Rich

Good for big fish, I prefer a knife for perch and such. Electric knife will waste a lot of meat. Also, don't try filleting a carp with one.. lol

Got out on a local pond which I discovered just a few months ago. This pond has a lot of bluegill and bass from what I have seen and it's small so I figured it would be a good spot to start my ice season. Got out with the new auger, tossed a couple rocks on the ice and they didn't go through. Looked good enough to me! Walked about 5 feet out to find 3 inches of black ice. A little further and I was on 2 inches.. so I decided not to go any further. Dropped Rapala Jigging Minnows and home tied jigs to produce a whole lotta nothing but I was really just out to test the new auger and find some ice. It's been a slow few weeks! Good to see at least some of the ponds are safe. From what I read on Fishmaster's board Dunnville has some ice as well. Won't be long now as long as we get some cold nights to last! Felt great to be on the ice again as it's been quite a while. I need to get back into ice mode so I can actually learn to locate and catch fish again through the hard stuff.

-15 during the day, for 2 weeks, you have no worries.

Don't clean it! You'll wash off all the character!

Though most people don't believe it works, walk for an hour a day. This is the only thing that has changed for me in the last year and I managed to drop 60 pounds. Well, quitting drinking probably had a factor in it too, but let's not mention that. I walk at least a half hour a day uphill to work, then another half hour home, then usually do some walking downtown afterwards. Anyway, just a tip that helped me drop a whole lotta weight pretty quick. Good luck!

Why don't the hackers ever hit THOSE sites?!

Well Steve, I have to say I saw something like this coming for a while. Not surprising.

No cheap steak for you!

40 years, I'd guess. Can't beat me up Nauti.. it's Christmas time.

Must be pretty bad if you're "discusted and fummin" .. wow.

Today's original plan had us out on the water at 6 am with a bucket of fish by 11. Of course, mother nature had different ideas. Red Devil finally shoveled himself out at about noon today and made the trek out my way to do some panfishin. We discussed the idea of there being ice in the spot, but figured... nahhh, that's impossible. So we got to our spot to find about 1.5 inches of ice. While this does fill me with wet anticipation for the next few weeks, it kinda left us high and dry today. Our first idea was to toss rocks through the ice to wet a line, which didn't work out so well. We could only find the one rock.. and big snowballs wouldn't penetrate the stuff. Actually, the rock didn't do a very good job either. OK, Plan B.. or was it C? Find an open spot. So we did. We found one little patch by a drainage basin that kept the water free and open for fishin'. We fished that spot for quite some time, and got a few nibbles from who knows what. Never did land anything though. We decided it was best to move spots and try something else. Next spot was an aerator that a marina has in to keep their dock ice free. It was surrounded by green weeds and pumping hard, lots of open water. I thought it looked perfect, but I guess the fish had different ideas. Nothin' there. Red Devil had brought a bit of steelhead gear along, so we decided our next stop would be a nearby Lake Erie trib which just so happens to have an extended season to Dec 31st. We got there to find very low, very clear water. Red Devil situated himself at a spot and started drifting a maribou jig, while my impatient self decided to walk way downstream, tossing a spinner tipped with a worm. I got quite a ways back when I thought I heard Red Devil yelling. So I made the trek back just a minute too late. Red Devil had just lost a nice 5lb male brown. Had I not been so far away I would have been able to assist in the landing. Dang. Next was my turn. I switched up to bottom bouncing a live worm and soon was into a fish! YES, my trademark, WHITE SUCKER. Better than nothing I guess. After that we got into some tiny resident trout about 3 inches long, and 2 more suckers. I moved up river and had a short tussle with a small brown, maybe 2lbs on a worm. Then some guy crowded my spot so I headed back down river. Nothing much to report after that. Red Devil and I headed home at about 5 PM. It was a fun day out for sure, just a bummer to be in that "in between period" where you can't really open water fish, but you can't stand on the ice. Hopefully in a week or two we can start drilling safely. Thanks for the good day Red Devil.. I think I left my snow pants in your van though.

They say it's going to be the coldest winter in a decade. Be patient, the ice will stick around this time.

I suggest to start out you go with an Okuma Aventa. That's what I have (just started pinning last year) and it works great. It doesn't have a drag system but you can flip a knob so it puts tension on in case you want to hook up your bait and walk through the bush or whatever. With a float reel you really shouldn't need a drag as that would take away the freespool aspect of it. Half the fun is using your palm as drag

Suckers are still biting here! Fun to catch on ultra light gear for sure.

I guess we'll have to wait for next year to put Sugarpacket on her PB largemouth. Always a fun day on the water even with many setbacks and stupid mistakes on our part. Heck those setbacks are what make it memorable down the road. Another great day on the water with my greatest fishing partner.

When I read the article earlier I had a horrible gut feeling that it was Serge. My worst fears came true. Terrible loss for the fishing community. I give his friends and family members my deepest sympathies.

Hardcore! Awesome.

Well good news is the wind forecast (which is rarely correct) says "calm" for winds in our area tomorrow. Where ya headed? I'll be going for my last crack at the bass tomorrow as well.. largemouth though.

If there's one thing I learned from the Bond movies, it's that 007 keeps coming back. Will be sad to see ya go 007. Always looked forward to your reports, and hopefully we will keep seeing reports from across the pond. Have a safe trip!

I watched a probably 75 ft tree across the road almost snap in half from a couple gusts.. I have no idea how it's still standing. That was nuts! Hopefully tomorrow is nicer.

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "bird-brain"

Not a muskie, no way. I'd never live with myself after. Carp I would have no problem.. and I like carp! lol

This is a really cool video. I know birds grab fish but this one takes it to the next level. That's a smart freakin' bird.

I've recently acquired some buck tail fur and am going to experiment with making ice fishing jigs and hopefully some musky bucktails. I'm new at this and was wondering if anyone had info one what to use/where to get it to dye bucktail fur. Thanks! Rich

Nice work!