Georgia Ice Lures & Birthday Bream

When birthday plans allow, we often find ourselves on the way to the pond for a little Samsel-style celebration. Today, which is Asher's 8th birthday, proved no exception. If possible, he wanted to spend some time fishing, and as it turned out, a few hours at the pond were possible.

Lap one yielded noting, despite three of us throwing some pretty dependable producers around shoreline cover. Nathaniel had gotten Asher to dig some worms while we were still at home, so we decided to see if the fish were still in summer mode and holding away from the banks. We figured out last winter that when the fish are offshore in the little ponds where we fish, we often can catch them by positioning the boat in the middle of the pond and presenting ice lures straight down, right at the bottom.

The ice lures worked beautifully today, and we caught more than 20 fish, all from the middle of the pond. Most were bluegills, but we also caught a few bass. Ice lures that produced included Lindy Toads, Bugs and Micro Slick Jigs, plus a Darter, which produced a nice bass for Nathaniel. We often use rattling spoons for bass when we "ice fish" around here. Nathaniel tied on the Darter when he didn't see any spoons, figuring it might work just as well for a noisy vertical presentation, and sure enough it produced the best fish of the day. The only other lure that produced today was a Watsit Grub, which I fished tight to the bottom, just like the traditional ice lures.