Daydreams about Ice Things

It happens every year. Usually about this time. Sometimes sooner. I see posts from friends about days spent on ice-covered lakes or read about ice fishing events, and my mind strays north. Way north. One minute I'm focused on a task at my computer, working from my home in Georgia. Then my mind strays to a small nameless lake in Northern Minnesota, a reservoir in the Black Hills or the edge of Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania, where I'm on bundled in winter gear, kneeling on ice, holding a tiny rod and starting intently at a my graph.

Soon I snap out of it and get back to whatever I had been doing, but it doesn't take much to send me back to wherever I just was or to jump to somewhere else. Sometimes I can look at a few of a buddy's posts or visit Jeff Sundin's fishing reports to do a bit of vicarious fishing and get it out of my system. At least that's what I tell myself. It probably actually makes things worse.

It really hit me this week when I realized the St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sport Show is this weekend (starts tomorrow afternoon). It's a giant show that sort of kicks off the season (although folks way to the north and at high elevations in the West have been ice fishing for a couple of weeks now) and is show I've always wanted to attend. I'm hopeful that some year it will be a good fit for me.

The ice dreaming has been worse for the past couple of years because I haven't done any of the real stuff. I made a few multi-day trips north per winter for several years to fish, take photos and gather story material, but ice fishing hasn't fit with work needs for the past couple of winters. I've mostly gone south instead of north to fish during the winter, which most folks would say is the sensible thing to do anyway.

I enjoy ice fishing way to much for a guy who lives in Georgia. I even bought an auger, ice scoop and sled a couple of years ago, and I already had the clothes, rods, electronics and lure. So I could drive north and be self sufficient if need be. For the moment, I guess I'll just keep dreaming and hopefully will find good reason pack up the ice stuff and head toward ice country some time this winter!

Erie Ice Camp Over

 

 

It's hard for me to believe that three days have already passed, but indeed we put a wrap on the second edition of Erie Ice Camp this evening after a day of catching bluegills, yellow perch and trout from Lake Pleasant. We actually spent two days on Pleasant and one on Misery Bay, which is off Presque Isle Bay. I wouldn't want to try to guess at the total number of fish caught, but it was a bunch. More importantly, from a work standpoint, I got many good photos and much fine story material, and I really appreciate Dave Lefebre and the folks at Ice Force making it happen.

 

I even drilled my first holes on this trip, and a Strikemaster Lazer Synthetic Ultra Lite hand auger made quick and easy work of about 8 inches of ice.

 

I'm actually still in PA and am not sure of my total plan. I might even find my way back to the ice before I head south. The official camp has wrapped up, though, and most of tomorrow I'll be focused on writing fish stories.

2 Species Tallied

Today's ice adventure on Presque Isle Bay allowed me to add two new 2015 species, bringing the tally seven. I actually caught four kinds of fish today, but I'd already caught largemouth bass and bluegills this year. New additions to this year's list were pumpkinseed and yellow perch. I came within inches of adding black crappie to the list as well, but the one I nearly caught broke off about the time its nose hit the hole. It wasn't sufficiently in control for me to feel like it could be counted. I also had a break-off from something bigger and stronger that I never got a look at. I'll never know what that one was!

Erie Ice Calling

Ice cover in the Presque Isle Bay area is getting thicker all the
time. Dave Lefebre photo.

Dave Lefebre with a
big yellow perch caught
during last year's trip.

When the ice clearly calls I only know of one reasonable response, and right now that call is coming from Erie, Pennsylvania, where it's 5 degrees at the moment, according to the little weather experts inside my computer. A possible plan to head north and fish the frozen waters of Presque Isle Bay and other Northern PA locations with bass pro Dave Lefebre had been hanging out there, but all hinged on the ice. The cold that's gripped a lot of the country over the past few days has a firm hold on the Erie area, and the ice is thickening in a hurry.

Yesterday, after scouting some ice and looking at the long-range, Dave said the time was right to settle plans for sooner, rather than later. Looks like I'll be pointing the go-cart north in a little more than a week. It'll be my first drive to ice country, which is kind of cool. Mostly, I'm mostly just excited to have an ice plan solidly in place. No temps above freezing between now and then and not a lot of snow, so the outlook looks great for high-quality ice

Last year we divided time between a bay off Presque Isle Bay and a cool little trout lake called Lake Pleasant, and we caught crappie, yellow perch, one largemouth, various sunfish and a couple of kinds of trout, that I can think of off-hand. Lots of fish and lots of fun. I'm not sure exactly where we'll fish this year, but I'm certain Dave will have a cool plan and all the right stuff for an outstanding trip. Stay tuned.

Erie Ice Fest, Day 2

We couldn't have asked for better weather today. The wind that had been in the forecast didn't materialize, but the air temperature was cold enough that our ice didn't deteriorate. Given no wind, we returned to Presque Isle Bay -- same area as yesterday -- for another round of catching crappie, perch, bluegills and pumpkinseeds. The crappie still didn't go on a rampage like they did for Dave Lefebre just a couple of days ago, but over the course of the day, we caught quite a few, and much like yesterday, we caught a gazillion of the other species. Dave also caught one largemouth and smelt.

Only one day remaining, and we're currently debating where to fish. More likely than not, we'll head back to the same area in hopes that a slab-fest breaks out. Works for me. It's a fun place to fish. Of course if we fish somewhere else, I'll bet I'd have fun there too. We might even do both, starting the day back on Presque Isle and then spending the afternoon fishing somewhere else.

One way or the other, I'd better sleep a while.