Ice Fishing Heats Up

 

Action with yellow perch
was hot and heavy today.

I got out fishing today, ice fishing that is! It's something I used to do almost daily when
the kids were young, and the winters were colder. We used to get home from school, put on the heavy winter clothes, head to a local pond and jig until dark. With our recent warm winters, ice fishing has been very limited in recent years.

When I say ice fishing I really mean jigging.  I spent the afternoon today in a productive pond that had between 5 and 6 inches of hard, clear ice.  As luck would have it, I think someone was there before me, and drilled about 20 holes in just the area I intended to fish. I never had to chop a single hole.

I was jigging a small gold Kastmaster spoon.  On the hook I had a meal worm.  These can be purchased in pet stores.  Meal worms are a must if you are looking for serious action.   Almost immediately, I started catching yellow perch.  Most ice fishermen know these fish run in schools, and I caught most of my perch in holes that were about 20 yards apart.  While I landed a lot of perch, I also landed some hefty bluegills and a foot long largemouth which was the surprise of the afternoon.

It was a productive day and it felt great to get back on the ice today. 

This largemouth bass was the surprise of the 
afternoon.