Fog, wind, and big weather change

Hi Folks, Went to my ice fishing shanty last night and guided today.  Crazy weather with a record warm front followed by a big cold front pushing in.  Last night the fog was so thick on the ice that I used my compass to make sure I did not get turned around.  The ice was a solid 9" of black ice with lots of water on top.  You definitely needed good dry boots.  The edges were sketchy with lots of standing water and caution was needed.  The fishing at night in the fog was decent for smelt.  Found a school of smelt suspended in 25' of water.  Caught them with a glow in the dark Hali Jig tipped with maggots.  The fishing today was pretty slow with big wind blowing for most of the day and air temperatures dropping throughout.  We caught a handful of smelt and perch, but no trout.  Matter of fact we did not have any flags.  Will be trout fishing again on Saturday morning.  The ice should firm up again with cold weather in the forecast.  Have Fun, Willy

shanty on the ice

Hi folks, Finally got my shanty placed out on my local trout reservoir.  Moved the shanty last night on one of the coldest nights of the year.  Air temperatures were a chilly -15 degrees with a steady northwest wind.  Oh well, at least there was plenty of ice.  A solid 10" of black ice with little snow cover was perfect for pushing the shanty out.  My shanty is sitting over 25' of water off a point about a 1/2 mile from the boat launch.  Great spot to jig smelt and set tip ups for brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout.  Will be on the ice chasing trout this up coming week and the ice should only get thicker with the cold weather continuing through the weekend.  Be safe and stay warm.  Have Fun, Willy

walking on thin ice

Hi Folks, Finally got on the ice yesterday afternoon.  Been a slow start to the ice fishing season with a good old fashioned January thaw.  My local lakes that I like to ice are just coming around.  My local pike lake has 6" to 8" of solid black ice though the edges need to be watched.  I like to put my fixed shanty on a local trout reservoir and their I found 4" of good black ice, though the ice edges were open and or had thin ice.  I had to walk in water to get onto the ice.  Need good dry boots for that maneuver.   I jigged for perch in about 15' of water on the first drop off from the shore.  A little scary being by myself on thin ice.  I had some success tugging on some small yellow bellies.  I used a cream colored jig with orange and a red hook tipped with live maggots.  I have been using more and more red hooks and they seem to make a difference.  Trout season opens tomorrow and hopefully with the cold snap upon us I will be able to get my shanty on the ice in the next few days.  Use good judgement out there on the ice and remember there is no room for error when dealing with thin ice.  Carry your safety stuff like a ice pick lanyard, rope, life preserver, and tell someone where you will be fishing.  Have Fun, Willy