LOTI here I come!

[BlueSnow]

Looks like we are going to have a bit of a crappy drive but damn the torpedo's and full speed a head.  Hope to run into some of you all that have offered such good information during the planning phase.

Hopefully my phone will work up there - it sometimes gets stupid when I'm that close to Canada.

[fishon35]

You shouldn’t have a problem with sleds as there’s a lot of places to ride in NNY and most go to fish. Good luck on the trip!

[Longlegg]

How have you made out so far?

[BlueSnow]

Fished eel bay today from 12-530.  One pike between 3 of us....a bit disappointing though the daY was great.  Gonna try loti tomorrow with better luck.

[eyeguy21]

BlueSnow - how was the trip?

[Longlegg]

Looks like you had some blowing snow to deal with Sunday. Not ideal conditions but hope you guys had a decent time.

[BlueSnow]

A lot to provide updates on so I am going to split things up into a couple of entries.


Saturday Feb 3

We didn't end up hitting the ice until about 12 due to a bit of a rough drive from around Pulaski up to Watertown as the snow was coming down pretty good...no idea how long it did take but certainly double or triple normal.

Ok down to the good stuff! 

We accessed the ice via a boat launch which was on the way to the nature center where there was room for a handful of cars and parking along the side of the road.  Everything was plowed and  accessible.

We decided to start off in Eel bay and fished from about 12-530 the water was extremely clear and we were in about 5 fow.  Dropped everything and the kitchen sink down the hole and didn't even get a nibble the entire time on the jigging poles.  We had a couple of tipups out that amazingly withstood the wind and my buddy on his second ever day on the nice managed to bring in a small pike (22").  He executed everything damn near perfectly and it was clear watching some youtube fishing video's before hand helped out.

Around 4 or 4:30 there was a law enforcement vehicle at the parking area and as you can imagine shortly after that everybody bailed out.  It wasn't clear if we could fish on the bay, or park on the side of the road, after dark and we decided to bail out - not a tough decision with the lack of fish.  Even without much activity from the fish it was a great day and successfully increased the ranks of ice anglers by 1!

[BlueSnow]

Sunday Feb 4

We got up early and ventured over to De Wolf state park getting to the ice around 7:15.  We parked at the boat launch and there was room for a dozen (?) cars.  The road getting down wasn't maintained that great and when we left with the new snow ended up needing to put the truck in four wheel drive to get out.  No big deal but something to think about depending on your vehicle.

We went off the launch and headed south south west until we were in about 10 fow.  Fished from 715-1700 and caught several hundred mainly dink perch with one keeper calico, and two keeper perch and one pike (14").  Again the water was amazingly clear and you could easily see the bottom while in the shanty.  It didn't seem to matter what we used down the hole the fish were aggressive until about 2 when things slowed down a bit.  Other than that the only break in the action would happen when a pike would swim by and the little fish scattered.  At one point there was about a 36" pick hanging out on the bottom directly under my hole but it had little interest in what we were offering. My brother did have a big pike take his minnow but lost it on hook set.

We had originally planned to fish until noon, swing back to the cabin for lunch and then return to the ice but trying more or less east of the launch - but we got into the fish and by the time we realized what time it was it wasn't worth tearing down and trying to reset up.  Another major factor was that the wind was howling, even worse than on Saturday.  I'm not sure what the wind speed was but it made things a bit rough and really limited our wondering around.

We managed just the three keepers but it was enough for us to fry up for a little Superbowl snack.  We brought a small tv and antenna and were able to pick up the game from channel 11 out of Kingston.  It was very interesting to see that the advertisers in Canada clearly do not view the Superbowl with the same enthusiasm as those in the states.

[BlueSnow]

Bonus post from our trip up:

Red Lake Ice Shelves

[BlueSnow]

Logistically for the trip things worked out very well by staying at Wellesley Island.  We stayed in one of the chipmunk cabins (there are 10 cabins all together).   Quick details on the accommodations:

 * Fridge and microwave (no stove)
 * Plenty of outlets to recharge batteries, run aerator
 * 4 bunks
 * propane heat with thermostat - this kept everything toasty warm but it was LOUD when it was running
 * bathroom was clean and warm though for all 10 cabins there was a single urinal and a single toilet.  So if you go up with 39 of your best buds you might want to draw lots for the john...
 * dumpster and recycling neat the bathroom
 * Only one of the other cabins had occupants and only for Saturday night.  If we didn't see the footprints in the snow and the vehicle we never would have known they were there

We brought a small TV and antenna to watch the game  and we picked up a handful of channels.

All in all it was a very nice spot to crash after a day on the ice.  Crock pot for a warm meal and electric skillet were more than sufficient for us to get a warm meal.

[joe esox]

Thanks for the detailed report- headed up this weekend

[swampking89]

Sounds like a great time!! If I could ask,how much was it to rent?do you have to reserve or just show up? If I have to reserve,is there a number I could call? Thanks!!

[BlueSnow]

I thought I had responded to this but apparently I'm better suited to the computer rather than the phone.  I'm not sure that just stopping in is the right way to go as during the winter it looks like they run with a skeleton crew and during the summer I'm guessing it is a madhouse. 

We reserved online and all of the information you need for cost and availability is here:

Reserve America - Wellesley Island

It was a great weekend - I hope that you get to make it up and have a chance to explore the area like we did - just with bigger fish!

[Kobey]

Out on LOTI today.  About 14" of ice with about 6" of snow on top.  Lots of trucks on the ice.  Caught a fish I had to look in the regulation book to identify for sure.  It was an 11" rock bass.  Threw me because I've never seen a rock bass that big.  All I've ever caught were dinks.

[builder]

a few years back my grandson can a huge rock bass on indian river by red lake. I have to say fish grow big up there in northern new york