Thank you to those who answered my questions on ice conditions and bait shops in the area. I was up for the long weekend in South Hero. We stopped at Dockside to see if he got bait back but no luck as of Friday so we headed to Bill Sporting Goods. They had an array of bait from fatheads to pike bait. I'm not sure if it is due to the states bait laws but VT bait is TINY. The pike bait was more like heavy mediums in MA but the bait was not the issue. We had an AirBnb east of Kibbe point so we decided to setup in front of our place. I navigated my first pressure ridge, which was a non event once we saw wheelers driving over it, but still a little nerve racking the first trip across. We setup tip ups from anywhere from 5 feet to 50 feet. The only thing that we caught were perch. On Saturday I'd guess that I caught close to 100 perch with the biggest approaching 12 inches. The only other fish we "caught" was what I believe is an alewife. It was belly up in one of our holes that I checked. I put that out as bait as well as a half dozen smaller perch. The weather was beautiful Saturday, I even ended up with a little sunburn, the perch kept us busy and Burlington kept us occupied outside of fishing. Foam Brewers is quite possibly the best beer that I've ever had. I'd take it over Alchemist, Tree House, Fiddlehead or whatever other craft beers you want to throw out there. Solid weekend and I'll be back for the toothy critters or lakers soon enough.
