Author Topic: First outing of 2020/21 season (Read 8908 times)

zcm_82 · « **Reply #30 on:** Jan 13, 2021, 04:51 AM »

I went out for about an hour yesterday afternoon. Landed a few dinks, got my legs wet 😂 I knew the edges were crap, rolled the dice and went through up to my knees. Ice was 4" and solid once you got out 15 feet from the bank, but the edges are about 2" and mushy.

Bite was real light. Not used to fishing with gloves on so I missed a bunch, but the ice was way too sketchy to try dragging the house out.

IlliniIce · « **Reply #31 on:** Jan 13, 2021, 08:03 AM »

tough bite for me last couple times out, including yesterday. missed a lot of light bites even with spring bobber and noodle rods. sent my half dozen keepers back down the hole
pond i was on yesterday was a bit over 4 inches, when i left top 1/2 inch was soft and edges getting shaky
i am done until next week when it should firm back up
gonna take advantage of this nice day to try and fill my archery turkey permit

zcm_82 · « **Reply #32 on:** Jan 13, 2021, 08:07 AM »

I'm definitely done for a few days. The edges are already shot on everything around here, and it's supposed to be about 40° today. Might go check ice again Sunday, if that forecast cold front moves in Friday.

DaWakoKid · « **Reply #33 on:** Jan 14, 2021, 08:19 AM »

Time to restring the spools, sharpen the hooks, and come up with a game plan for late January. This weather sucks.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #34 on:** Jan 14, 2021, 08:58 AM »

There are a couple spots where I was sitting on 3-4" of ice a week ago that were open water yesterday afternoon.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #35 on:** Jan 14, 2021, 09:46 PM »

Quote from: zcm_82 on Jan 14, 2021, 08:58 AM

There are a couple spots where I was sitting on 3-4" of ice a week ago that were open water yesterday afternoon.

That makes me sad!

zcm_82 · « **Reply #36 on:** Jan 15, 2021, 05:42 AM »

It was 52° and windy Wednesday afternoon here. The edges were already shot, so that just annihilated our ice.

That cold shot seems to be here, though, so got my fingers crossed it locks back up soon. It was 35° and raining when I woke up at 3am. It's 32 and dumping snow now, the ground is already covered a bit.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #37 on:** Jan 15, 2021, 02:01 PM »

Just a bit of reference on how much ice we lost. I was fishing this pond on over 4" Monday.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #38 on:** Jan 16, 2021, 10:21 PM »

Fished the home pond today. Pretty sketchy. We were more than socially distanced, like, "Here, catch my auger!"

Caught 25-30 and my buddy added 20 in 3 hours. The bite was hot right when we got there @ 130, but it tapered off quickly.

2.75" of ice.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #39 on:** Jan 17, 2021, 08:05 AM »

Still nothing fishable here. We got about 2" of wet snow yesterday morning that melted off in the afternoon, so that didn't help at all.

It got down to 26 last night though, and it's supposed to stay below freezing until Thursday afternoon, so hopefully some of the local stuff will be walkable again in a couple days. I have the chisel in the car to check ice after work tomorrow to see how it is coming along. As long as these forecast highs aren't undershot, it should definitely be fishable by the weekend.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #40 on:** Jan 17, 2021, 09:38 PM »

Fished Storey tonight with the boys.
Slow bite. Caught about a dozen.

5.5" of ice.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #41 on:** Jan 18, 2021, 02:09 PM »

Still got a ways to go here. Just checked a couple ponds. One was fully skinned again, the other had a couple small open water spots. Edges were anywhere between a skin and half an inch. Main sheets look ok, but no way to check.

I was fishing these a week ago 😒

Arquero3d · « **Reply #42 on:** Jan 18, 2021, 07:26 PM »

Checked ice @ Little Swan today. Lots of open water, but found 5" of ice. Ended up fishing Argyle Lake. Lots of open water there, too.

The 6-yr-old outfished his older brother and myself...again!

4" of ice.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #43 on:** Jan 19, 2021, 05:24 AM »

Quote from: Arquero3d on Jan 18, 2021, 07:26 PM

Checked ice @ Little Swan today. Lots of open water, but found 5" of ice. Ended up fishing Argyle Lake. Lots of open water there, too.

The 6-yr-old outfished his older brother and myself...again!

4" of ice.

Bet the kids loved that 😁 Our ice has been marginal all season, so I've only had mine out one time so far when I trusted it enough to have him messing around/possibly falling on it. He has been wanting his own ice rod for a while, so I finally picked him up a little combo over the weekend, and he's dying to use it now.

It's 17° here, and forecast about the same tonight/tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping it might be ready for a walkaround to check the sheet tomorrow. It should definitely will be ready by the weekend, but I'd love to be able to squeak in a little weekday outing if it gets solid enough.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #44 on:** Jan 19, 2021, 03:31 PM »

Same pond as yesterday... picked up about half an inch from yesterday. You can see where I popped the ice yesterday, too. So half an inch in the same spot.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #45 on:** Jan 19, 2021, 04:34 PM »

We have some cooler lows in the forecast, so hopefully you can get out this weekend! I'm going to be too busy at work the next few days, so I may be looking at the weekend, as well.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #46 on:** Jan 19, 2021, 04:42 PM »

If the forecast holds true, I miiiight be able to sneak out onto one of them tomorrow after work, and it will definitely be ready by the weekend. The others are still just a bit better than skim, but all the open water yesterday was frozen up today.

*added 1/21*

We've actually dipped well below the forecast. It was 21° when I got up at 3am. It is currently 14 and still dropping here. I'm surprised it has kept falling so close to sunup.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #47 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 03:06 PM »

Got out for a bit on a local pond. Edges were still very thin, had to probe around a lot to find a spot to walk out. Sheet was 3-4" of mediocre ice once I got 10' from the bank.

Only had one bite in about 45 minutes fishing. That wind was nasty, too. Looking good for the weekend, though.That cold front Friday should have the edges firmed up by Saturday morning enough to drag the house out.

Big Icehole · « **Reply #48 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 06:05 PM »

Heard they might open the back at the slough this weekend

zcm_82 · « **Reply #49 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 06:31 PM »

Quote from: Big Icehole on Jan 20, 2021, 06:05 PM

Heard they might open the back at the slough this weekend

I highly doubt it. I had a look out there a couple weeks ago and it was still better than half open water. It has to be fully capped to be open for fishing until the end of goose season, which is in February. I didn't even bother looking last weekend because of the warm weather and rain. I only live like 15 minutes from WS.

I was just barely able to get back on that 2 acre pond today, so I would put money on JC being a long way from capped.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #50 on:** Jan 21, 2021, 12:56 PM »

Definitely calling a giant negatory on the Slough being anywhere near safe after this spike today.

M.Pershing · « **Reply #51 on:** Jan 21, 2021, 01:09 PM »

Bad ice everywhere! Bring on the frigid temps!

Big Icehole · « **Reply #52 on:** Jan 21, 2021, 08:16 PM »

Guess I’ll check brc Saturday

zcm_82 · « **Reply #53 on:** Jan 22, 2021, 10:43 AM »

Found a pond that was just fishable this morning, so I gave it a sit from about 8-10am. Ice was about 3.5" but soft (could feel it springing up and down as I walked) and the edges were pretty thin... had to really hurry on and off the first 6 feet or so. The bite was decent from 8-930, then it went dead. The fish all moved deeper, but the ice on that end of the pond isn't safe to walk yet. Ended up with 11 gills, mostly dinks, and one little largemouth.

Ice should be a lot better tomorrow, with it so chilly today. That wind is flat out brutal.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #54 on:** Jan 22, 2021, 11:25 PM »

Fished Lake Storey tonight from 5-830. Tough bite. Managed 25 between my buddy, my son, and myself.

6.5" of ice.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #55 on:** Jan 23, 2021, 11:30 AM »

I hit the same pond again from about 730-10 this morning. The ice had firmed up and gained about half an inch, but it is still spotty between 1.5-4" and the ice isn't great. I could feel it getting softer as the sun came up and started hitting it, and the edges were crackling and groaning when I was getting off it.

Ended up pulling 16 bluegills, but only 3 or 4 were decent sized, the rest were little dinkers. Had a catfish poke his head up into the hole and have a look around, too. That's the 2nd time I've had one do that on that pond this season.

DaWakoKid · « **Reply #56 on:** Jan 23, 2021, 12:46 PM »

Anyone hit any ponds or lakes around Blo/No, Cham/Bana so far this weekend? Planning on getting out tomorrow morning for a few hours.

Arquero3d · « **Reply #57 on:** Jan 24, 2021, 12:27 AM »

Got to fish the home pond again. We absolutely hammered them! Best bite of the year so far with lots of aggressive fish. Caught over 100 from 3-5pm. Several jumbo perch, the 8-yr-old caught a 9" red-ear, and the 6-yr-old kept up his streak of 14" crappie!

2.75-3" of ice.

zcm_82 · « **Reply #58 on:** Jan 24, 2021, 09:59 AM »

Gave the same pond another sit from 645 to about 9. Caught 11 gills, but none of them were very big. I could feel the ice sponging up under me, and by the time I left it was pretty soft. I imagine it will be shot by tomorrow.

IlliniIce · « **Reply #59 on:** Jan 28, 2021, 07:25 AM »

got back out tuesday, 4 inches one pond 6 on the other
drilled several holes on pond 2 to get away from the bass. very light bite on crappies and gills but had some nice keepers.
next chance tomorrow afternoon, hope forecasted rain this weekend doesnt mess things up again

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Author Topic: First outing of 2020/21 season (Read 8908 times)