tip-up

You betcha Mike..This spot is only 10 minutes from my house Kind of hard to believe huh? ...5''-6'' in most back bays...

Tjsa, funny how I usually cringe when I here of weather on the way like in your avatar ..Now I am just praying for it ..It has rained here over night which probably boosted the water levels, and also left a huge mess on top of the ice..Could be yet another two weeks before getting back on lol -Andrew

Can't complain with a brute like that Steve...Now get back out there..LOL

Wow, you had a great year indeed Pigeontroller! Way to go.. -Andrew

Great littlie clip nautifish Thanks for sharing

I will start by saying it feels great to back on the ice again...It was a real bummer not being able to get on the first week of December as we were used to in recent years :-\ Today was an awesome day with no wind and sunny conditions..I think the high was -2. Glad I had the chance to get out today as tonight the freezing rain will start and it's going to change into rain by tomorrow...Anthony and I had 5'' of ice under our feet Hope the rain does not kill it :-[ We arrived at our destination just as bite started to turn on..By then we were not the only ones down there..It was nice to see a few familiar faces I had not seen in a while .. Punched the first few holes of the season a immediatly started to mark fish 10 feet down in 19 feet of water..It was not hard to decide where we were going to set up base camp for the day Anthony and I were anxios to try out a few new toys we purchased over the long wait for ice, especially the new Marcum VS-250 Underwater veiwing system...Amazing little camera for the price..It did not disapoint us..Clear and very easy to use..Nothing better than watching slabs nail your bait all day long. We had too much fun with it First crappie of the year was a beaut.Caught him on a Northland Forage minnow with a few waxies hooked in the arse.. We proceeded to catch a few a whole bunch of them ranging from 8''-10'' with a few small gills mixed in.. The bite slowed down a bit around 11am which gave us time to pound back some chocolate milk and a bag lays regular chips..It also gave us some time to downsize our baits and try slip bobberin'..I stared at a blank screen for a few minutes so I tried rapidly jigging a spoon to see if I could get the attention of a any fish, then switched to the smaller baits ti get 'em to bite..Of coarse, it worked ;D By the end of the day we must have iced easily about 60 fish for the few hours we were down there...All fish were released because we had forgotten the kill bucket..besides it doesn't hurt to let em go once in a while Can't wait to get out in the new year and fish some waters I have been waiting to ice over for a while..I can see the walleye shaking' already.. Wednesday I hope to get back down to the crappie hole and nail a few eaters.. Here are a few more pictures from today.. Thanks for taking the time to read 8) Be careful and safe out there guys...All the best in the new year!! -Andrew

Looks very ''Merry'' on my end..

Not too shabby for a little ice check...Hehe

I start by finding safe shoreline then move on from there...Once at my access point to get on the ice I start by wacking the shoreline with a spud bar to make sure there is no air underneath the ice and to ensure I am not going to get a soaker on my first step ...I then proceed onto the ice with caution( Rope tied to waist via tree and I always hve my ice picks ready wip out incase of any mishap) and wack it a few more times as I make my out...I then drill a hole to confirm ice thickness...If it is over 4'', I will start fishing , if under 4'', then I usually pray for a safe tipppy toe back to shore.. Be safe out there guys!

Yup..

Sucks it's going to be gone in a few days.. Bring on phase 2

Nice!

Yes... We have 3''-4'' here on a few back bays Let it all melt and bring on the second phase -Andrew

Feels nice to finally jig through a hole 'eh...hehe! Thanks for the report and pics IceWalker. How many inches up there?

To Ottawa Folks... PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED ONTO THE ICE UNTIL THIS WARM WEATHER PASSES THROUGH THIS WEEK...BY TOMORROW NIGHT, THERE WILL BE NO SAFE ICE ANYWHERE :cry: UNFORTUNATLY WE ARE GOING TO JUST HAVE TO WAIT IT OUT GUYS :wink: AGAIN, THE ICE WILL NOT BE SAFE AS OF TONIGHT..BE SMART, BE SAFE... -Andrew I could not wait to get this thread started Thought it might be a bit easier to just keep all my reports under a single thread No a better feeling than punching that first hole Might be the last one until after Christmas Did a little ice check on a few spots in and around Quebec this morning to find nothing but ''Bad'' ice everywhere :shock: ..Most shorelines were crap and made it impossible to take a step on...Eventually, I found a nice little spot just south of Aylmer that looked as though it could support skinny me and a few items I drilled my first hole about 8 feet out from shore to find 4'' of clear black ice.. :roll: Move about another 5 feet and found 3''.... :shock: .. ''Don't walk another step'' I told myself and proceeded back to the car to grab a rod rigged with 2lbs fluro, and a Genz bug with Techni-glo tail...My plans were not to drop a line in the water today, but I could not resist ..Not expecting anything to show up on the vex, this little guy came up off othe bottom and took a little nip at my jig..bad idea Wahooo, first fish through the ice this year! A little perch 8)...Stayed for only about 10 minutes then had to go home..Sorry for the really bad shots I took today, I was rushing and my hands were numb..Enjoy Not bad for an ice check

Time to get the sleds out Wow, quite the ''Dusting'' you got SlowPoke Send some this way why don't ya...

Nice! We have about 3''-4'' here in Ottawa...

Wow, you had a great year Rattletrap Congrats

Some people will never learn...