I took my younger son, my older daughter and her boyfriend (who is from the UP in MI but hasn't gone ice fishing the past several years) to Burnett's Pond in Savoy from about 10:30 AM to 4 PM today.
It was overcast and cold (10 to 15 degrees) most of the day, but thankfully not very windy. There was about 2 inches of snow on top of 8 inches of ice when we arrived, and it started snowing (and added maybe another inch of accumulation) around 1:30 PM.
We set up a complement of tip ups and dead sticks, and did OK but not great fishing, catching a mix of mostly pickerel and perch (which is par for the course at that pond).
My son caught the big perch (12") of the day, while my daughter's boyfriend landed the big pickerel (20") and a small (12") large mouth bass - - which is only the second bass I've seen caught at Burnett's during the 10 years or so that I've fished there.
For lunch, we cooked and ate beef barley soup, a deluxe Polish pu pu platter consisting of kielbasa (with horseradish), pierogi (with sour cream), golembki (with tomato sauce) and Polish cheesecake, along with clementines, coffee, tea and Kalamazoo stout.
After lunch, I smoked a Don Lugo cigar (surprisingly smooth finish).
My daughter and I also managed to work in a few loops around the pond on my cross country skiis.
All in all a highly satisfactory day.
The only sour note was on the drive home - - where we saw some people whose car had slid off the side of the road, and a number of Savoy Volunteer Fire vehicles (and firemen) trying to assist them.
Driving conditions are more treacherous than they look - - so (to quote Hill Street Blues) be careful out there, people.
