had a great day NE part of state; >4" of ice

[logicallycompromised]

i landed 42 fish total (5 species) in 3.5 hours jigging; 1130-1500hrs.  39 of those fish came in 2 hours.  here is the break down; 17 crappie(up to 13.5"), 14 yellow perch (up to 10"), 7 largemouth bass (up to 14"), 2 rainbow trout (13"), 2 bluegills (8").  i developed this system ~ 2 years ago and fish it vertical year round; same jig(size and color), same rods, no live bait but there is a dressing.

there was no less than 4" of ice; 3 of which were close to black and most of the ice was 5.5"  if it was not for breaking both of my spring bobbers i would have gone for 50+.  happy to get out on the ice and forget about things.  i know i have some more spring steel to make the bobbers out of here at the house but if not i can source some from my father and be able to get back out this weekend(i will only go back out if i have the spring bobbers i make).  without the spring bobber i miss too many fish.  it took me 30 minutes to get the last two fish and i only caught them because they were larger and aggressive.  if you are not using a spring bobber of some sort i would recommend doing so.
two healthy and colorful specimens.



be safe out there and do not be afraid to think outside the box; do what they do, be what they be.

[biers]

Nicely done brother, good job getting out there and getting on em 🍻

[Dieseldog]

That is a great day. What jig is in their mouths? I love the Nuclear Ant but go thru too many legs. They rip as I am putting them on.

[logicallycompromised]

that is a raw 5mm tungsten jig(1.9g) #12 hook(i think) i fish year round; it has a flashy paint job i put on it.   i have not tried to fish it raw, there is a chance it might not make much of a difference and i am wasting my time.

i just had a better day in terms of quality but not efficiency.  landed 35 fish jigging public water no live bait; 17 crappie, 5 rainbow trout, 5 bluegills, 4 largemouth bass, 4 yellow perch.  two of those bass were 15-16".  i had to work much harder for most of these fish as things really shut down after noon.  this new spring bobber system is superior to that last.  the old utilized 14 thousands wire and this new one is on 12 thousandths but in a new anti breaking configuration.

going on a quest tomorrow for an official 14" or larger yellow perch on a bump stop.
be safe!

[Nysrx]

Good luck on your quest for a jumbo perch.

[logicallycompromised]

thank you!
i caught and released 58 fish today from public land in ne part of the state.  i fished 2-4.5" of ice with the following break down; 36 yellow perch (8 of them between 10.5-11.25- i believe i measured the longest one), 13 crappie (11.5-13"), 6 pumpkinseeds, 2 largemouth bass (15" largest) and 1 bluegill.

i lost 3 heavy fish in the 1.5-3# range i estimate, i believe one of those fish was a perch and might have been the one i was after the other it makes more sense they were bass. 

next time out i have some subtle changes to my mo to see if i can increase the size of the fish.  may even take a day off of work this week if the withdrawals are hitting me hard.  136 fish in 3 days is solid but there is room for improvement in terms of numbers and size...the numbers solution is easy to implement as i now have better understandings where to locate the fish the size one may take more time but i have a couple ideas to test.

some obligatory image; a screen full of fish

be safe out there!

[JohnnyJigger]

That is a pile of fish on the screen and you got on a GOOD jig bite. That is some great action. Thanks for the report.

[logicallycompromised]

45 today, 24 yellow perch (up to 10.5"), 16 crappie (up to 13") 2 largemouth bass (was 3 lost one at hole and all were 15-16")  3 pumpkinseeds.

i had a friend make it out to join me and he did well for not having a spring bobber.  he was also nice enough to take an image of one of the bass for me.

i will be planing another adventure here soon. 
over the last 4 trips i am averaging just over 45 fish per trip.  i did try to use something larger on some of the larger marks i could find but they do not respond well to lures....i dance and dance with them and it just does not work like the jig system i fish year round.  these larger fish i catch with the tiny jig just flat out crush it, no dancing necessary.

i know most the live bait mouth breathers cannot make the trip so i will mention...the last two trips i hiked out to breakneck up in bigalow state park.

i modified this auger just for these adventures; it weighs 1#2oz currently.  the full system with battery weighs 5#9oz  suck on that kdrill.

be safe, create your own adventures!

[PikeKing23]

Nice! I've hiked out there quite a few times during open water. Good scenery.

[NateD]

How's the ice looking?

[icemansect]

Heard there atr yiye out there today

[NateD]

Translation? lol

[icemansect]

Got reports that there are guys fishing

[NateD]

Nice, looks like it could hold up for the weekend

[icemansect]

We are going tomorrow if your intrested

[NateD]

If I didn't have to work I'd be there, thanks for the invite though maybe next time.

[logicallycompromised]

44 today; 24 crappie to 12.5", 9 bluegill, 5 yellow perch (11" my largest from this water by a long shot) 4 rainbow trout, 2 bass (13" and 15")  i am having to work harder than the first couple trips but the challenge is welcomed.  i tried to fish an upscaled version of the system today for about 30 minutes and it just does not stimulate the fish the same as the smaller version, even in the summer i get similar feedback from the fish.  almost like when something becomes a certain size the fish expect it acts a certain way where as when it is smaller it makes more sense how it acts to them so they feel more comfortable feeding on it.  even this larger size is nothing for a 8" perch or crappie to stuff down their throat but the fish do not lie.  at some point when i am around a larger healthier population of fish i will try the upscaled version again.


although there was still 4-5" of ice most places it did not offer much resistance to the auger; marbled up and had weak sheer strength.  i will likely take tomorrow off and prepare for sunday.

be safe!

[MR0352]

Great fishing trip

[logicallycompromised]

caught 82 fish today and 6 species; 37 yellow perch (~15 > 10"), 33 crappie (most 12-13"), 6 pumpkinseed, 4 largemouth bass (2 were 15-16"), 1 pickerel, 1 rainbow trout

still processing the experience, namely where the crappie went; they showed back up in the evening where i expected to find some but only caught a couple throughout the day.  i have a couple ideas i wish i would have thought of before the ride home tonight.  i will start testing the ideas next time this situation arises.  the sample size is increasing as i believe i found that bass have a preference for feeding a specific way just as crappie, perch and trout do.  you can learn a lot on a finder by watching how fish interact before you catch them.  a great 100$ investment (actually got it free from new credit card bonus) and you could not pay me to use a flasher, i get more data with gps for a fraction of most flashers.

307 fish over the last 6 trips; 51+ fish average

larger 9.0ah battery arrived today so i will be planing some northern trips to get on larger fish.

be safe!

[John Pavao]

the man is not bsing. I fished with him yesterday. he is one hell of an angler. the best I have ever seen at jigging.
believe his reports. he is not kidding. AND he is a pleasure to fish with.   

[logicallycompromised]

thank you John for the generous words and tolerating me!  your passion to flat out fish across species and adventure i can relate with on some level.  i am sorry we could not get on the crappie like i thought we would; i need to qualify my responses better next time to prevent letting people down.
i recalled the part of our conversation i wanted to make a point on.  you mentioned that most the small mouths in the housatinic were a certain size(i recall the range but leaving it out of this post) and if anyone says otherwise put an asterisks next to them as a reliable source of information.  i also have litmus tests which tell me something about ones credibility.


i am perceptive and also obsess about efficiency to keep my mind under control.  i hit topics of interest harder than most and eventually find myself alone.  it is difficult to find people to relate with and tolerate me; match in passion.  i go out fishing with many people and generously share information it took time to acquire; solving these puzzles brings me incredible joy.  my desire to have friends has disclosed the entire system to a handful of people on short interval, only to be forgotten(very bitter about this).  i take it personal as one of the few things that brings me joy in life is fishing and i want to share that experience; happiness is shared.  i should be more thankful for the friends i do have rather than wanting more.  i just get on these incredible highs from a year of lows and have few people to share it with which can relate.

enough about my life story.  i will continue to update this thread as i get out, looks like i will be taking more time off work later this week.
be safe and live long and prosper!

[hardfloor]

Wow. I didn't even think there were 82 catchable fish in that place. Nice work!

[logicallycompromised]

thank you!
i have mentioned it before but it is very easy to fish too big in a lot of the water in connectciut.  if there are large active fish than this system can likely be improved by up scaling.  my friend and i had one experience last year that showed even the large fish when they become active if you are in the right place will take these little jigs.  that day will be an exception until it repeats several times.  i think the size of fish this system excels in about 5"- 17"; it has done 24"(21"/5pounds heaviest fish landed) and been as small as about 3".  at this point i have learned from the interactions of about 2400 caught fish with it. 

most of those perch in the last trip were pretty small and most people do not fish small enough to catch them.  with even smaller jigs one could catch probably more but the difficulty with keeping large fish hooked is difficult already with a #12 hook let alone something smaller.  i do think this size is possible the best compromise.  i tested an up scaled version on trout in deep water in july and the results surprised me.  these are large fish but they had a huge preference for the smaller jig i do most my fishing with. here is link to a short clip from that day; this rainbow was ~17". https://streamable.com/4x7pu  that was a 23 rainbow/2 brown and one atlantic salmon day, with 2 large perch over 13" and a crappie which was 15.5" and about 40 of the largest bluegills i have ever seen(10"-11.25").  my friend laughing in the video is the one who was with me for the big bass, crappie and perch day on ice with same jigs i mentioned earlier.

i used to fish tilts all day just so that a handful of times throughout the day my heart would get a pulse.  now i can catch fish most the day to pass the time and i still put out smaller fish i catch on tilts for bonus larger fish, makes the day exciting.

looks like we will have some more ice fishing options soon enough, thank you for allow me to reminiscence a little.

[SHaRPS]

Nice work with all of the fish.

Questions -

1 - How are you keeping count of all of these fish, especially multiple species and lengths? Unless you are keeping them, that sounds difficult so I am wondering what your system is.
2 - Is that you ice fishing in waders? I do not think that is the safest route to go as hey will fill with water if you were ever to go through, which I hope does not happen.

 

[JimT]

Sharps, I was wondering the same thing.  I've been out 4 times this season and only jig. I took home 29 fish last time and I'm sure I caught well over 50 fish but never thought to count ever one. I'm out for food not numbers.

[SHaRPS]

Sharps, I was wondering the same thing.  I've been out 4 times this season and only jig. I took home 29 fish last time and I'm sure I caught well over 50 fish but never thought to count ever one. I'm out for food not numbers.

Something smells fishy here.... lol

I also wonder, do you stop fishing when you hit your average to keep it consistent or do you fish the same amount of time, each time out. 45 fish in 8 hours jigging, not bad. 45 fish in 20 minutes, much different.

[JimT]

Sharps, I'm not questioning the numbers. I'm just surprised someone takes the time to keep track of all the fish. Last time out I fished from sun up to to 6pm. I caught a LOT of fish especially if I count  dink perch ,crappie and bluegill.

[ESOX FIX]

sometimes them wacked out laker guys get to a hundred. believe L.C. just enjoys figuring out the puzzle.

[lowaccord66]

Mike.. waders do not fill to a point where they pull you down...ever!  Ask me how I know.

I am a "wacked out laker guy" and keep count.  One of the guys I fished with uses a counter ha! 

[SHaRPS]

Mike.. waders do not fill to a point where they pull you down...ever!  Ask me how I know.

I am a "wacked out laker guy" and keep count.  One of the guys I fished with uses a counter ha!

Jon. I am not thinking they pull you down, I am thinking they get heavy and you have a harder time to kick out onto the ice. Lmao - I can only imagine you taking a swim. Lol

As far as whacked out laker guys, I'm a whacked out panfish guy when it comes to icefishing. I know you love your lakers, I love my whites and crappie. I just think it's much easier counting 1 species, maybe 2, vs 5 and knowing exactly how many fish you have plus the lengths (of 60 fish). Unless of course, you keep them.

I use a counter on my boat for fluke and seabass. That makes it much easier when things get hot and the action is fast. I am also not questioning the numbers, just the counting and how he is doing it.