“SANDY POND “by Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Spent the afternoon at Green Point. Was not disappointed. While targeting perch, I caught more than my share of blue gills.

Guess the word got out or something 😀. Many more shanties in the afternoon. In fact about 5 more shanties were coming out on the ice when I left T 4:30. Might be a few of them evening crappy fishermen and women, you think? Very little slush when I left. The drag was a “walk in the perk”.

Let’s pray the snow cover tonight and tomorrow and Green Point should have significant ice build Friday night through Saturday.  All for now. Stay safe my friends.

Yo Stu,
The home made bread rolls don’t last long , but I got another jar of that red current jelly my daughter and I canned this summer with your name on it.👍

Boggey

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals,
Bundled up this morning, made the trek out at Blind Creek area and at the WigWam ramp.

Crusty snow cover over 5-1/2 inches of hard dark ice in undisturbed areas. Rutted areas at bottom of WigWam ramp has healed and hardened.

Strong west wind and 23 degrees at 8:00am felt much colder. Only one hardy soul in his hub in front of  the Elms access. “Only one”.

Good news for ice formation. If the Nordic winds and sub zero temps continue through this evening and we get no snow, our ice build will continue.

Follow up to that , February ice fishing tournaments for the Pond are as follows:
2/05 Mad River Club fishing derby
2/12 SCFD  fishing derby
2/19-20 Sandy Pond Sportsman Association Fishing Derby

 Looking for conformation and printable flyers to help promote and post on Iceshanty.com. Responsible representatives please PM me .

Boggey

[Arkangel]

Yo Boggey...

I'm heading up to LOTI/Wellesley Island after all this weekend to visit family...I have NO expectation we will cut a single hole - but I'm taking the gear "just in case".

On my way back to Bing - I plan on stopping in to check on my camp at the Pond.  I'll call or text you to see if you're on the ice Sunday (late morning). Maybe we can meet up.

Arkangel

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Sorry no updates the last 2 days. The Nordic temperatures brought old Boggey into submission. Not so much because it was too cold for me to get out there, it was too cold for my water system at camp.

It froze up 2:00 pm on Friday night and despite all my attempts, never came back on line till 6:00 am this morning.

Replaced one of the heat tapes which seemed to be the problem, but not before I ripped out 20 feet of knotty pine wall board. Oh well , I will be about an ice check shortly.

Boggey

[trapper2000]

gee  boggey  wish you the  best buddy  ya  need  a  hand  let me  know .....i'm not good  at  any of that stuff  but i am a  great gopher and  coffee  get er   

[filetandrelease]

 Wear face covering breathing that really cold air my friend

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Put the bathroom back together today but found the time to cut a hole down at my end of the Pond (Blind Creek). The ice had 2 inches of crunchy snow over7-1/2 inches of dark solid ice.
Noticed 1 shanty in front of Sebor Shores. About 6 shanties out of the Elms. No report for the WigWam or Green Point.

Hopefully the snow predicted for tonight and tomorrow will be accompanied by high winds to sweep the ice clean.

All for now, Stay safe out there.
Boggey

[Arkangel]

Boggey...

Sorry for all of your troubles...sounds as though you got your frozen plumbing issues figured out and repaired - too bad you had to cut up that knotty pine.

Fished LOTI Saturday...not a tip up in site (too cold -13) despite 2 dozen or so shanties on the ice.

Roughly 15 - 20 dinks...and 5 cutters...just enough action to keep it interesting.  Spoke to others with same result.

11-12 inches of solid ice - almost no snow on ice - needed creepers.

And 1 GREAT fish story...I swear it's true...every word is true.

I had my Aqua-View 715 set up - primarily for entertainment value as I was hosting my brother and his son from San Diego - who had never been ice fishing before.

While viewing - I brought up a small 7" perch that had deeply ingested the treble on my buckshot rattle spoon...attempts to remove the hook failed.  I put my jigging rod in a rod holder and pulled some line off of the spool so the fish could be put back in the water while I fetched a hook remover in my jet sled.

Before I could unzip the tent - the drag started SCREAMING.  I thought I had loosened the drag (way) too much and the little bugger was peeling off line - when my nephew screamed "@#$%* ?#&%#...LOOK!!! - and there on the Aqua-View was a VERY large Northern with my perch sideways in its mouth - clear as a bell!

Started to fight the fish with the pole and 4# test...which felt like it was going to break - so I handed the pole to my brother with the instruction to open the bale and I would hand line the fish.

Epic 3 minute battle...fish kept swimming by the AV...once it literally brushed by and it looked like the Locke Ness Monster!  I brought him to the hole when the pike abruptly opened his maw and spit out the perch.  And that's when it hit me - I never had a hook in the pike because it was deep inside the perch.

It gets better...

After I recovered from the experience and changed my shorts...I put the perch back in the hole (again) so I could fetch the hook remover in Jet sled.  Almost the second the perch hit the water the pike grabbed it again...same result...epic 3 minute battle in 8 feet of water the culminated with the pike once again spitting the perch out at the last minute.

And it gets even better...

I have 2 witnesses to confirm the pike grabbed that perch a third time!!!  Keep in mind that the perch left the water - came thru the hole - was handled by me - then sent back into the water for the awaiting pike.  HE WANTED THAT PERCH!!!

I decided to open the bale and let it run.

5 minutes later I picked up the pole again and it was still on.  I figured if the pike ingested the perch, I'd have a shot at catching it...but then I'd have to deal with 4# test across the razor-sharp teeth.  Tough call - what do you do...?

Same result (again)...fought the pike for a few more minutes and he spit the perch out at the hole.

Amazingly...the hooks (somehow?) worked free and now the perch had a single hook in its lip which I easily removed.  I swear - the fish had an expression on its face like
"REALLY...  YOU'RE GOING TO PUT ME BACK IN THE WATER AGAIN...REALLY!!!???"

Believe it or not...I held his tail and resuscitated him...he gently swam down the hole and out of site.  I'd like to think he will live to fight another day.

Great story, eh? And it's true...every word...!

[2muchleft]

That perch has quite a story of its own!

[Arkangel]

...and a few teeth marks as well...!

[New Old Guy]

Yo Chris,

Sounds like the ultimate fish story to me👍👍👍.😀😀😀

Boggey

Witnesses eh?

[chaumontriverguy]

what did the californians think of that lol

[Jigger]

Wow that was some story

[mr.clean]

New Old Guy/Boggey thank you for all the Sandy pond ice condition reports. Glad you were able to resolve the freezing plumbing problem.

Arkangel thank you for sharing story from your recent trip with brother and nephew. I'm sure the two of them will be telling their friends about the ice fishing trip and the pike and perch.

 Steve

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Well the pity party is over. Somehow through God’s grace I have the water running and can get back out on the Pond today.

A couple sheets of Waines coat and insulation and all is healed. Got
 to say my new friend Arkangle can tell a story with the best of them. Almost as good as Trapper and me. Yo Chris, a bronze ain’t bad considering that field of competition.👍👍👍

Did not get anywhere near the snowfall they predicted here on the Pond. A mere 3 to 4 inches of an alternating sleet and dense snow. It will make the trudge out and back a little tougher but my new “honey hole” isn’t that far off shore.

Keep my bud Jigger in your prayers. He is going to have an operation on his arm so he can throw a 100 mile an hour fastball again🙏

Boggey

[Arkangel]

Morning all...

It is my nephew that is from San Diego, California - and although that is his new home (work) he has been vacationing with his family on the St. Lawrence since a child...and they would occasionally drop down from the SLR and slum it with us PondRats (that's one word - Capitalized!).  Brother now has a place on Wellesley and it gives us great access to LOTI, Eel & Goose for ice fishing.  It was a great day on the ice with family - and anyone within 300 yards of us could hear us 'hootin' and hollerin' within my tent - during the epic battle with the northern pike and his little friend.

I've already made some new friends on this forum - especially Boggey - who has been open kimono with his knowledge of North Pond and LOTI.  In the reasonably near
future, I look forward to meeting Jim on the ice and putting that knowledge to the test!

Last year it was The Kracken who guided me around Chaumont with PM's...but I've not seen him on the forum for some time.

Jigger - good luck with the surgery on arm and fastball.

If I have this right, there are 3 ice fishing tourneys coming up on the North Pond shortly - I'd like to hit 1 or 2 of them...my wife even expressed (some?) interest as well.
Feb. 5 Mad River Club
Feb. 12 Sandy Creek Fire Dept
Feb. 19 & 20 Sandy Pond Sportsmans Association

...maybe that will be an opportunity to meet the men behind the call names...(?) hope so.

ArkAngel

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Great “catching” day on the Pond. Had to shovel the drive before I got out on the ice today. Late start, but walked out from my camp and fished near my old “honey hole”. The wind was brutal as I chose to sit on my pail and turned my back to the wind. The new snow was accumulated 2 to 3 inches with occasional 5 inch drifts.

I saw 5 to 6 shanties out of the Elms. With the blowing snow I could not see all the way down to the WigWam ramp.

Yo Arkangle, about the Kraken, he has left the house. He has spent the last year building his new house overlooking the Harbor at Henderson. Although he has been busy buttoning up the new house, I know he will be back because he misses the Pond. Besides he might take umbrage for giving you the bronze for story tellin. Although you know what they say John, “out of sight, out of mind”. Get back here and defend yourself my man.

Warmer tomorrow. Wind direction (SE) not favorable for good bite, but I don’t hold much store in those adages. Hope to see some of my buds tomorrow.

Ain’t no perch in the Pond😁😁😁
Boggey

[Raquettedacker]

Yo Jim great catch.   Congratulations pal…👍👍

[New Old Guy]

Yo Guys & Gals

Stu just sent me this cheat sheet showing all of the scheduled tournaments and Derbies on the Pond this year. I’m still looking to post the individual flyers . Thanks Stu.

Boggey

[Yotecatcher]

Nice haul Boggey

[Arkangel]

Boggey...

Hey...save some of those cutters for us working men - that can't get up there and fish when it's in the upper 30s on a Wednesday!!!

Us working guys get to wait for -40 windchills on a Saturday (Ugh)...just part of the game I suppose.

Jim...just got a PM form Stu...another PondRat has reached out and said - let's go fishin'.  I'd love to get up there this weekend but have plans with Annie.

Stu...thanks for the PM...I left my cell if you want to catch up by phone.

~ArkAngel

[Sawmill man]

Nice bucket of some tasty fillets  ya put a hurtin on um

[trapper2000]

boggey little  joey and i  might  be  fishing up that way  this  weekend  if we  do i'll give you a  call and   swing over and see  you   

[New Old Guy]

Yo Trap

You are always welcome my friend.

Yo Arkangle

I have great ice and have been lucky enough to find a honey hole or two here on the Pond. No reason to travel. The cold is going to be excruciating no matter where we fish this week.

[Arkangel]

Jim...

...wish I was there today and not working!  Truck said it was 40 degrees here in Bing area.  i bet it's a good day out there even if high pressure keeps the bite down.

Generally speaking (I said, generally) I fish Saturday and recover on Sunday...I can't go like I used to.

The older I get - the better I was!

Agreed - no reason to leave Pond...I only fished LOTI last weekend because that's where family was.  I intend to concentrate on Pond here on out.  Wife has some (but limited) tolerance for being left behind.  She ALSO has some (but limited) tolerance for standing on the ice with moi for long periods of time.

Me thinks...It has something to do with taking her Ice Fishing 40 years ago.  She was a good sport about it - but there IS such a thing as pressing your luck...!

Don't you agree, married men or men with gf's...?

Weigh in...!

~ArkAngel

[New Old Guy]

Yo Trap

Just baked a huge tin of lasagna. Leftovers for a week. Bring it.

Yo Arkangle
Bring Anne with you. She and my Anne can visit and do “whatever” Anne’s do when they get together.

[Arkangel]

Jim...

Very kind offer - thank you...but my Anne has plans for the big guy this weekend...it's my birthday!

Don't think we're heading to the north country this weekend as Friday begins the birthday "Triduum"

(C'mon, alter boys...how's your Latin?)

~ArkAngel...(and yes, I know that is spelled wrong - it's the name of my boat)

[stas60]

Does the Wigwam allow parking for ice fisherman? I'm recently retired and getting back into fishing.

[Stu45]

Stas,
  Unfortunately the only parking offered at the WigWam is across the lot at the Body shop and I believe the charge is $7.  Don't kill the messenger. 

[bullheaded]

Does the Wigwam allow parking for ice fisherman? I'm recently retired and getting back into fishing.

Ice fishing will be here soon.  $7 for the Wigwam parking lot and/or the lot next to the body shop.  Envelopes and pay box available at the body shop!!!