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Author Topic: My Last Hurrah  (Read 1044 times)

Offline bogtrotter

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My Last Hurrah
« on: Mar 31, 2018, 05:20 PM »
I decided to close out the season at one of my favorite stomping grounds - - Burnett's Pond in the Savoy State Forest.

I arrived a little after 9 AM and, after, walking down the hill from the parking lot through 6" to 8" of snow,  I set up my first tip up by 9:30 AM. 

Surprisingly, not only did I have the entire pond to myself the whole time, but there wasn't even any sign (e.g., partially frozen over holes) that anyone else had fished there in weeks.
(Although someone must have ben there recently, since there were about 30 spent shotgun shells lying on the ground by the dam where I got onto the Pond).

When I arrived, it as sunny, blue skies, about 35 degrees, with a light (5 mph) wind.

The wind picked up a bit (to maybe 15 mph) early in the afternoon, only to recede again toward the end of day. 

Upon my arrival, there was about 9 to 11 inches of ice  in different spots, with no snow cover whatsoever. 

In some places, the ice  was hard all the way through, but in others there as a 2" or 3" hard layer over a 2" or 3" soft/watery layer, with a soft 5" or 6" layer underneath.

The overall quality of the ice was odd too - - and had a definite effect upon the fishing, for reasons I will explain shortly.

I chopped a few holes and set out three tip-ups and two dead-sticks. 

The fishing action was pretty good - - particularly in the morning till a little after 1 PM. 

I had lots of flags, and caught five cookie cutter (8") perch (all on one dead-stick) and twelve pickerel (the largest being 21" - - which I landed on a dead stick with ultra light line).

I also lost a fair number of fish as well - - largely due to the ice.

When I chopped my holes, I noticed there were lots of long, fingerlike (3" to 8") slivers of clear hard ice.

Over the course of the day, when I reeled in a fish that had gone off to the side, my hole would fill up with more of these slivers - - suggesting there was a layer of these slivers floating under the main ice pack.

On several occasions, as I was hauling in my line after getting a flag, my hook would get caught on  something (presumably a log jamb of these slivers), and to free it I would have to use my spud to push the line back down the hole, at which point the fish would take the opportunity to get free.

In addition to patrolling my "trap line" and hauling in the occasional fish, I also caught the last half of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the radio in the late morning, cooked a pretty good lunch early in the afternoon, and read some of my latest book later in the afternoon. 

Lunch consisted of a small steak, fried potatoes, asparagus with poor man's hollandaise (i.e., mayo), kimchi, a croissant and a small botle of homemade (grape/berry blend) wine.  Then I had an apple with a handful of sriracha covered peanuts,  After that, I put a pot of coffee on the fire, and while I waited for it to boil I smoked a Don Osvaldo cigar.

As the day progressed, it slowly but steadily grew warmer, and the surface of the ice softened.

By the time I headed home around 4:30 PM, it was about 54 degrees (nearly 20 degrees warmer than when I arrived). 

Spots that held my weight without any problem in the AM would give way and cause me to sink into ankle deep slush toward the end of the afternoon. 

Fortunately, there was still another layer of ice underneath, but nevertheless that sudden sinking feeling caused me to have a few "uh oh" moments as I made the two trips required to haul my gear off the Pond and back to the trail to my car.

Needless to say, I don't intend to press my luck any further this season - - and so will be packing up my ice fishing gear and setting my sights on open water fishing until next winter.

Offline elevatorman

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #1 on: Mar 31, 2018, 06:34 PM »
Awesome season bog 👍
A Country boy can Survive.

Offline Dieseldog

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #2 on: Mar 31, 2018, 08:59 PM »
Nice report. Sounds like a great way to finish the season. I now realize that I put my gear away WAY to early.
I plan to live forever. So far so good!

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #3 on: Apr 01, 2018, 11:56 AM »
Nice work Jim.  I am out now on LG.  Last trip for me too.

Offline bogtrotter

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #4 on: Apr 01, 2018, 01:17 PM »
Nice work Jim.  I am out now on LG.  Last trip for me too.

Good luck on your final outing.

Offline Jschumacher

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #5 on: Apr 02, 2018, 07:04 AM »
Way to hang in there. I too put away the ice gear for the season. Time to get the boat ready
Hard water Tight lines Flags up. Doesn't get any better than that

Member of the G.O.D.S

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #6 on: Apr 02, 2018, 07:52 AM »
...looks like I am going to get one more weekend in on the hard stuff...

Offline pmaloney86

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Re: My Last Hurrah
« Reply #7 on: Apr 02, 2018, 09:29 AM »
Nice job.  Way to stay after it ALL season.
westernmas on the finder

 



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