chris f.

you would be surprised how shallow pike will go for food. bait fish get caught in pockets along shore and freeze up in the ice. when it rains or as the season progresses, they thaw out and are preserved so the pike home in on them. monster pike have been pulled out of 2 feet of water on Lake of the Woods and Devils Lake using dead minnows on a simple tip up rig. this shallow water approach works in many different types of water systems

wonder how much I could make with valet parking, moving each vehicle every 2.9 hours

lol...great idea terry, im in.... lol, now can i ask something without ? what is it about hte strong wind that effects the ice.. thick or thin... what can the wind do the the ice? i've always fished lakes with little to no current around my cottage ( kashwakamak lake: mazinaw, marble, big gull ect.. ) and i've never had an experience where the wind causes issues. i have only spent time on simcoe when i was younger and i remember better ice in the 80's and 90's...?

concentrate your times to 2 hours around sun up(7 am-9am) and 2 hours before sun down (4pm-6pm),not saying you won't catch outside this but it seems to be the most productive times. A simple minnow(shiner or dace)on a tip up near bottom works well or a fluttering spoon tipped with a whole or half minnow with a jigging motion also works well. Check your tip ups often to make sure minnows are alive and jig them a few times to get them moving. Also many times while checking lines i have had a walleye on the line,never seen the tip up move.

great info for the new blood ice fisherman... its nice when the knowledgeable guys share without the sarcasm first

Sure you did'nt have it in your hand and lost it when you dived in with your new float suit .... lol ..

and im gonna test my old one... not the new one. i hope i don't have to get that one wet

i have been catching big catfish off my dock in the summer so could be that one took it down.. i had no bell on the tip up and it was and old wooden one anyway.. i just got worried the hole was giving way lol.. and no, i haven't gone in with the float suit yet .. i don't really wanna go too far out so i'll wait for a few warm days and do it near shore i think. pics of the new suit and gear to come.. need to find a usb cable for my camera, dogs ate the other one lol

So one of my tip ups vanished today.. one min it was there, the next it was gone.. um, anyone else ever have this happen.. needless to say i didn't go over to check why it was gone, and i gathered up the rest of my gear and headed back to the dock... any ideas?

i found the tungsten jigs are really good fo getting down below the current fast and they are really heavy for the size

lol.. will do

YAY, pick up the new suit in day or 2... can't wait to try it on.. http://www.mustangsurvival.com/recreational/integrity-hx-flotation-suit?division=recreation Thinking im gonna test out the old canadian tire one i have now, see what its like to go thru in the beach and how easy it is to climb out. the wife is gonna man the camera and i'll have my brother with the throw rope. its only 3 or 4 feet deep so it will be fun lol

I don't know about the GTA, but i know that there is about 4 or 5 km's of open water on the trent up river from me.. if you are ever out in Quinte area feel free to give me a message, i'm always up for open water winter fishing lol.. i had the 14' aluminum and 9.9 in the water up til a week & a half ago when we got first ice. Good luck in Scarb.

Hey guys, Just in from jigging on the Trent-Severn... 4-5" at my furthest tip-up from shore (40-50 feet out), but def. not the greatest ice. most of my other holes are 20-30 feet off shore and are 5-7" with a good 2" of it blackish ice : ) Had a few nibbles at sun down ( 30 mins ago ) but they are hitting short so getting the stingers rigged up and going back out in a bit.. pics from the night and reports on Oak Lake and a few surrounding back lakes to come!!

Be safe and always have picks and a spud bar with you

The conditions were less than ideal so I am leaning towards the ice seasons skunk is out of the way.

 

You forgot to mention picture was taken in the 15 minutes of daylight you get each day this time of year.

lol, i was going to say... where are you, alaska? lol

so this one time... lol, we ended a long hot day of fishing and one of the guys passed out in one of the inner tubes, and we took him out to the middle of the bay and tied him to the dead head. lol he woke up in a great mood

Yep , and it's in great shape :-)

if we can figure out a way to ship it, i'll take it. pm me or something, i'm new on the forum and still trying to figure out ho to post pics and other stuff lol

lol.. thats what i figured.. do you get snagged on old cars and stuff alot in the D. River ?

What????

 

You get safe ice with 7mph current???

 

And maintain bottom contact with a 5/8 jig????

i was thinking the same thing.. i know that the current here is quick but no where near 7mph... i'm heading up to the dam today to just take a look around, but as far as it goes, no change in flow expected over the next few days so i hope this cold weather takes hold and freezes eveything really well

Morning guys.. ya the spot i finally picked is far enough away from the main channel in a cove that the current isn't that bad.. our section of the rive is completely frozen over shore to shore and 50 feet out there is 5-7"

i won't venture out too much father as I do have the rope system in place, and always have the float/life suit on while on the ice. there are a few die hards with their huts out about a mile down from me on a nice inside bend where the curent isn't an issue at all.

i never ice fish alone and sefety is always first over a few bites. i'm lucky in my area, i can get instant updates on flow and water levels from Quinte Prism Program. they usually update well in advance as to adjusting lvl's and flow. but always be safe is the main thing.

thanks again for the tips.

Pssst....check the miscellaneous section of classifieds.

lol... didn't see that til now only prob. now is getting it here from barrie. great deal and almost worth the gas to go pick it up and spend the day out by barrie

great info... thank you guys i'm looking forward to the weekend in the bush and the tent you have is perfect. thanks again

Hey ... thanks for the tips.. just got in from jigging, and figured out 3 way is the only way to get near vertical with this current. i have no way of judging how fast the current is, but i say its pretty fast.. i can hear the flow from the dam a few miles away. 1 1/2 oz jig on 3 way with i dunno.. 5 or 6 sinkers and the line was still almost sideways. kind of freaks me out thinking how fast the current is under our feet at any given time

I am going to be heading up north in late Jan. I'm going to need a good tent, as we plan on staying a few nights. Google hasn't helped me find anything more than a thermal fishing popup. Something like the pop ups mountain climbers use maybe.. ? i set up my 4 person tent today in the yard and it sure won't do. lol... any thoughts or links would be appreciated.

Hey all, i hope everyone has had a great holiday so far!!! So I, or i should say the lower trent has been graced with ice... i have 5 inches of decent ice, 20-30 feet out off my dock. got a few tip up's out late this afternoon and going back out jigging in a bit. Now, being new to the trent, the current is kind of tripping me out a bit. I know what it was like in the summer, and last winter the river didn't freeze over completely. Currently it's frozen over from shore to shore with no visible open spots. Any tips on keeping your bait on bottom without using 5 lbs of sinkers, or is that about it?

CBC is running a feature on the Mummers down home

nice.. i was just down in july and didn't wanna come back. Bishops Falls and the Exploits river have some incredible fishing, hell the whole island is paradise. can't wait to go back and hit the cod again

we've been getting fair ice on the trent river, below lock 7 for days now.. i woke up this morning and went down to the dock and there is 4-5 in. ten to 20 feet off my dock i know the bottom pretty well, so was safe in chippin my holes. it goes from 2-3 feet down to 20 feet pretty quick, so i started close to shore and worked out slowly. and yes pick's should be a given when going out on the ice