, bg 10.25", pm ~8", cc 19.5"+, gs ~7", pk 23" (caught 2x), smb ~13", lmb ~17", rt 17.5"+
(reflecting upon the results and some added perspective)the amount of effort it requires me to achieve these results cannot be overstated. worth mentioning again is the incredible focus which is required throughout the day of fishing. i am a reasonable healthy (5'10"/148 pounds) middle aged male and my body and mind are exhausted from the pace. at some point, i will share more subtle details which provide me an advantage compared to those i observe. the bulk of which boil down to keeping the fish comfortable, the jig in the water more than most while searching for fish and managing the burden of watching the spring bobber better throughout the day. i would gladly exchange some fish to chill out and share the day with friends.
i will still try to establish where my wall exist each season on some water and capture it on video for some perspective. data is important in pursuit of efficiency. i would like the bulk of my ice fishing to take a more casual pace for here on out.
i think the system can catch 40+ fish a day in most fisheries within connecticut after a couple of trips; 100+ acres and 24'+ depth to qualify the statement further. i think 300+ fish are possible on outstanding, low pressure fisheries; not convinced ct has any. the endless goal is to achieve success more efficiently when exploring new water. the better days are ones which have the most above freezing conditions on more familiar waters. depending upon your fishery these results may approach impossible. the larger waters have greater potential to deal with/buffer all the problems humans create and thus higher fishing expectations can be made.
locating quality fish is difficult and will take most people immense time even with a comfortable understanding of the underwater landscape and migratory patterns of specific species of fish; navionics is a solid tool but still need to drill lots of holes. i do think there are a handful of quality waters in western part of the state which deserve to be explored. i do welcome the new challenge but to do so and try to achieve the standards i have set is not healthy and sustainable. having some idea of what may be possible and struggling reinvigorated my drive to fish when i was feeling burnt out. there is much left to learn i just need to release the pressure to perform so i can enjoy the experience more.
full disclosure, i went harder than i wanted as i was not happy with bullying, harassment and how threads were managed on this forum. i felt results were the more professional way to respond publicly. insert cheeky pavlov's dog comment here...
(talking about the fishing system)for those unfamiliar, i use tungsten jigs in one of two sizes or two colors currently;5mm/1.9g or 6.8mm/3.6g. i apply a "natural" baitfish type finish but do not think it matters much (raw tungsten would probably work fine) or a luminescent orange (strontium aluminate powder suspended in same uv epoxy used in rod building) color for low light; e.g. night and/or increased snowpack. the luminescent color came the result of research and i have not investigated other colors but rather trusted the consensus of more experienced anglers. 95+ percent of the fish caught and released were with the silver 5mm jigs over the years; ~ 5100 fish over 3 years. what i dress the jig with is not live-bait and my most proud accomplishment in a lifetime of fishing. i resent how some people treated me after i told them so i will protect the idea further and am sorry some have deprived you of this answer but ask you to understand. using a small invertebrate on the jig will do well in approaching these results.
i have discussed the system in more details within other posts. i understand some people take exception to this word but it accurately describes the engineered approach behind most components and the role it plays in the results. i feel comfortable stating, few people put this level of effort into how they fish so a label is needed to better describe and differentiate the effort.
these are not a bunch of whimsical decisions held together on a prayer. i want to tip the odds in my favor the best i understand and at this current time believe this unique system is most forgiving and cannot be beat when scaled correctly for fisheries. i am able to achieve results on par or better than those with superior skills and/or knowledge and you can too. not to diminish my skills, knowledge and effort but reflect how tangible it can be. it checked the boxes the day visualized and experience has provided credence to the hypothesis. never forget the value of having heart, time and some understanding has in bridging gaps between skills. you all are just a couple questions and observations from achieving similar or better results.
(upgrading fish finder?)i am going to investigate improving the fish finder as i think it is responsible for most lost fish. the only issue i have is the transducer is massive. the compromise with transducer is easily made up for by the data generated when compared to a flasher; stop wasting your money people on expensive inferior equipment.
here is image of water column full of crappie and perch which reflects the size and tangling hazards the transducer present that i want to improve.
this finder is now 3 years old and is a great system for a friend or backup if needed. my loyalty is to science and success; i.e. one of the more objectively pure people you may ever meet. so long as i can get equal or more data and have a transducer with less hazard the choice will be made. for some perspective the unit i have, now sells for ~80 dollars as there is a newer version available. most of the progress i have made stems from the data this tool generates; garmin 4cv.
any advice on fish finders for vertical presentations? i plan on contacting the major manufacturers with the same questions and concerns.
(rod building)one of the first videos i may publish will be building the rods i fish for ~13$ with resources most can readily find. i get 5 of these carbon blanks for ~16 dollars shipped. i will share more on that later as i had to re-purpose the blanks and learned which blanks are not suitable for our applications. there is video on my instagram of breaking one of these early prototypes on an ~11" perch. i have not broke a rod in the last 4000+ fish. i will not sell these rods but rather provide the information so that you can build them yourselves.
can i make a 3 minute rod building video, yes, i could do it with images and short descriptions but feel i can deliver a unique, informative content. i will explain why i prefer the rods the length i do and why the spring bobber is used in the configuration, why i choose the less common materiel's which makes this endeavor accessible to most people; i.e. do not have to spend money on specialty equipment and can be fishing with a rod within an hour. the content will be long as i enjoy sharing and testing what i have learned but those that just want to do a grab and dip will have links and information contained in the description of video or at the location i share the links.
i purchased a couple different sizes to play around with tapers but in a pinch a couple weeks back i took some of the blanks i deemed to stiff for panfish and turned them down on a cordless drill with sandpaper. these two blanks are now my favorite. they have soft tips to help keep rod loaded but back bone so that they do not absorb as much of the hook set. i went way to flimsy with one blank and lost too many fish because i could not adapt to the added deflection of the rod.
building a rod or investing your time into something will often result in increasing your quality of life; i.e. enriching experiences. when you are looking for way to freshen something up, build or run some experiments to become more engaged in your hobbies; never stop asking questions. buying 25 of these plan tungsten jigs for 20$ and testing some colors will bring you joy as the fish teach you what they prefer.
(opinion on line choice)after gassing that nanofil line up hard the last several years i think i may convert to the seagaur finesse flurocarbon 6.2# for sub freezing ice fishing conditions as my mainline. this is already my leader material on all reels and mainline on one of them. not much difference from what i am used to and will keep the jig in the water more with less maintenance; i.e. increased opportunity to catch fish. because the spring bobber is so delicate the force required to stretch the line easily moves the bobber first thus only becomes a factor when setting the hook. the nanofil is great while it remains intact but within a couple hard trips it needs to be discarded from absorbing water and looking frail despite maintaining its tensile strength. in open water you can get several more uses out it but winter it is best to replace. it costs me around 62 cents per trip in winter and one of the few recurring expenses; replace it every 3-5 trips.
why i am reluctant to switch is because the added time it may cause in the jig to get to the fish; conflicts with one of the basic goals in the fishing approach employed, keeping fish comfortable. if we just tossed tungsten jigs into water with similar profiles but varying mass they would sink nearly identically. the issues is as the jigs sink with our lines attached the volume of our lines becomes part of a "system", thus the density of the system(because our lines are less dense than tungsten) decrease as more line enters the water. the increased system volumes effects on density (jig, dressing, line underwater) and friction as the line interacts with the water will dictate fall rate. both nanofil and extruded type lines are slick but their volumes are much different. i suspect the reduced volume and mass of the nanofil provide an advantage in sink rate even though the flurocarbon is more dense but i do not think it makes up for the price it pays on its volume. any thoughts?
on the new ultra pressured setup i will probably compliment the 3mm jig with 7x 2.4# fly fishing flurocarbon tippet material. i did investigate this topic 3 years ago and recalled the advantage with the .004" line was difficult to justify. i have slowly increased diameter and feeding responses remain high plus i rarely break fish off anymore; currently 6.2# @ .0073".
(opinion on ice fishing reels)i will move forward with only using okuma ceymer c10 reels for the jigging i do year round. i think daiwa makes some of the better reels outside of the small panfish/trout reels but for ice fishing the drags are terrible. the best drags will have a static friction and kinetic friction coefficients very similar. this is normal as kinetic friction will always be less than static, think about getting a car rolling by pushing, once it is moving you know to keep it moving. the initial drag force will be higher and having a huge gap risks losing fish from breaking and also being too soft if the system sucks like daiwas 500 series reels. bought another c10 last night.
(minimalist ice auger project)i am completely building and may bring to market an auger called "global warming" for new england type climate zones or early season. it will weigh less than 1/2 of competition but will be limited by application in thicker ice and probably only 6" diameter. if i fished an 8" hole i would land more fish but i would need almost 2x the battery; ~28 sq inches for 6" vs. ~50 sq inches for 8". not willing to go this route yet as having a smaller, less tangled transducer can accomplish similar or greater gains. also one 9.0a/hr battery is all i need for most days even though i bring a second 5a/hr which gets used at times. i do not want to be limited in the exploration for fish nor increasing the travel weight.
(lure choice)i put a little more effort into using the larger tungsten jig and so long as fishery can support it, they are more enjoyable to use. they landed more hooked fish and almost a must for bass because of mouth structure and propensity to hook in dead center of upper lip. the problem is it takes a quality fishery to support using them and i would rather catch 60 fish and be entertained rather averaging larger fish over a smaller percentage. plus i think the hard wall for which larger fish ignore these tiny offering has not been established yet. i plan on building a 3mm jig system for ultra pressured conditions. once i abandon these standards on myself i can investigate other topics more objectively.
(testing my understanding)i am going to try and test my skills and understanding in one of the larger midwest ice fishing tournaments. if there are larger tournaments within new england i will consider those as well. it is an important goal of mine i will put effort into making it happen within the next 5 years or so. there are some logistical issues i need to resolve as i would like to be out there on the water the tournaments are held for a couple weeks before hand. if i cannot consistently produce fish which compete with previous years results i will tip my hat and travel home. one potential issue which may arise is the killing of these fish which i will not consciously do under any circumstances. if it comes to it, i will fish the day of the tournament and document the larger fish as i currently do and just compare to the official results. i still have many unanswered questions about some of the species of fish which i would like to bring more clarity to before competing.
(future)moving forward, i will start a community more accepting of me to help all parties involved. thank you for providing a location for me to share this journey. thank you for those that i learned from, those i meet and those which offered support. i will continue to find happiness in fishing so if you would like to discuss anything pertaining to life, reach out to me for those interested in following my, predominantly fishing adventures throughout the seasons there should be a link to instagram at the bottom of my post or you can search for my user name.
here are some images from the last trip several days ago and one of me being happy with two connecticut trophy perch; i posted a slightly different image of same two fish previously.
my personal best yellow perch and crappie ice fishing. a little closer to my standards for a replica mount of 15" yellow perch and 16.5"+ crappie.
as always, any questions, concerns, constructive feedback is welcomed. thank you for your time, peace and long life!
