Photo of the Day.....February Common in the Net

 

Here's a common that was landed on this beautiful afternoon.
Some places are still iced over but other places are completely
ice free. Carp are now hitting in the ice free locations.

Next Stop on the Seminar Tour.....Springfield Sportsmen's Show

 My next stop on the seminar trail is the Springfield Sportsmen's Show, website: https://www.osegsportsmens.com/index.html  This show is one of the biggest outdoor shows in the northeast. It runs from Feb. 25 through Feb. 27 at the Big E in Springfield, MA.  The show is unique in that it has everything outdoorsy from fishing exhibitors to hunting to camping to boating to guides and more.  If the topic has to do with the outdoors, you will find it here. 

The show also features an all star line-up of seminar speakers that run both hunting and fishing seminars. I will be there on Saturday, Feb. 26.  I will be doing a carp fishing seminar and a striper fishing seminar.  The striper seminar is all new for 2022.  It is called Striper-mania and deals with the striper comeback in recent years and strategies to catch them from shore and kayak in southern New England.  My carp fishing seminar is called Strategies to catch BIG Carp.  This seminar will focus on strategies to catch large carp over 20 lbs. As of this writing the seminar schedule has not been finalized yet.  Keep looking at the show's website for the seminar time updates.

Hope to see some of many of you there. 

No Carp but Plenty of Other Fish

 

Here's a good size pickerel that I 
jigged up today.

With the still waters iced over and the moving water very high, I have turned to ice fishing.  I am only jigging in a number of ponds.  It seems that everywhere that I go, fish are hitting!

I'm using a small Kastmaster along with a meal worn on the end hook.  I go from hole to hole looking for action. I've been catching just about everything that lives in freshwater except carp.  In the last couple of weeks, I have gotten some big largemouths, large pickerel, lots of yellow perch of all sizes, crappie, white perch and a ton of bluegills and sunfish. 

Years ago I used to do this a lot after school with the kids, but recent years have brought little ice.  This year is different.  In the last few weeks, there has been a solid 6 to 8 inches of ice in most places. 

Here's a decent largemouth that I jigged up 
last week.