Mid Winter Doldrums..... NOT

[Hog Daddy]

I've had an interesting last couple of weeks.  First of all, I got to spend some time fishing with my son's boss who is of Korean ancestory.  We had fun fishing together, did some ice fishing trash talk to throw each other off our game, and I got to eyeball his st croix and jason mitchel spring bobber set ups.  He's only been ice fishing a little more than a month, and already far advanced.

To top that, I also got to fish along side 3 fellows from Louisville that were of Russian ancestory...accidental ly ran into them at 2 different lakes on 2 different weekends.  These guys were a real hoot to talk to.  There was Vladamir, Valery "call me Larry", and Roy.  Roy showed me his jig he was using, made in russia, which was a small silver tear drop affair, with hole drilled thru top (no hook eye).  These guys were facinating to watch.  They could outfish me in a heartbeat without electronics.  Amazingly, they knew all the lakes around my area, and even traveled as far as Fort Wayne to fish. This last time fishing with them, Larry told me he had just worked a 16 hr shift (medical field), and not surprisingly, he disappeared in the afternoon for awhile to go sleep in his car.  Larry said he'd been in this country 15 yrs and was telling me this was the best place in the world to live, and how much he liked it here.  He also said his wife cleaned his fish, lol.  They said they gave some of their fish to old people in the Louisville area that loved fish, but had no means to catch them themselves.  I asked him why they weren't fishing some of the open water areas in KY this time of year for the big crappie.  He said his friends just love to ice fish the most.  He said their technique in Russia for unfamiliar waters was to set up tip-ups in various places over night, then check the next day to see which were productive , then fish that area.  He prefered fishing smaller lakes here, with not so much terrirory to scout out.

I thought I would share with you some pics from the last couple of weeks.






Some of my favorite lures the past few weeks have been these...some home mades and ratsos...I like anything with glow paint/bodies.


Ice has been strange in this area, but finally got on a lake that had some crappie and landed a few nice ones.




Some pesky little catfish....



Yesterday , Feb 6, was just an absolute perfect ice fishing day here.  I had a lot of fun out fishing.  I hope you had equally good fun.  Down in this part of Indiana we are sometimes lucky to get 1 week of ice fishing.  We have been blessed with an extended season this year, even though ice thickness has been all over the board.  Take time to talk to and enjoy your fellow fishermen.

My parting shot from yesterday's catch.

HHD




 

[hotdog]

nice mess

[Jigmup]

Bravo....I just bought more stock in Drakes batter Co. Gonna get rich off you guys!

[Fishslayer81]

 Looks like the bite has been pretty steady for ya all year...Nice report!!

[bluegillmaster2011]

do you ever ice fish Patoka Lake down there? I have went their a few times in the spring for crappie, bet the ice fishin would be really good.

[Hog Daddy]

Bravo....I just bought more stock in Drakes batter Co. Gonna get rich off you guys!

Sorry Jigmup, you might lose money on that deal since we don't know what drakes is , even.  We eat fish in all kinds of ways, from fish tacos, stir fry, baked, and fry using a simple corn meal coating as our favorite.  I feel lucky to have access to such good food, practically living on Venison, and wild fish, along with a ton of different garden vegatables we grow in a very large garden.  I feel sorry for those who think food just comes from the grocery store.

[Hog Daddy]

do you ever ice fish Patoka Lake down there? I have went their a few times in the spring for crappie, bet the ice fishin would be really good.

I live a couple hours from Patoka and only occasionally get there in the warm water fishing.  It is too far south of the ice zone I believe, unless we have extremely bitter cold periods where bays probably could freeze thick enough.  It's been a few yrs since we had one of those winters. 

[jhc]

HD....
WTG...

[Hog Daddy]

A trick from yesterday's fishing:  I was fishing on a 13-14 foot flat with no structure.  The fish were just roaming.  To get their attention, I would first spend time up higher in the water column jigging...like 6-10 ft, then move down to the lower 3 ft.  I believe the roaming fish would get sight of the jig higher in the water column, then would come in and smash my bait.  This is as opposed to just jigging down lower in the water column.  

[marmooskapaul]

Great gills! I got to look at some of your handy work a couple weeks ago. I must say very nice collection of jigs I saw, very professional looking. They evidently work like crazy too. LOL
Paul

[FWFeecherman]

COngrats and nice report!!!!  Tight Lines and Screamin Drags to Ya!!!!!!!

[abishop]

Very nice bucketfull.

[Hog Daddy]

Great gills! I got to look at some of your handy work a couple weeks ago. I must say very nice collection of jigs I saw, very professional looking. They evidently work like crazy too. LOL
Paul

Paul, you keep company with some very nice guys. True gentlemen, and awesome fishermen.  I think you could put a hook on an anchor, call it a jig, and those guys could catch a fish with it.  Too bad I live so far away, or could tag along and bait your hooks or carry the fish bucket, or something ...lol. One advantage of this site, is it gives you an opportunity to meet some birds of a feather that you would never meet otherwise.  Thanks for the kind words on the baits, however I am pretty much a hack jig maker.  Sometimes the ugliest stuff, catches the most fish. Inspired by the guys who make the flies, I made a feeble attempt at tying some scuds and actually tried to use some of them yesterday, however I had tied so much dubbing next to the eye, that I couldn't even string my 2 lb test thru the eyelet. After attempting the thread the hook on about 5 of them (without mag glasses) I finally found one I could thread.  Then took forever for the thing to sink.  I quickly gave up on that idea and went back to heavy stuff. I do see now why you like the russian jigs.  I am only sorry now that I didn't think to trade Roy out of some of his.  

[Border Jumper]

Great looking pictures.

[Hog Daddy]

Here's what the russian Roy was using...only in silver.  I think they are made in silver, gold, and copper maybe.

Mormyshka jig

[Ice Sergeant]

Looks like you had a heck of a day.

[Derslayer1]

Great pics Hog, WTG

[switch]

HD - Great report! Thanks for the post.

[marmooskapaul]

Here's what the russian Roy was using...only in silver.  I think they are made in silver, gold, and copper maybe.

Mormyshka jig

(Image removed from quote.)

I think you can still get these from Keeper Lures. Might google them if interested. I do use them a lot and they definately catch fish and have a positive hook set, don't loose many fish on them
Paul

[Greenedog]

Great report! You've been spending some interesting and productive time on the ice.