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Summing up a hard water winter
By FishRecycler | April 1, 2009
For most of us this is the time of year when we are starting to bring out the open water gear and our thoughts have turned to spring fishing. There used to be a time when I couldn’t wait for spring. It meant that after a long winter cooped up indoors, I’d be able to get back out and do some fishing.
However, it’s just these last three winters that I have discovered the bounties – and the joys – of pursuing fish through the ice. Ice fishing is still new to me, but this winter past was explosive. In these months that have just wound down, I have come along way from where I started.
For my first two years, I spent winter walking to the lake and drilling a couple of holes with the hand auger. I never really took the ice fishing seriously.
It changed this winter. I bought a power auger, and that alone made fishing more fun. I invested in a Vexilar, which made the experience both visual – and more productive.
Together, the power auger and flasher unit made me a better ice fisherman, and this summer will reveal whether it better prepared me for open water fishing as well.
A big shift that happened through these hardwater pursuits is that I find myself fishing different species. Prior to this I was able to catch walleye, pike and perch pretty consistently with my hand auger and a map, but with the Vexilar I can get out there and catch suspending species like crappies and lake trout consistently. The power auger allows me to be mobile and drill as many holes as I need.
This winter has been, by far, the most fun I have had on the ice. I have met some interesting people and have developed some great relationships with people that are doing great things to help clean up and protect our fisheries, and their surroundings.
Recycled Fish and Angling Masters International have partnered up to spread the word and make fishing more fun for fisherman of all ages and are sending out the right message. I have taken a lot from Recycled Fish since taking the pledge, I no longer complain when I see trash on the lake, I just pick it up. And Angling Masters has developed a great place for fisherman to post pictures, communicate and compete online. I greatly respect their catch and release policy on all fish entered in their tournaments.
I have also had the pleasure of testing a product this winter that we use every time we go fishing. Bioline Biofiliment has come out with a line that is biodegradable and breaks down within 5 years, rather than the five or six hundred years it takes for regular mono or flourocarbon.
I have been fishing Bioline most of the winter and can tell you I have not had to change the way I fish other than the line fishes slightly heavier than the test you are fishing. I am using the 4 lb for anything from crappies and perch to walleye and whitefish. For lake trout and northerns I will jig with the 6lb, but could upgrade to the 10lb.
We made several trips this winter in search of big lakers and were not disappointed. We were fishing a large flat with an average depth of 34’. The first fish we caught took about 15 minutes to get to the hole and just barely fit through, it measured at 38 inches and very girthy.
That was the only fish we caught the first afternoon but made several trips back to that area and picked up 5 more fish from 33” to 35”. All of these fish fell to a simple presentation, a large white tube tipped with a minnow. I was using 6lb bioline and was pleasantly surprised at how much pressure I could put on the fish, I had used 4lb prior to that for crappies and walleyes.
The crappie fishing this winter was the best I have experienced, and that I credit to my Vexilar. We have a couple of smaller lakes in the area that contain good populations of 11 and 12 inch fish with the occasional 13 to 15 incher caught. Again I was using 4lb Bioline and had no troubles getting the smaller baits to the fish. Even in temps of -25 the line hangs straight, very little memory which epuals more fish caught. When I want to eat some fish I will keep a couple 11 or 12 inch Crappies, much tastier than a walleye I find. And as with all species we are selecting the smaller fish to eat and releasing the bigger fish, just to be sure they will be there next winter.
A simple cure for cabin fever is to get out of the cabin. The lessons found on hard water go beyond catching fish, and my advice for those who live in the ice belt but who haven’t gotten hooked on hard water angling: go out and enjoy the winter. I now have two seasons to look forward to and less time wishing I was fishing.
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