One of my college roommates came over to my house for a couple of days so I took him out to some of my local spots. First day, we went out to a nearby two trap lake for some lakers but only managed a few perch before the wind drove us off. Second day (wednesday), we went to a couple of warm water ponds but the ice was slushy and messy and the fishing was not much better. We fished for about 3 hours but didn't get any flags for 2 1/2 hours, then all of a sudden, we got 4 flags in 20 minutes once some clouds rolled in. Just goes to show how the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Instead of staying to work the bite as long as we could, we went to another pond and jigged up some crappie. I even broke in a rod that had been collecting dust for two years before I could find a purpose for it!
The next morning, I went to one of my favorite trout spots but unfortunately, it was another slow day. I fished for four hours and could not manage even a single flag despite moving around. The day wasn't all that bad since I still jigged up a nice mess of perch and lost something much nicer (possibly a pickerel).
Yesterday, I fished for a couple hours in the afternoon and managed to jig up a good number of crappie and pickerel despite the wind. The day started off good with three right of the bat but I couldn't buy a bite for the next hour and a half. Again, small things make a huge difference. As the sun started to creep behind the tree line, I started getting fish after fish, possibly since I chummed the area well with cut shiner. The day was cut short since a screw came loose in my reel at some point but it felt good pulling out some slabs. Another plus- no slush anywhere! But, a note of caution: the ice where I was fishing was only four inches and the edges were very eroded except on one shoreline. This pond is usually one of the last to freeze anyways due to its acidic nature and the vegetation barrier that surrounds it despite the small size.
