The Urban Fisherman

Awesome catch guys! I'm a little bummed out that you aren't happy with the 8 inch auger. I didn't find it any trouble drilling through the ice, especially with the little ammount of ice we get down south here.... let me know if I can help you out moving it if you're dead set on selling it. I'd give it time to get used to though. Cheers, Ryan

I'm assuming you just dust them with salt and toss them into a ziploc then freeze 'em up but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask before I ruin a bunch of bait... Thanks guys! Ryan

Man Im SO jealous that I can't target bass here! I've got some wicked winter bass water that I have to avoid all the time while targeting panfish because the big largies always want to come out and play. I realize you can't help what you catch, but I try to steer clear of those spots. I'd be ALL over the winter bass action if it were legal here. Thanks for the report! Nice gator to! Cheers, Ryan

Thanks Simon! I've been telling her for weeks now that I'd take her out. Before you know it you'll be icing eyes and gators with your boy! When he's old enough to head out feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll try to give you some pointers on keeping the kids happy and loving the sport. And no worries about not being able to spot the fish, I didn't have my camera on the right settings, but I didn't want to stick my arm back down the hole to try for a better picture! haha to cold for me. Cheers, Ryan

WOW! Thats awesome Mike! Congrats all around buddy! Cheers, Ryan

Hey Dano! We were probably one of the closest huts to shore. We stayed on the inside of the city of huts where the ice was still plenty safe. A couple of Quads and a 1 hut went through way out towards the point. There's been reports of 12 inches of ice, but Averie and I didn't find more then 6 inches if not less. Lot's of fish, but all dinks! Jacques! We only fished ti'l just after lunch but had a blast for sure! Thanks for the Gulp Fish Fry dude! The perch ate them up, along with minnow heads and tails. They weren't picky today, which kept me plenty busy. I think I spent more time taking fish off Averies hook than fishing myself...

I've got to keep this short as I've got some thins to get done around the house tonight. I was finally able to get out with Averie for our first Ice fishing session of 2010. We decided to hit long point bay out of St. Williams, and my wife's cousin Darryl Propper taxied us out to the fishing grounds. The guys at Grangers hooked us up with some primo minnow's and dropped us off amongst the city of ice huts. Here's the details: Ice: approx. 6 inches everywhere we drilled holes Depth: 5 Feet Water: Crystal Clear Temp: 33 Deg. Bait: Jigging Spoon tipped with a minnow & Micro Jigs Tipped with Minnow's and Gulp Fish fry The jigging spoon would bring the perch in, and once they were under our hut they'd hit anything....very aggressive bite today... I'll let the pix tell the story. First off we forgot the most important piece of equipment - but Averie's Poppa was nice enough to deliver us our Ice Auger! LOL Catching a ride out to the fishing grounds The ride out Setting up Our Hut and Set up Awaiting the bite... And the fish Here's a double header! lol one of many A release shot The kiss Count 'em up - 5 fish all thinking about eating my bait - shot with the waterproof fuji And our bounty for the day! lol 2 whole keepers, and one was a bullhead. All in all we probably caught 50 to 60 fish or more, the average size was only 4 inches but the kid had a blast which is all that counts. Good luck out there - and play safe. Cheers, Ryan

We use it Cliff, only because we have an old well and last time we had it tested it had to be treated. If we lived in the city we'd use filtered tap water! Cheers, Ryan

lol funny stuff guys. Thanks for all the replies! I ended up grabbing a 6 incher while I was in town tonight. I looked at the 5's but it just seemed rediculously small! haha Got home and popped 3 holes in my pond in no time! Can't wait to hit the ice next weekend, it's been a long couple of months waiting for the hard stuff! Cheers, Ryan

I know the ice auger thing has been beaten to death, but I can't make up my damn mind! I sold the 8 incher and want to downsize mainly because my kids are small and I have been eyeing the 4 incher. I mostly fish perch and bluegill, and my daughter loves the non-stop action when we target gobies! haha But every once in a while we hook into a big OOS largemouth, trout or pike and I'm worried about squeezing them through a 4 inch hole to unhook them? Can you even fit your hand through a hole that small if you needed to? Should I just go with a 6 inch auger in case I decide to target pike or walleye in the future? Thanks guys! Augers are on sale at Canadian tire this week by the way! Cheers, Ryan

Hey guys, Gotta keep this short, but I'll try to get the point across. Most of you know I have two young kids ,3 and 8 months. I'm looking for things that we can do as a family to help enhance the Christmas experience for them. First off we're a non-religious family, so that aspect of Christmas is already out the window. I see it as a time for family and friends, celebrating life, and helping those who aren't so fortunate. Most of all, I want them to know that it isn't all about just getting presents. And my 3 year old is already showing signs of this. I believe that Christmas should be one of the most selfless times of the year and I'd like my children to know how lucky they are, and that there's other people, and kids who aren't so lucky. So if you can, toss some idea's out there. Anything from going to Christmas concerts and creating those solid family memories, to donating toys or food to families and children in need. Merry Christmas! Ryan

Hahaha that's some funny stuff right there Irish

Tell that to Lew's thirteen hundred bucks! haha

I think the main reason people use the head or tail only is to avoid short strikes. I learnt that the hard way last year when a buddy of mine was catching fish after fish and I kept getting punked for my minnow. Eventually I figured out he was only using the head or tail. Since then ive started doing the same thing with either real or artificial minnows like gulp and have had a much higher hook up percentage. Only while ice fishing though.... Cheers

This is the only gulp fish fry I can find around here Jacques.... the ones you have look more like mini split tail minnows, and the ones I found look like a piece of worm with a little tail! haha http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...__SearchResults When I saw your report last year I was like "I gotta get me some of those" and haven't managed to find any.. have to admit though, I only checked BPS and CT. Awesome post Ramble... I have to go over it again, but It's a good help dude. I'm sure a few of us will take some tips from you and I hope you might have picked up on a thing or two from this thread. cheers, Ryan

Jaques I've looked all over and can't find those fish fry! Where'd you get them? Cheers, Ryan

All good stuff guys - I know my wife isn't going to like this thread as I'm sure I'll be buying a bunch of this stuff.... aside from a few tubs of micro gulp baits, and micro power tubes, I don't have much of anything. My one and only spoon needs a new hook so I'll probably try putting a dropper on it instead.... thanks for the pics Mr. Eh. Here's something I've always wondered.... where do you get live maggots?!? And if I decided I wanted to salt and freeze some minnows, what the best way of going by doing that? I always have some die off on me and would rather salt and freeze them than waste them.... Cheers, Ryan

If this weather keeps up i'll be ice fishing by christmas! It's only my third season hitting hte ice, and I'm still relatively new to chasing panfish on the hard stuff. So my question is what are your top baits for pannies? I mostly target perch, mainly on deep weed flats in 18 to 25 fow. So far Ive had mixed success with small buckshot spoons, and jigs tipped with minnows. What are your go to baits? For perch, bluegill and crappie? Man I just can't stop thinking about it! haha Cheers, Ryan

i've seen it a few times...always chokes me up...

yeah dude i'm going into my third ice season and I'm getting more and more excited about it as the local ponds start to freeze up! there's a solid 3 inches of ice on the irrigation ponds around here... like the other guys said, get a 6 inch auger...i got an 8 for christmas and by the time you get to your 20 or 30th hole it get's tiresome... some days you hit it right on the first couple of holes and don't have to move, but other days you can punch holes for hours before you find some active fish. anyways, shoot me a pm or an e-mail if you have any questions! cheers, ryan

lol that's what I was thinkin' Irish! I just priced out a new house in the summer and our ideal home would run us about $250,000. That's just a modest 1500 sq foot bungalow on a decent lot. Then toss in another $50,00 for two vehicles and I'm down to $700,000. By the time I factor in the kids educations and a little money to help out my family I've easily spent half a million or more! So all I have left is my invested retirement money..... and I don't even have a new boat or fancy ride! A million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to! Cheers, UF

good call! Then I'd finish renovating my house so I could sell the damn thing and move to town, where I'd build a new house on a nice lot. Nothing big, fancy or overly expensive...just new. Next up, a couple of well maintained used vehicles for the wife and I...The rest would be invested and saved for my kids educations and retirement. ahhh, but alas, I don't even buy lottery tickets and I really can't complain about anything, so might as well just enjoy what life throw's at me. cheers, UF

Sorry to hear Copper! Beats being stuck inside though.... and I'm sure Mike is on to something, my back-yard pond was wide open yesterday morning and this morning the dog and I were walking on it!

I must have missed something Cliff as this is all news to me. But I am very glad to hear she's doing better and would like to extend best wishes from myself and the family this holiday season! Cheers, Ryan

It's all part of being a newbie to the ice. My wife and mother-in-law were walking behind my daughter on 8 inches of solid ice. I was even fishing that spot the day before, and left my holes properly marked, but somebody with a 10 in auger came behind me later in the day and drilled some more of their own. The reason I was walking ahead was to make sure the path was a-ok, but my steps are much larger than hers so she happened to step in an iced over hole that I had stepped over. My wife grabbed her, but I did learn a lesson that day. You can never be to safe.. There's no such thing as a float suit for a kid who weighs 25lbs, so I will do as you suggested and tie her off to myself. I'm even going to try having her wear her life jacket, but I know that won't go over well when she's all bundelled up. Cheers, UF