# Have you all put away your ice gear? FL 2-19



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I suppose everybody has put away their ice fishing gear. That's too bad, actually. You may be missing out on some fun without the slush and miserable conditions of last month. ;-) Case in point;

A buddy and I went to Fish Lake today. Ice 14-16 inches thick with hard ice, no slush, and the edges were fine. The wind did blow some, but hey, it is Fish Lake. For our trouble, we caught North of 150 fish, I personally caught 5 species today, (bow, splake, tiger trout, mackinaw, perch), had good trout and perch action, and had the lake basically to ourselves, relatively speaking. (there were a few people there, but not many for a Holiday, compared to usual) Caught a few nicer bows, splake, and tigers and the Mack was 20-21 inches. The only downside is that I still have a mess of perch to fillet now. 

Don't put away that auger quite yet, you may have your best ice fishing day of the year ahead of you.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I haven't seen any slush this year up ice fishing. It's been staying hard frozen.... making for super thick ice.

-DallanC


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Sounds like a great day! Man I love perch. I don't love the time required at the filet board, but when I sit down to a perch dinner, every second spent preparing them is worth it to me.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

willfish4food said:


> Sounds like a great day! Man I love perch. I don't love the time required at the filet board, but when I sit down to a perch dinner, every second spent preparing them is worth it to me.


I've tried this and it works pretty well.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

DallanC said:


> I haven't seen any slush this year up ice fishing. It's been staying hard frozen.... making for super thick ice.
> 
> -DallanC


You did have the biblical snow to deal with however. ;-)

I've had a good and successful ice fishing season but a lot of trips have had very slushy ice conditions, not for the faint-of-heart or ill prepared.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

bowgy said:


> I've tried this and it works pretty well.


I like that method a lot. I've used it before, but some of the people I cook for have trouble eating around bones. The fish comes right off them, but it's easier for my kids and grandparents to eat a boneless fillet.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Just gassed up the sleds, got the gear packed and in the truck, will be heading out at 0'Dark thirty for what I hope is a great fun day of fishing and snowmobiling. Happy to see more winter snow!


-DallanC


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Our ice fishing group fell apart. 
One moved to south dakota, one went to chicago, and now Dallas. 
Our senior member passed away last weekend. 
I don't get to go anymore.......:-(

>>O>>O>>O>>O>>O


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Minus 19F degrees this morning!

-DallanC


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I went again today and it was a balmy 7 degrees upon arrival for me this morning at 10:30 AM. Too cold for pics but had a decent day on slot cutts. 

Don't put the ice gear away yet!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

With as thick as the ice is we might be ice fishing the first week of June this year.


-DallanC


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

A buddy and I went up again. 30 inches of ice. Shirtsleeve weather. Decent action. Just don't forget the sunblock. 

A lot more enjoyable ice fishing now than when it is 5 below with slush on the ice.


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