Rich

Don't forget the various alcohol beverage containers. This one I don't understand.. pack them up for no other reason than they are worth money to buy more booze! lol Yeah, it gets pretty sick out there. Don't see it so much on the ponds but when I fish the bay there's garbage of all sorts everywhere. The worst ones are the ones that put their stuff in a big green garbage bag and leave the bag out on the ice for someone else (me) to bring in!

No bass in Alberta, my bro lives there. Walleye fishing is apparently insane though!

Good stuff! I actually picked some up yesterday as luck would have it.. can't wait to test it myself!

Windlass tip-up, jighead of your choice and a Berkley Gulp Alive Minnow works wonders. Windlass is great, jigs for you. It's like the automatic fisherman.. just gotta somehow plant a spring in there to set the hook for me.

Sleded and I were having our usual terrible day on the ice when FINALLY he hooks into a decent crappie. Probably 14 inches. Usually they come in schools in that particular spot so he tosses the fish over to me to cover in snow.. and PLOP it goes right down the hole in front of me. LOL Also lost scoops and sunglasses leaning over the hole.

Well after 3 trips I am impressed with my Cabelas Excursion (Ice Cube Style). Very light, easy to set up and warm as heck with no heater. I've been out in 30k winds with it and have yet to need to anchor it. Anchored it last time I was out on one side just to be safe and the strap never moved.

Look into Shimano Cardiff. Reasonably priced, very well built reel. I love mine, I'm going to get more of them. RIGHT NOW.

That is certainly the case, ice fishing anyway. I get lucky with live bait... which is why I'm trying to improve my skills with other things.

I've caught them incidentally of course while ice fishing many times for pike. Always thought it would be fun (and easy) if you could legally target them. Would like to travel stateside to do it one day.

Those Fish Fry things look awesome, hopefully they can live up to their name, I haven't had fresh pannies for quite some time.. haha I'll have to see if I can find them locally. Have used live maggots and waxies in the past, and they work wonders. No doubt in my mind those bluegills would have lapped them up, but like I said I'm trying to avoid live bait. And GCD I use 4lb ice line with a 2lb flouro lead .. I certainly hope I don't have to go lighter than that!

All great suggestions and I thank you all! And yes I did try cutting the Gulp minnows into smaller pieces, they wouldn't even look at that lol. Will try out the other suggestions though and hopefully I'll have something to report! Rich

I never thought the day would come when I couldn't get sunfish and perch to take an artificial offering. Been sitting on the same 2 schools of fish the last two days, watching them all day swimming up and turning away. I've tried Gulp Alive maggots, Gulp waxies, Gulp minnows, tiny hair jigs, flies and tiny spoons. Only thing that got a couple bites was the Gulp Alive minnows, however they were too big (2.5") and they simply nipped the tail and swam away. I'm really trying to avoid relying on live bait this ice season, but as the days go by I find myself craving a big ol' bucket of minnows more and more! Can anybody help?

I second carp!

Man I'd be happy with that result. Been sitting on the same two schools of gills the last two days, plus a roaming pike and a school of jumbo perch.. NONE of which would touch any of my offerings. I don't know if I love the underwater camera so much anymore. It's great to see all the fish down there that won't bite. lol

They should call it Salt Crisp.. blegh, I'll stick to Rich Crisp

Just peeked my head out the back door and noticed it.. awesome!

They almost outfished my precious spinnerbaits one day on the bay. Almost.

You need about 50 more spinnerbaits.

I dunno about any homemade versions in your area but if you're stuck with the store bought stuff Pillers Hot is my favourite.

Yeah no kidding, that'd be creepy. On an unrelated note, Dave, your shower this morning was a little long. Next time please don't hang the towel over the door, it was hard to see properly through cameras 5 and 7.

I guess the bright side is that when that water drops again and she ices up there could be a few fresh runs of 'eyes up there for the taking!

Took the camera out for a test run for an hour tonight, ice was still okay on the pond we were at, probably 6 - 8 inches but we didn't venture far. Spotted a bluegill and a little carp laying on bottom. The bluegill spooked right away at the sight of the camera lights but the carp just sat there and watched then eventually backed off a bit. Neither one wanted to bite but it was cool just to do some "sight seeing"!

Ohh I see, you're right that pic doesn't do it justice, though upon closer inspection that is quite the fat fish and a tail the size of my head. Nice catch!

Me too. Doesn't mean I wouldn't use it if I had it!

Great pics, great fish! Thanks for sharing! Did you not get a pic of the 40lb carp? Would love to see that!