alexthegrrr8 Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hey Gang: Here's a little tale that took place the last two days. So I finally decided to make my first attempt at ice fishing in 8 years. With a game plan in mind yesterday morning I was determined that it would be the day that I put myself on ice. After getting the kids and wife off to school and work respectively I decided to head into St. Catharines for some hard water action. Of course I had to make the obligatory stop at Peter's. So I arrive at Peter's at a little after 8:30 just to find that it was closed. So I thought to myself "what the hell am I going to do?". As fate would have it I decided to throw my Spey rod into the truck before I left. So I went down to kill an hour at Port D. I enjoyed making some casts and I truly believe that I now I will be able to successfully fly fish Port D. I never had any strikes but I met some nice chaps and saw a nice brown landed. Visibility was much better than the day before. I looked at my cell phone and it was 9:50... time to hit Peter's. I arrive at Peter's and to be honest I was lost. I had to buy a rod for starters and a few other things to get fishing. In my life... never has anything felt so foreign. Anyways, a rod, some split, leader, and minnows some time later I decided that it was indeed time to "unleash hell". Off to the back side I went. Yesterday I did notice a couple of guys fishing the front side by the stands for the rowing course. Maybe it's my cowardly way but it looked real dicey to me...hope those guys were safe and did okay. I arrive at the back end of the pond and head to the ice. I set up shop some time later and start to drill my first hole. I'm turning the auger but there isn't a whole lot of cutting going on. It turns out that I lost the bolts in transit that hold the auger together and I nearly lost half of it down a hole. LOL... I had a good laugh after whacking myself on the forehead. Dumbass!!!! So I start to fish. I'm not too sure how long it was but I started to fall asleep in my chair. I was startled awake by my wife who called me from work. She asked me "hon, how are ya making out?" I respond with "babe... I'm slamming them!" lol she asks "really?" and I say no. Honestly, I was starting to think if this was my "cup of tea" after fly fishing this year. I was bored, but I was quite relaxed. After my phone call I got off of the phone and met Bigugli. We started to talk and he helped me by telling me the different depths of the pond and so on. Honestly, very helpful (thanks Bigugli). I changed locations and got a little deeper. It wasn't long. My first fish which was a borderline keeper that went back through the hole. I ended up getting catching 8 in total 3 or 4 of which were keeper sized. I never kept them. So today rolls around and I decided to take a chance and drive to St. Kitts again after dropping off my wife at work. off to the pond I went again. I admit that I have never kept fish before other than smelts 8 years ago and one walleye up north 5 years ago. After talking to my wife I decided that if I actually manage to catch some I will keep some for a change and attempt cleaning them. I arrived at the pond and saw two trucks. There were two guys on the ice not too far from the entrance point. It did look real wet, and dicey from the road. I asked them how much ice was undert hem and they said 6". i figured it might be okay because it was below zero overnight. Off I went. I started off shallow and never did get anything. So I decided to start stalking them and see if I could catch something... even just get a strike. I ended up going deeper and I was into fish right away. Hoping that it wasn't a fluke I contiued this hole and I got several more. To make a long story short I landed 31 perch with 19 of them being keepers. I lost one fish that had the drag going and there was some heft to it. I actually for the first time had fish accompany me home. It was a great day on the ice. Surprisingly, there was next to nobody on the ice. There was one other angler by himself and a chap with a little guy came out later. Both days I will say this. The bite for me both days was real light. There were only a couple of real decisive strikes. The rest you had to really feel for as they were just sorta sucking at the minnows and hanging on. I found my eyes searching out the hits really helped as well. Now it's time to learn how to clean fish!! Alex As promised. Here are a couple of pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigugli Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Glad you did well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik.T. Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 cool can't wait for the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskicker09 Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 ya sorry about not introducing myself i had to try and out fish my old man i failed yet again but thought id put some real effort in to moving around and trying to get some pike i lost one today and almost lost my rod with the hit brought up my bait to only find a two inch minnow which was half of what i started with where are all the pike at the pond this year? will be gettin out tomorow not sure what side probably the back end lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted January 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 ya sorry about not introducing myself i had to try and out fish my old man i failed yet again but thought id put some real effort in to moving around and trying to get some pike i lost one today and almost lost my rod with the hit brought up my bait to only find a two inch minnow which was half of what i started with where are all the pike at the pond this year?will be gettin out tomorow not sure what side probably the back end lol Rob: No worries man. LMAO... I feel your pain. I was the same way with my dad as well. He always...and I mean always out fished me. There were times when I outfished him and it was only when either (1) he was using the crappy, uber-cheap blue mono from Canadian Tire or (2) if he handles the gas at all if we were on the boat. Coming to think of it... he never really got excited about big fish. That's sorta what I did today. After the first hole yielded a few fish they turned off and I had to chase them. I was over by the point where I lost the one fish that I described. That pike for ya would've been good. I was thinking of hitting the water tomorrow but I dumped the leftover minnows that I had. Maybe a trip to Peter's in the morning??? Either way, I'll likely go out Wednesday at the earliest. Good luck tomorrow if you go out and nail'em. Get that pike that you lost on Friday. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 Great write up Alex ! Sometimes you hit a school of fish , usually one hole gets the bulk of them . The hole I got 6 fish from yesterday gave me one dink perch today ! I went to Peters also , bought a nice little ice reel & a tub of maggots to try today but the fish ignored them today ......think we should have followed you ! Peters has minnows & they will help you out setting you up for ice fishing from the hooks to the hut . Get out while the ice is still ok , but be wary of thin spots . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted January 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 I just added the pics. Wasn't sure whether to use the gallery of Photobucket or something. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegrrr8 Posted January 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 Great write up Alex ! Sometimes you hit a school of fish , usually one hole gets the bulk of them . The hole I got 6 fish from yesterday gave me one dink perch today ! I went to Peters also , bought a nice little ice reel & a tub of maggots to try today but the fish ignored them today ......think we should have followed you ! Peters has minnows & they will help you out setting you up for ice fishing from the hooks to the hut . Get out while the ice is still ok , but be wary of thin spots . Bill: If you guys would've been with me that would've been great. I wouldn't have felt so lonely. Then again, it was a good thing that you weren't because of my unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. I thought about buying some maggots/wax worms or Gulp Minnows just in case I don't get to Peter's. BTW... I have to thank-you for your help as well Bill.... thanks. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 Thanks for the pics Alex , you sure made us "pros" look sick ! . Your clothing malfunction sounds like a ripper ! That is a common thing when one tends to add one extra layer too many which may cause a blow out of the outer layer , mainly the pants !!! Let us know when you may be venturing out there again & we can meet up for some fun & gab ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskicker09 Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 Way To Go those are some beauties of fish ive been hoping for a catch like that soon looks like i missed the boat LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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