Goin fishin

[Gobblerforge]

Went fishing yesterday with the wife and a couple friends. The folks down the road have a nice pond that we can fish. The wife has ice fished once and the friends never had. The weather was nice and sunny for a while then went to cloudy. The fishing started slow but then picked up. Everybody caught multiple fish. A few hours later we had enough for a big fish fry. The fish fry was last night. Mmmm. Sorry there wasn't time to get invitations out.
Gobbler

[Jason_W]

Nice to see another ice fisherman on the forum. I went out this morning, but it was a bit of a slow day. i caught a handful of smelt and one decent perch. Made a good lunch. I'm hoping to get into the trout again soon.

[Gobblerforge]

With our weather, we don't get to ice fish every year. Most but not every. I used to ice fish a lot years ago when I lived further north. Now living 60 miles further south east it's a different climate. Not as much ice. I've found it difficult to find folks to fish with, and like most things,it's not as much fun if you can't share the time. Problem is folks around here tend to look at me strange when I ask. I mean stranger than normal.
Gobbler

[Jason_W]

I've found it difficult to find folks to fish with, and like most things,it's not as much fun if you can't share the time. Problem is folks around here tend to look at me strange when I ask. I mean stranger than normal.

Gobbler

Same here. I'm really into trout fishing through the ice and it's best to have all your tip-ups in the water by first light. A frozen lake is pretty darn lonely in the dark

I did ice my first lake trout last Saturday, which was cool. It was a baby as far as lakers go, but it tasted great after I put it on the smoker.

[jeepnik]

Ice and fishing. Two words that just don't go together. I'll take my SoCal weather for "winter" fishing any day. Never had to wear a snowsuit for fishing, and don't plan to. Hey, are those "legal" size? Might puny.

[Gobblerforge]

Puny? Naw. The smaller one did go back in the hole but the bigger one is huge by bluegill standards. When I fish for dinner, I don't throw anything but the smallest back until I feel the fishing is going good enough to cull. It's good to take small ones from a pond as well as big ones for the health of the pond anyway. And then there is the fact that small bluegill caught through the ice are as cold as a fish can get and have been that way for months. The first time those little fillets get warm since last summer is when they hit the grease. Delicious beyond description.
Gobbler

[Borregos]

It's made me hungry

[66GTO]

How can you fish there? There is no water! See the picture in my signature for what fishing looks like. Fishing should only be done in shorts and a T shirt! (That picture was taken in late November a few years ago)

[Gobblerforge]

Sure there's water. Plenty of it right under our feet. Just drill some holes. I don't expect most folks to understand it but I had a wonderful day fishing in the outdoors, on a pond in the woods, with friends. No phone rang. No television. No sirens of life. Just peace and enjoyment. An opportunity to practice skills and do things as they should be done. I've always believed in the be prepared mentality and I've always loved playing the survivor man role. I'm sure there is a great number of you that feel the same way. It's one thing to know how to do basic living skills but they should be practiced. This has been a hobby of mine for most of my life. In that I have three wood stoves and heat with wood, I start a lot of fires. I routinely start fires different ways just to practice. On this day I practiced, and was successful at, having everything on hand to take four people fishing in the winter. We located and caught enough fish for a good life sustaining meal and ate the same. I'm pretty sure the other three could all go out and do it again, now. I taught these skills for years with the BSA. Right ain't always easy, but it's always right.
Gobbler

[Blaine]

I can't even remember the last time I had a good bluegill dinner...mmmmmm

[m.wun]

Whats that white stuff all over the ground? I have been BBQn for two weeks in shorts!!!!

[Gobblerforge]

Let's see. How do you explain snow to someone from so.Cal.? Hmmmm. How bout, it's like white lumpy rain but doesn't turn into an immediate mud slide. It piles up, kind of like ashes from great big forest fires, but cooler. And when enough of it piles in the ice, the ice cracks and vibrates, kind of like your ground from time to time. And like you folks, it happens every year and we accept it.
Gobbler

[TX Gun Runner]

I call those 2 fish BAIT for my catfish in my pond .

[Gobblerforge]

That's real nice...........water.

[TX Gun Runner]

That's real nice...........water.

That is clear spring water , it's on top of a hill , no run off . It is green because it is 26 ft deep . The avg channel cat is 8 lbs

[Gobblerforge]

By spring fed I hope that infers that it stays full year round. That's a nice feature. Most top fed ponds around here drop in the summer but the spring fed ponds are always full. 26 feet wouldn't be feasible here. Heck, my house is a full one foot higher out of the ground than what was planned because I told the excavator to stop digging through any more rock. I figure the foundation is pretty good though.
Gobbler