DANIMAL

Tail up makes more action on the retrieve, but tail down makes more action on the fall. So it depends how I'm using it, but i mostly rig it tail up.

I guesse the closed season thing is working then.

Largemouth and smallmouth bass look no more alike than musky and pike, or different species of trout and salmon witch have different seasons. There is some confusion between them but for the most part the different seasons work out pretty good. Besides, if an angler catches a fish that they can't positively identify they should release it immediatly.

I think a largemouth season is a good idea. And as far as I know they dont necessarily swim together like they do when spawning but they do pick their mates in the fall, so catch and release would be in order.

It depends on the mood and species of fish. Sometimes it makes them a little bit hesitant to bite. But sometimes it attracts fish and makes them more agressive. My brother had a pike attack his camera one time.

A buddy of mine runs a portable bubbler in his holes to keep them from freezing. It works great but batteries get expensive.

-Bass pair up in the fall, so if that pair gets separated in winter they wont spawn. -Smallmouth often winter in very deep water 30-60 feet. And being brought up to the surface from that depth can kill them. -Smallmouth really group up in winter. So do ice anglers. It would be a slaughter. I think some large bodies of water like Erie would not be affected by it. But it could really do damage to the fishery on smaller lakes.

I have found power bait works better than gulp for panfish, through the ice anyways.

What you see on fishing electronics is reality. Thats what separates them from video games.

1-tiger 2-I think tiger, but its hard to tell when that small 3-barred I find The easyest way to tell the difference is that the head and tail of a tiger are shaped more like a pike, and the barres on a tiger are usually very irregular.

Very nice barred musky. A tiger would have had a more rounded tail fin, like a pike.

They work great for packing spinner baits and rigging hooks.

I've used one vertical jigging in open water and it was surprisingly sensitive for an inexpensive unit. I think it would be fine for on the ice.

The difference with a floater suit is that the insulation does not soak up water. So it still insulates when wet or even submerged in water. The next best thing would be to wear a life jacket with a water proof layer that does up tight around wrists and ankles.

The main river was only 32 degrees today. It should skim over the next calm night too.

Windlass tip ups work great, especially for dead bait. But since the spool stays out of the water it tends to freeze when temps get below zero. So if you are only going to get one, I'd go with something with a submerged spool like the standard Polar tip up.

Nice specks and Becks.

Nice trout. And good job on keying onto thier forage.

There are huge musky in Lake O. Theres just not a lot of them. Probably because there is not a lot of good spawning habitat, and enough pike (witch spawn earlyer) to take the habitat that is there.

The exact same thing happend to me last winter. I was alone with only a hachet for a weapon so I got out of there as quick as I could. I talked to some people about it afterwards and was told that farm dogs get into large packs at night and take down large animals for sport. That sent a shiver down my spine.

Maybe theres better habitat for them in the close by St. Lawrence so most of the muskies in the area are there instead of Quinte. Just my guesse.

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/region_map.html Great for checking water clarity on the big lakes too.

I stocked up on 10 lb iron silk when they still made it so I'm still using that. But I've used 10 lb XT and big game and it works good too.

Oil based fish scent works pretty good, but starts getting greasy and stinky after a while. I'm going to try to get a hold of some of that ice off stuff.