I'm not going to go into it too much since it didn't happen on this site, but don't believe everything you read on the internet.
It was reported sometime Saturday that you needed a boat to get on the ice at Highland and Winchester. Well, someone took that advice literally, and drove from West Haven with a canoe only to find out the truth. There's still 12" to 20" of ice measured yesterday. Intentional, or accidental? Who knows, but posting info you got from "a reliable source" without saying it's 2'nd hand info is irresponsible and erases all credibility.
If you have any of the next few days off and want one last shot, go for it. I don't trust the ice north of the spillway for several hundred feet or so, but that's about it. Also watch for areas where small streams run in, they are getting thin too. Take the same precautions you would for 1'st ice. The western side of the lake holds ice better than the eastern, and be very careful in the stumps. With this sun, they will warm up a little and thin the ice. Anyway...
Got there shortly after 7 yesterday morning and only saw 5 vehicles at the lake. One of those vehicles was our angry friend. If we had spare equipment, or he was prepared for ice, we would have dragged him along.
Unloaded the quad and snowmobile trailer, loaded up, and rode out for the NW corner of the lake to try in some shallows and out to 7 or 8ft deep.. That was where we drilled 19-20" of ice consistently. Other people we talked to said they drilled 12.
Fishing was slow for us. Spanky brought our friend Don along, and he had the hot hand. A 26" pike, and a few junk fish. We got the skunkaroo. Almost all my tipups were big dead herring, so I didn't even get a flag. We ate and drank like kings though. Sam Adams, Corona, big breakfast plates, venison, and Mahi filets! We packed it in around 2PM and called it a season.
It was my worst season ever. Only got out 6 times I think, and didn't catch anything bigger than a 16" bass. Had fun though, and that's why I'm out there. I won't be on MFF this year, just the usual local one. But I'll still be here for a while yet.
And of course, the pics!
Here's the open water that requires a boat.
The 4 of us watching our tipups doing nothing...
I actually measured it, but here's Spanky's ladle as a visual before....
And with the scoop just under the bottom of the ice....
