Based on the encouraging ice conditions that I found when I scouted it yesterday, today I followed through on plans to fish Dukes (a/k/a Windsor) Pond in Windsor with Mogli.
I brought my younger son, and we met up with Mogli, his girlfriend and her sister and nephew (who had gotten there and set up before us) about 10 AM.
The weather was sunny and mild (about 35 when we arrived and 50 when we left around 3 PM), but felt a lot cooler due to a fairly constant 30 (?) mph wind consistent with "Wind-Sore" Pond's reputation as a wind tunnel.
Unfortunately, the ice conditions had deteriorated considerably from when I scouted them yesterday.
Whereas yesterday, there was a solid crust strong enough to hold my weight over the slushy layer underneath, warm temperatures overnight had softened it considerably.
At first, it wasn't too bad, but it got considerably worse as the day progressed - - and, by the time we left, I found myself increasingly sinking into slushy water up above my ankles.
We had the place to ourselves, and set up in a "preferred" spot not too far from the boat launch.
Despite seeing quite a few trout (and at least one big pickerel) swimming around on Mogli's underwater camera, the fishing action proved to be surprisingly spotty.
We had a few flags - - including a couple that stripped the shiner without taking much line - - and light taps on our jigs, but overall the fish seemed to have lock jaw.
A solitary 7" sunfish on a jig turned out to be all that kept us from a collective skunking.
On the plus side, the resident bald eagle made two separate appearances - - at one point flying just 50 feet or so over our heads.
Lunch wasn't bad either - - beef barley soup with sour cream and chives, rajma masala (an Indian curry dish with red kidney beans), and a variety of pizza (spinach and feta, sausage and mushroom, buffalo chicken or pepperoni) to choose from, all washed down (by the grown-ups) with some home-made red wine (a blend of currant, grape, pomegranate and red and black raspberry), and then a clementine to cleanse the palate - - followed (in my case) by a Don Elias cigar.
