02-14-2024, 06:10 AM
With recent very cold nites in our area, I re-thought about another trip to RP..after scouting it Sunday afternoon and finding about 10 people scattered around out there, I was up for another attempt in the morning..first ones there, but edges were solid..still, we wore PFDs, I had another throwable handy, I led out with my ice probe, and we followed sled tracks to my starting spot..very cold, so after 'seeing' fish on the bottom, we set tents..ice still not great, but slightly better than when MWScott and I were here a couple weeks ago and had done well..today, about 2" solid, with 4 cloudy on top, and 1" fairly fresh snow on top..fishing by about 0800, action was good and pretty consistent 'til 1130, then very slow for an hour, then another 15 min. good bite to end our day by 1:00...lots of 'swing and a miss', but plenty iced..most kept ave. 8 to 9", with a couple at 9.5...red spikes worked, 1/2 mealworm worked, and of course the best again was fresh eyeball or small cut pc of pre-soaked perch meat, in crawfish oil...various small jigs, like red/white Demon, 'wonderbread' pattern, and red/chartreus all worked..I don't do or need a limit anymore, but way plenty came home for my manual filleting..takes time, but I don't mind..Labor of Love, just like cleaning ducks.....I think it was TD that suggested it a while back, so while cleaning, I'll cut about 10 small pcs from underbelly, make a tiny container out of plastic grocery bag material, about 6"x6", put the pcs on it, drip/squeeze the liquid scent on them, then twist tie the little baggie...I let it soak for a couple hours, then stick in freezer for next trip, thawing the nite before..works great..tks TD..Don't know if I'll try here once more, but if I/we do, we'll have all that safety gear again, esp. PFDs, rope, etc...