It's that time of year to have your ice fishing gear at the ready. The week ahead has one rain day in the forecast for Connecticut and it is Monday. More importantly the ice-cast is looking very good for safe ice by next weekend with overnight temps hitting the 20s and teens, and even earlier for high elevation and northern portions of the state. First ice often provides the best possible fishing as does last ice so making sure you can get out and do so safely should provide some great results.
Last weekend I dusted off my tipups, respooled them all with new line, swivels, and florocarbon leaders & hooks. I started using hi-visibility main line in lime green and blaze orange, it is extremely helpful to see which direction the fish is moving after a take. Black main line or dark red are difficult to see. I tied the main line of the tipups to swivels using a double cinch knot, then made my leaders to single hooks using #4 crimps on 50 & 60lb florocarbon. In my sled I will store a box with the crimper, extra crimps, hooks and swivels. This will serve to speed up the time necessary to get another bait in the water if a break-off occurs. One lake in particular comes to mind in terms of a high chance of breakoffs due to an incredible amount of standing timber and sub-surface log snags. This structure is a double edged sword because fishing near it is key to seeing flags pop, however watching for flags is just as critical because the fish will head back into that same cover along with the line in tow.
Last season my brother purchased an underwater camera. Yes it is cool and we noticed it had little to no effect on the fish caring that there was a fake bluegill "swimming" up and down and doing 360's like Shawn White. The question for me was is it worth it? It's expensive, time consuming, another thing to charge, and lug around the ice... and for myself and the limited time I had to use it especially on the type of lake described above, yes it is a game changer. Locating and seeing structure that could not otherwise be seen above the water was now available to us. Also it give you a depth reading, temperature (cold) and direction of view as it has a built in compass. The images are crisp and can be focused/zoomed on the model my brother purchased. What it also allowed us to do is those areas where we had setup close to structure we could determine if it was going to be a productive setup. Let's say we dropped a bait down, then sent the camera in for a look and found that a single log was blocking the bait from a better chance of being seen. We were then able to decide if a different hole a few feet away would better our chances.
Just remember every trip on the ice should have safety as the number one priority. Black (clear) ice is the strongest, if snow is mixed in the strength dramatically decreases. Be aware for underwater currents as well as areas that are tidal. Keep a lookout for streams, spillways, and the like as these areas will have much thinner (less safe) ice. Ice picks that you wear in your coat sleeves or around your neck can save your life. In remote areas always pack a change of clothes and fire starting materials. Leave a plan of where you are fishing and when you plan on returning with someone on land, or keep in touch via cell phone to update them if possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment