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😆 Yesterday was my first outing on the ice here . Lots of bait, no whities . Was getting lots of tag hits on my larger blood worm for whities, so this morning, I tied up some smaller ones for the high hook . They worked great. Just enough bait to chow down on for a lunch snack. So so scrumptious 😋 20250125_082331.mp4

i love to hear that big cliff is out fishing...thats whats important!

im still waiting to fool one of these fish on one of your high flies, had a perch attack on last trip out but incredibly did not get the hook somehow. More importantly though Im hoping to fool one of these whities with one.

Glad you had another good day Cliff. Tim Hales really does have a great set up. Such a nice way to spend the day. For anyone trying to copy my version of the Simcoe Bug. I use an egg sinker. If the hole is to small to fit over the eye of your hook just drill the hole a little bigger. Slip the sinker onto the shank of the hook and squeeze , I just used a pair of pliers , into the shape above in Cliffs picture. Then I used spools of thread we had with our sewing machine and wrapped the lead to cover. Over the years yellow background with red at each end ,like Cliffs picture ,or black at each end seem to my most productive colour patterns. Then I just coat with Debbe's clear nail polish. I made all my bugs at least 30 years ago. About every 5 years I give them a new coat of nail polish. Not because they are starting to fall apart, just to make them shiny again. I can't remember what size the hooks I used are or the weight of the egg sinker but go as heavy as you can with the sinker. It is much nicer to fish with because you can really feel when the fish hit and the extra weight gets it down to the bottom fast. One last tip. These bugs although heavy are not very big so I recommend you always have a pair of hemostats or pliers for hook removal. They can be a PITA to get back out of the fishes mouth if they have inhaled it.

Ohhh I could use some of those come May 1st!

Oh god, I can attest to that, 10 incher's would make a excellent meal, those were the days.

A big feed of smelts is always great

Yes it was a great day. I ended up with 37, thanks to you donating many decent fish to my pail. I froze 6 meal portions for us and it was perfect timing because our freezer was down to our last bag of fish. My version of the Simcoe bugs where definitely a hit with the perch yesterday. As I told you since I started using them 30 plus years ago, I always have 1 rod rigged with a bug when I'm chasing perch on Simcoe. Good luck Cliff at making bugs like the one I gave you to copy. They are very easy and fun to make. I hope we can hook up again this season to enjoy another day on the hard water.

I've been to Cozumel twice...both times fished a day with Nacho, and then DIY on the North Beach. March and April are good months to go anywhere in the Caribbean for fishing. Cold fronts (and wind) don't creep down that far south any longer, and temps aren't ridiculously steamy yet. Enjoyed Cozumel, however I keep getting drawn back to Belize...quantity and quality of fish, variety of species, and unlimited DIY. Probably the best place on the planet if Permit are on your bucket list. I also find the atmosphere a lot more chill (no big all-inclusive resorts) and the people super friendly... My nephew with nice Permit from last winter...