This is the first year I've had the opportunity to escape and stay away from cold weather. But as it turns out, I can't do it. I just had to come back for some ice fishing. Especially since last year was so warm there was very limited ice fishing at all around my home area.
But first came a visit over the border to Wisconsin so I could watch a Green Bay Packers playoff game amongst their fans in Packer country. For that I went to the Brat Stop on Highway 50 in Kenosha Wisconsin. Its a big place, it is said to have one acre under roof. www.bratstop.com
We did not know it at the time, but Elvis was playing there. What a great surprise. That alone made the trip worth while. I know Elvis has not been seen in a long time, so this was quite a privilege.
The next day I met tomtom first thing in the morning and we headed out. We didn't expect thick ice, but we seen other fishermen out on the ice and we figured it was safe. We stopped at an open hole someone else had drilled. I stuck my hand down in the ice cold water to determine how thick the ice was, and there was plenty. We had six inches of good ice.
We chose this location because it ices over early. It's a channel on the Fox River System called Nielsens Channel. We parked at Herman's Bar as we knew we'd want to warm up with a burger and fries when we were done. There was a playoff game at noon we could watch on top of it.
We get to our (not so) secret spot, and tomtom drills at least two dozen holes. He likes to walk around from hole to hole to look for the fish, while I more or less stay in the shantly and watch fish on TV. Now I'll move the shanty if tomtom finds fish, but I'm more patient and wait for them to come to me. Besides, I'd rather stay warm and out of the wind. I guess that stands to reason since I've now become a “snowbird”.
We used ice fishing jigs tipped with wax worms and we caught plenty of Bluegills. But the Crappie were very tight lipped. We were only fishing in about 3 feet of clear water. The Crappie could be seen swimming about under the ice and checking out our lures, but they could not be enticed to bite.
This Crappie came all the way up to my jig and was the only Crappie I got to bite. But stupid me, I'm taking pictures instead of setting the hook appropriately. When it did bite, I missed it! Doh
The crappie pictured is not really as small as it looks. It's no Mississippi Crappie, but it is about a foot or more under the water in crystal clear water. I never did find out how big it was, so I could not tell you.
It was nearing noon, and my turn to drag the shanty. That was OK cause my feet needed warming up anyway. Here a line of fishermen are out on the ice and of course tomtom asked them how they were doing. Much like us, they were catching Bluegill but very few Crappie. At least they were out having fun enjoying and the crisp air.
While we were out ice fishing our buddy from Wisconsin texted me this picture of a big Northern Pike he just caught and released. I had to show off. Pulling that up through an ice hole has got to be fun.
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