Mick

Thank's Duane. I got out again this morning @ 8 and could only troll in the East bay with 2 footers from the West. Switched to 44's today with 0 hookups again other than the bottom coming off the East side of the River mouth. I got hung up 2x right there yesterday also with the rigger only down 6 feet FYI. It was a little trickier on my own today with the extra wind/waves. The water temp came up to 39 at the high from 37 yesterday, and I did see a few small pods of bait right around the mouth on the sonar. I probably won't be out again until Friday so I'll report back after then. Have a good one and see everyone out there soon- Mick

Way to go Jax.

Got out for the first time for a few hours later this morning. Trolled some pirate 55's and some rapala x-raps without any luck. There is a lot of debris right around the East end of the pier. Good colored water around, but was only 37 degrees in the colored water, and only gradually dropped to 35-36 as you got out of the colored water. Sure felt good to get out there finally even without any fish. The ramp on the East side is useable, but there aren't any docks and I don't believe they go in until April. Definately easier with some help. Be carefull out there right now with all the debris in the water. Hope to get out again soon. Good luck in the upcoming season everyone. - Mick

PM Sent

Joe and his support, and knowledge will surely be missed by many. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family from mine. My first spoon in the water this year will definately be a pirate in his honor.

Cool pics Stan. Will some of the water stick around for a while. I remember you saying that you really needed it out there.

way to go Gambler. How many teams were entered? I wanted to give it a try but it was my son's Birthday, and I couldn't miss that. I'd like to try a few next year.

Califishication(Stan's parody of the Chilli Peppers Hit)Just kiddin stan.

Did you mean MEPPS GIANT KILLER Stan? If so maybee check out some of the tandem inline Musky/pike spinners. Most Muskie spinner companies make a smaller version for pike. I do really like the mepps spinners and grew up with them though so they are a favorite of mine. Just a thought

Can't wait to get out on the lake again. I voted Salmon and other. I had a lot of fun at Chatauqua for muskie this past fall, and I would like to check out Conesus for the tigers and pike, and some of the other smaller lakes for essox this year.

Happy Birthday

Either way they probably tasted way better coming out of ice cold water compared to catching and eating them during the summer. We used to eat Largemouth out of a farm pond when I was growing up, and they were a little fishy. I don't think I have ate any bass in over 15 years now. I wonder if their diet would play a part in the taste wether it was predominately other fish, or crayfish, worms, aquatic insects etc.

I agree. At the oak is always the highlight of the day for me when I can't make it out there. It always gets me feeling better to read about how the fishing was and to know people had a good time out on the lake when I couldn't be out there. You can also learn a lot from the reports. Thank's again Joe and Shirley- Mick

I was only there for the first hour because of other stuff I had to do today, but it was definately a fun time. For next year we should for shure set up a table of our own with possibly a sign in sheet so we could see how many of us were there. I'm certain I walked right past many LOU members there and didn't even know it. I didn't have enough time for any seminars but from what I heard they were pretty good. Well there's always next year.- Let's hear some further feedback. - Mick

The Oak at the Pointe is totally open also. There's just a few flocks of gulls sitting on the remaining ice sheets hanging around.

I wonder if those floating foam tubes for swimming pools would be bouyant enough to at least float the net if it did fall in? That way you could at least go back and scoop it up if needed. They are about 2+1/2 inches in diameter and have a hole in the middle around an inch. If there wasn't ice on the pool still I'd go out and try it for ya. They are about 4 feet long. Just an idea

Just Fishin. I know I usually wont run bright colors, Reds, orange, or yellow below 40 fow, (usually steelhead colors), but do we really know how the fish percieve the colors? Can they actually see in color, or do the percieve it in a sort oy grey or whatever color they see scale? Anything that glows does pretty good below 40-50 fow but is that just when the light stops penetrating the water enough for the glow to work? I think it is a matter of contrast on our spoons, flashers, flys that really makes a difference. Every day has different light whether it's a bright and sunny , or cloudy day, and I'm sure that time of day has a lot do do with how far light is reflecting, or penetrating in to the water also. When we troll our spoons through a school of baitfish we generally are hopeing that the trout and salmon key in on our spoons sensing that they are hurt/wounded or easy prey I would think. I'm sure more Fisherman have been fooled by the color of our lures than the fish are often. There are just too many factors to consider when picking what color/pattern to run with, and I think paying attention to boat speed/ wind / underwater currents plays more of a factor than just the color of your lure. Run your favorite and most productive colors, and try to focus on how you are presenting your lure to the fish is my only advice. My favorite spoon in any size or manufacturer is just a gold back/ black with glow ladderback for below 40 fow. That's just my preference.We do call it fishing and not catching Only a few more weeks to go- Mick

Nice fish. I was out a week ago and we did get the panfish to bite, and a nice bass, but the esox just weren't interested. We fished about the same depth of water and only saw a little vegetation on bottom. I was told if you can find more weeds then you can do better on the gills. Probably a little shallower. Way to go.

I definately want a camera for next year's ice. I have a few Ideas for attatching it for trolling also. Most of them only go 50 feet- I would like something over 100 ft of cable to see what is on the bottom in front of the Oak. - If it gets colder again, and safe on the ice let me know and I'll head out there with you. -Mick

I agree totally Gambler. It is a nice fish but it is being held way too close to the camera. That pose makes for a great picture to show to family and friends, but way too many fish from Muskies to Salmon have been scrutinized in online photos for people to try and get away with that. I saw some of those big pike on the underwter cam last week- pretty cool. Way to go. I can't wait to get down there in the summer and try for a tiger. I fished on the ice more this week and a half than I have all my life.- a lot of fun. Can't wait for open water though. Way to go- Mick

Got out again this morning and was skunked again. Waxies on jigs. Figured I better get out before the next few days. A lot of runnoff and cracking today. Shore ice had water on it. I think for next year a camera is going to be a neccessity to see if they just aren't biting or if there's nobody home. Wish I had a better report. Good luck if anyone can make it out again and be safe. - Mick

I had fun Mark. Hopefully we'll get out somewhere again before the water is all liquid again. Thank's for letting me tag along and fish some new waters. Now I have another form of fishing to spend my time and money on. - Mick

Tried ice fishing the Oak down by the bridges near Narby's and Captains cove. We did get quite a few perch but they were all real small. Ice was 6-8 inches there. Well here are some pics of the Pointe for Ray. I don't think you will be launching there very soon.

Gave it a try this morning for a few hours with out any luck. Fished down west of the bridge on the south side in about 10 feet of water. Tried fatheads, and waxworms on jigs. I know one thing for shure is I'm going to have to get a power auger if I'm gonna keep doing this Thick ice though , at least 10 inches

Thank's for the info Diesel. I called Berkley today to ask about the rebates. The nice woman on the phone said you are allowed up to 2 rebates/product offered. When I read the rebate info off of your link it said 2 rebates per household?. The woman clarified that you are able to get 2 rebates per product offered. She did say that each rebate has a different mailing address, so if you are purchasing multiple items to get rebates to be sure and get multiple reciepts for each specific product. - Just passing the info along. - Mick