First day on the Ice!! 11-29-13

[PerchSlayer67]

My buddies and I set out to a pond up in northern vt at about 2200FT. We arrived just after light so we could test the ice on our way out.. 4" about 15 feet out and it never got less then that.. ( the name of the pond is unnecessary) but I will say it is in the VT Fish book and is over 100 acres. We fished for quite a few hours on the 4-6" ice. (7" in two spots). We got probably close to 125-150 perch, but majority of them were smaller then what we were after. A decent amount of seeds, pickerel, and a decent smallmouth bass. Only brought home a dozen and a half 10"+ perch. But man.. WAS IT GREAT TO BE BACK OUT!!  

Not to mention it was 6 degrees out and the 25 mph windchill was brutal. But the perch action kept us busy and warm for the most part.. I would've never thought I would be ice fishing in November ( DURING RIFLE SEASON TO). Well with this cold spell all the small ponds should be ready to fish in no time!

Happy fishing everyone.   I would post pictures but its to much of a B*#$@ to post on here!

[rbobby]

My buddies and I set out to a pond up in northern vt at about 2200FT. We arrived just after light so we could test the ice on our way out.. 4" about 15 feet out and it never got less then that.. ( the name of the pond is unnecessary) but I will say it is in the VT Fish book and is over 100 acres. We fished for quite a few hours on the 4-6" ice. (7" in two spots). We got probably close to 125-150 perch, but majority of them were smaller then what we were after. A decent amount of seeds, pickerel, and a decent smallmouth bass. Only brought home a dozen and a half 10"+ perch. But man.. WAS IT GREAT TO BE BACK OUT!!  

Not to mention it was 6 degrees out and the 25 mph windchill was brutal. But the perch action kept us busy and warm for the most part.. I would've never thought I would be ice fishing in November ( DURING RIFLE SEASON TO). Well with this cold spell all the small ponds should be ready to fish in no time!

Happy fishing everyone.   I would post pictures but its to much of a B*#$@ to post on here!

don't believe ,post pics

[fishingidjit]

Sounds like a blast ,probably be warmer in January then it was yesterday ! 

[PerchSlayer67]

don't believe ,post pics

I wouldn't write a huge paragraph if I was just messing around... Can anyone give me a refresher on how to upload them? Then I will

[ssinvt]

I wouldn't write a huge paragraph if I was just messing around... Can anyone give me a refresher on how to upload them? Then I will

You don't have to prove anything.  They are just jealous.....   

[shiveringjoe]

Here's the link to the IS instruction thread for posting pictures: 
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=31022.msg300148#msg300148
I'm officially jealous.  I hope there is some ice for me next weekend! 

[NJBassDevil]

I just want to see his awesome catch. New England is jonesing to fish!

[ssinvt]

I just want to see his awesome catch. New England is jonesing to fish!

lol.....

[PerchSlayer67]

Here's the link to the IS instruction thread for posting pictures: 
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=31022.msg300148#msg300148
I'm officially jealous.  I hope there is some ice for me next weekend!

Alright thank you! And try the smaller ponds, 50 acres or less they will be solid 4-5" any day now

[swampdonkeyvt]

Weather looks like highs close to 40 all week. hopefully it stays cold. would like to fish by next weekend.

[PerchSlayer67]

[PerchSlayer67]

First day out!


well first fish of the year... ha ha



My buddy got the first bass of the year.. on the 36" UL.


A decent hole from pond #2

[PerchSlayer67]

And heres the last one from Fridays first day... the first double of the year and MANY more to come!

[thebigwiggle]

way to go perch slayer.. nice catch .. looks like its time to upgrade your electronics..LOL

[Lavman]

Thanks for the look. It sure was cold Saturday morning out hunting. If the temps stay close to freezing the ice should hold and improve. Two weekends of ML hunting coming up then I will shift focus to the ice

[hardwater hero]

Thats sweet i wish we had that much ice.....way to get out and way to go with the numbers on the perch

[PerchSlayer67]

way to go perch slayer.. nice catch .. looks like its time to upgrade your electronics..LOL

Ha ha ha. That's my buddy's sonar.. I just happened to be fishing his hole for a minute. I'm all old school. No electronics... Although I may get a sonar this year any suggestions?

[Smelty88]

old school is foolish, do yourself a favor and get some electronics, night and day when fishing, i mean would you go deer hunting blindfolded?

[thebigwiggle]

Ha ha ha. That's my buddy's sonar.. I just happened to be fishing his hole for a minute. I'm all old school. No electronics... Although I may get a sonar this year any suggestions?

I was only picking you about the electrinics thing  but Smelty88 is right you wouldnt hunt with a blindfold and that kinda the same thing with Ice fishing with no Electronics. Haveing a decent type flaser should improve your catch rates by 50 % or more. i have a vexilar double vision which is a very expensive unit , but i would get any thing that you could afford . you can usally find could deals on ebay and craigslist for Flasher type units. Good Luck .

[Smelty88]

i mean you can drill 40 holes on a lake in a day and spend a 20 minutes on each hole because you dont know if there is anything down there electonics allows you to quickly designate the hole a good hole or a bad hole cuts that 20 minutes down to 5 minutes or less and you can move on to the next hole. So what would take you 13 hours cuts it down to 3 hours, it allows you to find the fish faster and rule out bad spots faster! i have a marcum showdown 5.6 dual beam and i love it, its much more simpler than the traditional round dial flashers and was not overly expensive!

[dickbaker]

  ???I love my vexilar but  100+ perch in "few hours" would keep anyone happy!   Flashers are best when the perch are scattered and hard to find.  Its nice to know that these two did a great job without new technology!!   
Dick

[PerchSlayer67]

I was only picking you about the electrinics thing  but Smelty88 is right you wouldnt hunt with a blindfold and that kinda the same thing with Ice fishing with no Electronics. Haveing a decent type flaser should improve your catch rates by 50 % or more. i have a vexilar double vision which is a very expensive unit , but i would get any thing that you could afford . you can usally find could deals on ebay and craigslist for Flasher type units. Good Luck .

very true but I mean deer hunting in vermont I feel as though if I did go out in the woods blind folded I may see more deer hahah. But I'll have to look into it.. I don't really like the idea of the flashers if anything I like the cameras... Atleast I will know the fish are down there. But I will have to look around. I can afford a decent electronic but no 1000$ unit

[PerchSlayer67]

???I love my vexilar but  100+ perch in "few hours" would keep anyone happy!   Flashers are best when the perch are scattered and hard to find.  Its nice to know that these two did a great job without new technology!!   
Dick

thank you! I've never had any electronics ever since my dad and uncle brought me ice fishing 10+ years ago.. It kinda takes the fun away I think in finding them and using your own techniques.. But on those days where they aren't biting and you just flat out don't know where they are, a flasher would come in handy.. But the ice fisherman 20+ years ago didn't hae electronics. They still caught fish. They're still alive? So I'm all game for old school it's fun I think. And I'm the type of guy that only spends 3 minutes at a hole. ( unless they're biting, or playing hard to catch). Otherwise I'll wait it out and work them. Happy fishing !

[NJBassDevil]

Parden my ignorance but what does a flasher even do? Ive never fished with them and ive caught plenty. Are they used for deeper fish like trout too? I drill a hole and get down on my belly and look straight down into the hole. That's how I know if there is fish there or not.

[mudchuck]

I got a Marcum VX-1 Pro for last season as a Christmas gift and let me tell you, it sure does keep the guess work on which holes produce and which don't to a minimum. Considering how I drill by hand and use a couple of jig poles, this sure does cut down on the elbow grease. Very easy to learn the flasher, battery lasts very long, durable, but my only issue is the transducer at depths beyond 40 feet get a little sketchy even in zoom of the bottom 5 feet. Not sure if there's a better transducer for it for deeper depths, but all in all happy. Thing was less than $150 so can't complain. Got my 1st salmon, crappie & walleyes thru the ice last season, not to mention the freezer full of slab yellows and throw in some giant seeds and white perch too. So in my opinion it paid for itself already.
Oh yeah, landing a 2 foot and longer northern on a jig pole with 4-6# test...what a blast that is and seeing them come in with such a large red return on the flash circle is awesome, really neat seeing fish follow the bait on this flasher!

[tracker one]

Once you fish with a sonar through the ice you will neve jig without one.   I have a FL-18 and love it,   big wiggle is right,buy what you can afford,you'll never go back to old school,and I'm 65

[vt-jig]

Once you fish with a sonar through the ice you will neve jig without one.   I have a FL-18 and love it,   big wiggle is right,buy what you can afford,you'll never go back to old school,and I'm 65

   Thats for sure! thats my sonar in Perchslayer's pics, and it truly is night and day. feel naked without it.

[dickbaker]

 

   Thats for sure! thats my sonar in Perchslayer's pics, and it truly is night and day. feel naked without it.

  I still have an eagle portable LCD fish finder.   It helped me find my first suspended crappie.  We hadn't been catching any fish until I noticed the screen registered fish ten five to ten feet off the bottom.  So we pulled our tipup shiners high off the bottom and immediately began hooking crappie.    I still use it out of the canoe in open water.   But now that I have a flasher (Vexilar FL20)  jigging is a lot more exciting.   Its lots of fun to tease perch up off the bottom and watch them chase the jig far up toward the ice.   But I have to admit that you two seem to do well without the hi tech gear.
Dick

[Smelty88]

Parden my ignorance but what does a flasher even do? Ive never fished with them and ive caught plenty. Are they used for deeper fish like trout too? I drill a hole and get down on my belly and look straight down into the hole. That's how I know if there is fish there or not.

the video bellow will explain a bit, this is just one type of flasher, it is the one that i use and love!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvIqxvneX-g

[vtshantyman]

vexilar all the way it really will change your life!