Private Lake Reports

[J Miser]

Pikepopper, your pictures are worthless, what he doesn't tell you is all the perch MikethePike jigged up, that was a picture for sure.  Yeah guys, yesterday on North Emerald made up for the cold and dreary first day - 38 degrees, sunny, calm, just perfect, and yeah, I bought the last dozen big fatheads from Whorles, really sucks, where does one get bait on this mountain?  Blakeslee sport shop?  Mountainhome deli?  I aint drivin to the lake store and Jersey shops don't open until 8 (pocono Outdoors don't open till 10).  Those were 3 bass all caught in the 90 minutes we were out there, 2 decent pickeral, and, well, the perch, limitless perch, I'll let pikepopper fill in the number on that one.

Yeah boys, if you aint out yet, you've missed two days of ice fishin - J/K, I understand it aint thick enough for most, even Emerald lake security said I got bigger Kahunas than him, and he was a big boy.

Here are the pics from Day #1 Ice season 08-09 (sunday)

8am at Pine Tree Lake


The first two flags of the season - at the same time no less


The fruits of one of the flags - first icefish 08-09


Here's one for the Jiggers - its waitin for ya boys


Dr. JM

[dkfry]

Appreciate the pics. I'm setting up a bait tank this year so I don't have to run for fatheads all the time. I'm going to buy them in bulk, even though I really don't use that many of them.

[J Miser]

Well boys, my third day this year on the ice was mighty fine to say the least if not for the inconvinience of the lack of bait in the area.  Fished on North Emerald since it's the safest lake of them all and is only getting safer.  Started out with a dozen medium shiners at about 1030a and by noon, I was driving around looking for more shiners.  3 nice bass, 1 pick, and a few dink perch ate em all.  Well, a 20 mile drive to find bait and I was back icefishing by 2 pm with another dozen fatheads.  Stayed until 430 to the tune of 2 more pickeral and 2 perch with a few more flags to no avail.  Not a single other soul out on the ice.  Life is good.

Its funny, North emerald lake has 4 good inches of black ice with another 1-1.5 inches of slop on top which should freeze tonite and make 6 inches of good ice - same for deer and lower deer poond.  Yet, the rest of the lakes in the Emerald lake complex are all holding steady at roughly 2 inches of ice - neither growing nor decaying.  Monroe Lake is doing the exact same thing, just holding right there at 1.5 inches of ice all week.  What gives, weirdest thing I've ever seen.

Anyway, getting the whole squad out on the ice this saturday, 8 guys, 40 tip-ups, and a massive barbeque and booze binge to keep that ice tradition going strong.  Hope you guys are getting out there while the ice is still free of the circus.  You guys enjoy.

Dr. JM

[J Miser]

Day #4 of this infamous ice season and if the tourney was going on, I'd probably be leading the perch and bass category and be a money shot for winning at least one of them.  I set the bar high for this ice season today, and heck, it aint even december.  To say the least, we got half the Polish brigade out on the ice on Emerald Lake, set up 25 tip-ups, and ran a good amount until 3 this afternoon after starting at 8.  Trucked minnows in from Jersey because no one around here has mediums, which really sucks.  Lots of dropped flags, most likely micro perch, but we still landed our fair share.  Really wierd with the Poloks landing all barely legal Pickeral (eleven 18-20 inchers) with a single rogue perch and bass mixed in, both sub-par.  Me, well, I only landed 4 fish today, but I made three of them count.  My first flag took close to ten minutes to land, but a pig 7+ Largemouth sometimes takes some time to land.  Actually, the bass spit up a very fresh 11 inch perch (which went in the bag to be filleted up too), so it lost some weight just in time for the pic - couldn't believe the gut on her only to see it disappear with the perch - really sucked. Next up, 5 pounds of bass fury that took me through at least 3 stumps, and by some miracle, swam out of all three.  Third fish of the day - a perch to make any promised land or minsi perch herder proud - 14 inches on the scoop scale.  Yeah, and one legal pick too.

Funny part of the day was having almost every car that drove by slow down, some even stopped to take pictures.  Security came out, would not come onto the ice, and sat in his car for a good 30 minutes and waited till I had to come out to my car.  Says he had recieved a half dozen phone calls from concerned citizens about our safety.  I told him there are a lot of bored jealous idiots out there.

Two guys from Jersey who claim to be iceshanty members stopped by saying they couldn't take it anymore having driven by a half dozen times to make sure we weren't a mirage or something.  They walked out and nearly cried at the site of ice so early in the year.  They were vacationing in Mt. Springs Lake which is just skimmed over and finally went out and searched for ice.  I told them Toby was safe, and you should have seen them run back to their car to get out there.  More power to them. 

We had an awesome barbecue on the ice going with Kielbasa, hotdogs, soup, onions, and toasted polish rye bread made to order.  Plenty of Vodka and hot tea with rum to wash it down.  What's the old saying - I onder what the poor people were doing today?

Hope everyone is enjoying the ice cause the fish are eating up everything in sight, absolute blast.  The whole Polish Brigade is coming out next weekend, so if you can speak and understand Polish and want to see what 70+ tipups looks like and get one heck of a workout, send me a PM, always looking to add a few member to our own PZW (if you are a true Polok, you'll know what that means).

I just got the pics in my e-mail so I'll get them up in the am (can't do it at work).  Enjoy guys and pray for the rivers to freeze.

Dr. JM

[J Miser]

Alrite, here are the pics, I didn't get sent the best ones and the angles skew everything, but you guys get the picture - NICE FISH ON ICE IN THE POCONOS!!!  Hmmmm, Sounds like a thread.

People taking pictures


Bar-B-Q Kielbasa right from the Polish Deli


My Hog


Both My hogs


And a pig perch to boot - the angle on this photo sucks, looks like he's 8 inches long


I'm sending out an e-mail to the guy who took the pics to send me better ones as well as the perch that came out of that monster's gut, you guys will fall over.  Alrite time for sleep, get out there boys, the ice will be gone in 4 months.

Dr. JM

[SeaDog1]

Whoa!
Which monastery did you guys escape from?
Looks like you had some Angels on your side that day!!

[fishingrip]

J Miser,is this a private lake or is there public access?This is not a bad ride for me and I've got the itch ,Igo out that way when I go to Ithica .Ialso fish up by Fairview and Greely with some pretty good success .Nice fish the bass and pickerel are c&r for me but Iwould love to get into some of those perch.Let me know maybe I could meet up with you for a day Thanks ,Kevin

[Ski Hunter]

J Miser,is this a private lake or is there public access?This is not a bad ride for me and I've got the itch ,Igo out that way when I go to Ithica .Ialso fish up by Fairview and Greely with some pretty good success .Nice fish the bass and pickerel are c&r for me but Iwould love to get into some of those perch.Let me know maybe I could meet up with you for a day Thanks ,Kevin

Its a private lake but I'm sure if you drop him a PM you can get access for a day or two 


JM, That perch ain't even 8" long    If I don't decide to drive to Erie myself and stay Sunday I'll show you how to catch the monster perch like I was getting last time out 

[fishingrip]

Thanks for getting back to me ,I'll drop him a PM ,

[Tank]

Checked out a private lake in Wayne county.Usually the first to get good ice.Ice was 2 in thick but lots of air bubbles in it.Looks like maybe in the next couple of weeks.

[1MOFISH]

Alrite, here are the pics, I didn't get sent the best ones and the angles skew everything, but you guys get the picture - NICE FISH ON ICE IN THE POCONOS!!!  Hmmmm, Sounds like a thread.

People taking pictures
(Image removed from quote.)

Bar-B-Q Kielbasa right from the Polish Deli
(Image removed from quote.)

My Hog
(Image removed from quote.)

Both My hogs
(Image removed from quote.)

And a pig perch to boot - the angle on this photo sucks, looks like he's 8 inches long
(Image removed from quote.)

I'm sending out an e-mail to the guy who took the pics to send me better ones as well as the perch that came out of that monster's gut, you guys will fall over.  Alrite time for sleep, get out there boys, the ice will be gone in 4 months.

Dr. JM

the operation was a success lol the patients can go home for some r and r dont know what looked better the bass or the polska kielbasa lol dobre shunka   mo

[J Miser]

Today was one of those days.  Cold as sin, slight wind, 6 inches of ice, grey sky, not another soul having been out on the lake yet, and the perch were on fire.  Me and mike decided to hit up Pine Tree Lake now that it was beyond solid and see if it will give a run for the money with Monroe Lake.  And we concluded it sure will.    Me and mike tried to get our 5 tip-ups out, but the perch wouldn't have it.  Mike couldn't get his second tip-up in the water while I couldn't get my third in.  It was perch on with the fish hitting bare jig-heads at times, didn't matter what you dropped down, it was a guaranteed a fish.  No real jumbos in the group with 2 - 11 inchers in the mix, but all solid 8 inchers +.  We kept the first 20 we put on the ice and then released the rest as I have learned to hate skinning perch.  Plus, my freezer is 90% filled with perch fillets, need to conserve space.  Mike wound up getting 2 aweet gills and a legal bass too, I lost a hog of a pickeral at the hole.  Crappies are still eluding us, but tomorrow with the gang heading out to hit up Mountaintop lake, we should see a different bag of fish.

It's safe out there boys, get out and enjoy.

Dr. JM

Pine Tree in all its glory


An ice shot staring into the abyss


mike posing with the catch
to let you guys know how cold it was (car thermometer was 19 degrees and lieing at 3pm!!!), ice actually froze in the camera lens from my breath I do believe cause the pic has fuzzy spots on it - just realized it.

[BEERNBAIT]

good to hear theres safe ice out that way JM, and your reports and pics are always terrific, but i cant believe you guys harvest all those 5-6in perch.  for god sakes, let them get big.

[marshrat]

Well I made it out today on my pond and caught a few bass!

[J Miser]

another wonderful day on top of old Pocono.  Van cleaver came up to have a look-see at exactly what I offer and by my professional medical opinion, I do believe he enjoyed it.  Then again, Van alone landing 50 panfish may not have been his cup of tea.  Van, myself and two of the polish gang decided to wreak some havoc on Pine Tree lake today.  Started the day by braving one heck of a wonderful snowstorm only to set up and have a wondeful fury of action with multiple fish jigged up and a bunch of flags chased down - all perch by the way. Then the sun came out, it got pretty, and we went to work.  100 holes later, the four of us easily landed well over 100 panfish (a mix of perch, nice gills, and one heck of a pumpkinseed) and took home 60, a lone 3 pound bass, and a dink pick.  It was one awesome day jigging, the vodka was cold, the Kielbasa hot, and I still have not seen another angler on the ice beside the ones that have been out with me. ice 4-5 inches with 12 inches of snow on top and of course, OVERFLOW!!!

Van, you are a  jigging master, I learned a ton, thanx.  Feel free to swing up anytime.  I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of that bass.

Dizzy, you missed out.

Enjoy guys, see you on the ice.  Here's to hopin the rivers freeze.

Dr. JM

Breakfast

Jiggers in action

Nearly a limit

Actionshot

Small satisfaction

Actionshot

Big Satisfaction

[Van_Cleaver]

JM , Many thanks, the pleasure was mine; other than the horrific drive up there which featured the gamut of wintry mixes. Enjoyed meeting you and some of the gang, and banging a bunch of fish wasn't too shabby either. Looking forward to educating more fish in the future, up your way. I learned some things as well; and got one heck of a work out slogging through the snow. That lake definitely needed to have the the heard thinned out, and I think anyone who fished it would realize that. Good food, good company, good fishing; beat the heck out of putting up decorations, or shopping in the mall! As for my jigging; determination and flexibility can go a long way; it's all a learning process. It was interesting to note how that front coming through shut down the fish for a little while. Another 45 min. and those gills might have been in trouble, though. Thanks again for your generosity; and to anyone fishing in the Poconos, be safe, that snow is really insulating the ice.

[Dizzy]

I am so jealous... I spent the day playing chauffer, chopping ice off the sidewalks, and chopping ice to extract cars from their parking spots.

I was thinking about you guys though. 

[pikedigger]

     Got out yesterday for the first time on our community lake in Pike county, 3 inches of black ice with another 2 of white honey comb on top.......   NO Flag's, No hits jigging, left after 2 and a half hours... Rained again last night and temp is now 45....................   Plenty of bait at the bait shop in Dingmans Fery , let hope the weather coperates from here on out..............

                                             Digger

[J Miser]

Van, I sure hope you get the pics up ASAP!!!

What an ideal day to be on the ice - warm as sin, almost no wind, sun and 7 inches of solid galss under our feet.  Van Cleaver decided to make the haul up and cut a few miles off the trip to Promised Land and head over to Mountaintop Lake hopin to find the roving school of Crappies that infest this place in the summer (and after Skihunter and Pikepopper reported filling a 5 gallon bucket and then some with them, it gave us hope).  Got to the lake at about 9:30 after learning that Whoerles had no minnows (first time I can ever recall them not even having fatheads in 20 years).  Van lasted till sundown, I headed in at 3:30.  SO we made a jigging day of it - one pocket with waxies, one pocket with spikes, 2 rods in the backpocket and one in hand.  We started in one back bay of mountaintop to the tune of a half dozen dink perch.  So we finally decided to move to another stumpier arm of the lake.  10-12 feet of water over all sorts of structure was the ticket on whatever you threw down the hole - spikes, waxies, pimples, jigging raps, teardrops, forage minnows, you name it, they ate it.  Landing close to 100 of a mixed bag of perch, crappies, gills and pumpkinseeds, we cleaned house and limited ourselves to only the largest individuals.  Beyond fun.  Highlights of the day was finally finding those craps that have eluded me for so long (van, I told you, you are a jigging master) and this is where I need the pictures.  Was jigging away in a new hole when one of those infamous thump-set-snap happened.  Guaranteed pickeral but wound up snapping off my last gill bug.  So van gives me a hali chain forage minnow (my first experience with such a lure) and I head right back to the same hole.  Pick up a small gill right away so I figure the Pick is gone.  Next drop - wham - but this time, I got the chain helping me out.  Landed the 22 inch pig with my gill bug poking right out the side of his snout.  Not a too uncommon experiece with Picks, but still interesting.  Lost a bass somewhere in that mix too.  Rarely ever make a day of doing nothing but jigging, but when they're biting, I can see how addictive it can be.  Total take home for the day for me was 18 perch plus the pick, Van unofficially brought home 8 crappies and a nice gill

Dizzy, you missed out again buddy - you know, there is only 12 weeks of ice left and waiting on Misi is lost time buddy, cmon now....

ArkansasPete, if you're reading this, cordially invited - I need another jigging fool for a movie I plan on making next time out

Alright van, the rest of the report is up to you, remember, dowload to photobucket, single click on the IMG code once the pic is downloaded which automatically copies it and paste it into you post as if you were typing a reply.  Any questions, just call.

Alrite boys, ya'll enjoy, tomorrow you'll be ice fishing in a t-shirt, me, I'm going trout fishing, been ice fishing for 5 weeks now, time to take a break, plus Steelhead fishing monday and tuesday, then i'll be right back on the ice wednesday. ah, aint life tough.

Dr. JM

[Van_Cleaver]

Again, a good time was had by all. Definitely a good day for traction devices. Actually made it out, and packed up while it was still light. (unusual for me) Finding the crappie was rewarding, as we drilled a bunch of different spots and structures. Lucked into a brief aggressive bite right after JM left, about 4:00. The best fish hooked the jig on the side of the hole and released himself, and I lost another at the hole, but what a blast when they hit with vengeance! Thanks for guiding JM, it was another great day on top. Taking a shot at posting for the first time:

[J Miser]

good job van with the picture posting

[Van_Cleaver]

Thanks, I had help from my teen age daughter. Naturally she acted as though I was learning disabled! Her's one I missed earlier:

[J Miser]

Today made a few of us ponder the question - "what were the poor people doing today?"  I don't know what any other lake was doing today, but none of us even pondered that there were other lakes out there to fish.  Promised land, shohola, the Pac, we forgot that these lakes existed, and here I can only give a part of the story.

Van Cleaver, Arkansaspete, and Dizzy decided to follow a stupid psychiatrist's decision and come fish one heck of a shallow, small private pond in Marshall's Creek.  Monroe Lake, right off the bat, gave off some sort of magical aura of a virgin lake, a lake that no one yet (sans myself) has seriously icefished this season, and god knows when the last fisherman gave this lake a serious try (I have see one lone fisherman fishing pepperoni on a 1/2 oz jighead for Bullheads since I moved here Nov 1).  We all met up at 815 this morning and were able to put a face to these screennames we live by.  I leave the guys on the beach while I go home to get myself in order.  4.5 inches of ice before you ask.  By the time I get back 20 minutes later, I can already see fish flopping on the ice.  The surprise, though, is that they weren't the perch this lake is overloaded with, but pig bullgills.  and so the day went on, getting ever so much warmer and so much sunnier, it was a day some higher power created to go along with this fine 18 year old blonde lady of a lake.  I got 5 tip-ups in the lake and now, and pain sears through my body, I realize it was the dumbesst idea I ever decided to act on.  To put it litely, to have utilized 6 dozen shiners and run like an idiot to over 70 flags just made me look stupid.  Meanwhile, the smart people kept on jigging.  Heck, dizzy don't even own a tipup (which made me chuckle at first but then I learned to respect the purist jigger).  all my flags translated into 22 perch in the sink now, another dozen or more that went to swim another day, three pickeral, a lone bass, and 3 bullgills.  Yes bullgills on shiners.  Heck, it was a first for arkansaspete, bullgills on shiners.  NOw this was little ole me, and the jiggers kept jigging.  And what did they jig up, you may ask?  I can't even fathom the number of 9 inch gills that saw the top of the ice, but it was some of the most exhilirating and fast action any of us had experienced in a long time.  Perch mixed in to the bullgill medley every once in a while for the jiggers (actually Diz went and jigged one of my tipup holes once I pulled them cause it got too painful and wound up jigging up 24 random fish in the last hour, as random as to add a bullhead to the mix).  Van Cleaver got the glutton, a 4-5 pound largemouth on one of the two tip-ups he reluctantly set up.  There was another pickeral mixed in there too, and few seeds to add variety, and a day that created the motto "where are the dink's?"  Add a barbecue, a few beers, a lot of traded info, and no threat of there ever being a circus (though the hockey players surely made their presence felt), and it was a fabled day.

Guys, it was an honor and a pleasure to fish with you today.  I hope you guys make it up sooner than later so we can keep pursuing the crappies that lurk in this lake somewhere.

Diz, soory to say, but dizzy the bullhead was just too cumbersome and klutzy for the fish tank.  My trout absolutely hated him.  He's going into the frying pan as well.

I'm taking all you fools up on your offers.  Make sure you guys add to the fable and post your pics.

Van, make sure you post your fish in the tourney.  Need help or a better pic, PM me.

Off to suck down some morphine and do it all over again tomorrow.  You guys enjoy.

Dr. JM

Arkansaspete and an early fish shot

Van doing whatever van is doing with fish spread out everywhere

Dizzy, the lonely, isolated jigger

My early take

Van's oddball fish

the tourney shot

Dizzy with Dizzy

the boot shot

[Van_Cleaver]

A good time was had by all; many thanks from the jigging fools! Here are a few more pics:
Recreational Jigging can be fun!

Merry Men of Monroe

Caught in the crossfire

Much ado about nothing

[Gillaholic]

Hit one of my favorite private lakes yesterday for some bluegillin. Got set up at 7 AM & was off the ice at 10 PM with 50 fish. I kept 48 gills, 1 crappie that was 14 inches & 1 perch that was 12 in. I was home & had all fileted & in the freezer by 12:30. Not a bad morning! There was a large area of open water on the lake but I managed to get around it. Some pics. The deer pics are of a small buck that was feeding & chasing around some does in my backyard at 4 PM New Years day.

http://skam232.smugmug.com/gallery/6989645_LJNWp#447359595_5X3YJ

[J Miser]

van, as always, good deal puttin the pics up, get some sleep, I'm headin out to the lake right now.

Gillaholic, nice pics man, swear I recognize that lake, but then again, they somehow all look the same for the most part.  What county is it in if you don't mind me askin?

Enjoy guys, more reports later.

Dr. JM

[Gillaholic]

van, as always, good deal puttin the pics up, get some sleep, I'm headin out to the lake right now.

Gillaholic, nice pics man, swear I recognize that lake, but then again, they somehow all look the same for the most part.  What county is it in if you don't mind me askin?

Enjoy guys, more reports later.

Dr. JM

Luzerne Co.

[J Miser]

Have you ever had one of those days fishing that no matter what you do, you just can't go wrong.  Those true fish a cast days, those days on the ice that it is absolutely non-stop flags all day from start to finish, that you wind up using dead or unrecognizable minnows on you tip-ups and hammer another half dozen fish on it until all you have left is scales and guts?  We've all had those days, some more than others.  Eventually my luck will run out, and I'm so afraid when it does, I won't catch another fish till I die.
So as long as it last, I'll fish everyday like its  the last day I'll ever land a fish.  Today was yet another one of those true days.

So I pose the question - "when was the last time you used up 18 dozen shiners?"  Now, I've had a few days over the last few years where we have gone through 10, fifteen, even 20 dozen shiners, but for some odd reason, today just stands out, maybe it was because it was today and not last year, but still, 216 shiners all lost to something below the ice, that should suffice for a report, but I got to add another chapter to my fable of a season.

lets add a few more questions to this story - when was the last time you limited out on panfish.  How bout you and a buddy limited, and not on a panfish enhancement lake?  How bout releasing a limit of 8+" bullgills and actually getting mad cause they became a annoyance?  How about the only bullgills you had to keep were the ones that gut hooked a shiner? 

Today was a continuation of yesterday

Had two good freinds from jersey come today given that they don't get out much.  when they asked how many siners to bring, I told them 20 dozen, but given the fact they only had 100 bucks on them, they were only able to pick up 18 dozen.  I figured that would be enough.  They headed out on the lake at 8a, I made it out at 830.  at first glance, they completely disregarded where I told them to go and headed straight for the dead middle of the lake, no structure no contour, nothing.  Within 60 ssecond, I realized it didn't matter.  In the time it took me to walk from my house out to them, I saw them land five really nice perch.  It was game on.  I was able to initially get three tip-ups out, and that was all I fished for 3 hours and it was a constant run of the gamut from one to the next and back again.  3 hours of solid running.  I realize, I am the laziest POS on teh ice, why I didn't just purely jig, I don't know.  I guess bullgills don't interest me.  At noon, I actually pulled my tip-ups to take a break and enjoy some barbecue.  at that time, we were calling freinds up in jersey to come out and bring us some more minnows cause we knew werte going to run out.  30 minute break, and i got 4 tip-ups in now and I brought myself the pain I feel now.  Thank god, at 2:30, I had my limit of 47 perch, 2 bullgills, and a bullhead with a bass and pick  in the mix, and was able to help the other two guys get theirs.  BY 3, My freind sasha has his, sursing under his tongue the whole time cause the bullgills just got so annoying (the many easily released 40+ pig bullgills).  Sorry to say, but marion only got 30 or so with a decent bass by 3:30 when the minnows ran dry, but then again, he was fishing big looking for bass and Pickeral.  I'm sure he learned that my bass and pickeral are so well fed, that's there no point in targeting them.  Plus with as many perch that infect this lake, the shiners never last long enough for a bass or pick to see it. 

Well, I lost 5000 calories today and a pint of blood, how bout you.  I think I'm starting to hate tip-ups, but the wife says I need exercise, what better way to get it.  Guys, get out and enjoy the ice cause the fishing is phenomenal.

Dr. JM

Striking the pose with my limit

the victim of the culprit in the background

the culprit tourney shot - shut him up with a perch

official measure

portrait of an old school communist jigger and his limit

[jasong31]

Ok I offically hate you and your lake.


hahahahaha just kidding... I gotta find me one of these magical places.

[arkansaspete]

Nice JM you can only hope for days like that an after fishing on this lake i could see that it fishs big those gills we caught where nice and some nice perch. Thanks again for great day .   A/P