01-06-2014, 07:41 PM
Summary if you don't want to read the whole thing: A bust for me at Rockport, went to Deer Creek and had some good fishing on rather thin, glass-like ice near the Island. Ice was 4-5". Fish preferred nightcrawlers to mealworms and salmon eggs.
Yesterday (the 5th of January) I planned a solo excursion to Rockport. It was my first time there. I arrived just before Sunrise hoping to catch the morning bite, and decided to fish near the Wanship dam based on previous reports. I found several other people out there already.
Rockport Pic #1
[inline "Rockport 1.JPG"]
Rockport Pic #2
[inline "Rockport 2.JPG"]
It was a very cold, clear morning - single digits for sure. It was one of those days where you spend a good amount of time getting ice off the rod eyelets and keeping the holes open. The ice was perfect thickness however. It only took about 20 turns to break through with the hand auger. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the only positive thing about fishing there.
Over the next hour many other groups came out on the ice. Despite trying different holes and depths, and mixing up my bait/jig combinations, by about 10am I only had one bite and saw about 3 fish on sonar. Nobody around me was catching either. At this point, realizing I had a few hours left, I decided to try my luck at Deer Creek to see if I could get the skunk off me.
I arrived at Deer Creek shortly after noon to a surreal and beautiful sight. At first it looked like open water, but upon noticing a couple other lone fishermen, I realized it was ice as smooth and clear as glass.
Deer Creek Glassy Ice #1
[inline "Deer Creek Glass 1.JPG"]
Deer Creek Glassy Ice #2
[inline "Deer Creek Glass 2.JPG"]
I was hesitant at first, but it looked safe enough. I ventured out just a little bit and drilled a test hole and checked depth with my sonar. I measured it at 4-5" thick. Still, it creaked and groaned, reverberating across the reservoir. It sounded kinda like whales to me, which was funny.
[inline "Checking Ice Thickness and Depth.JPG"]
Confident, I shuffled carefully out a little further, trying not to slip, and towards the "island" a bit more. This area typically has produced well for me in the past, both in summer and winter.
I picked out my spot and drilled some holes (only took a matter of seconds). Sonar showed me fishing at 20 feet. At first, it seemed as if I was going to get skunked here too. Eventually the fish alarm went off on my finder, and I saw a fish approach my rat finky tipped with a piece of mealworm and a salmon egg. I waited for a bite - nothing. I switched to a piece of a worm, dropped down again, and set up a second rod with a berkely gulp minnow on a jighead, and a piece of worm as well. Shortly thereafter I landed a small-but-fiesty planter male spreading his milt all over.
[inline "1st fish of day.JPG"]
The bite went dead again until about 1:30, nearing the time that I had to leave. However, a sudden flurry of action had me landing a few more fish. At one point, I was getting hits every time I dropped down. They were hitting both the little rat finky and the larger jig.
The strangest part of the whole experience was watching the fish as I was reeling them up underneath me through the glassy ice. I released one and got some cool video of it swimming around under the ice. Check this short video out to see what I mean at [url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKlK-8H_0&feature=youtu.be"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKlK-8H_0&feature=youtu.be
[/url]
Here are a couple more pics, including the 3 fish I took home.
Gear
[inline "The gear.JPG"]
The take home fish. Included in the pic are what I used.
[inline "Take home fish.JPG"]
[signature]
Yesterday (the 5th of January) I planned a solo excursion to Rockport. It was my first time there. I arrived just before Sunrise hoping to catch the morning bite, and decided to fish near the Wanship dam based on previous reports. I found several other people out there already.
Rockport Pic #1
[inline "Rockport 1.JPG"]
Rockport Pic #2
[inline "Rockport 2.JPG"]
It was a very cold, clear morning - single digits for sure. It was one of those days where you spend a good amount of time getting ice off the rod eyelets and keeping the holes open. The ice was perfect thickness however. It only took about 20 turns to break through with the hand auger. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the only positive thing about fishing there.
Over the next hour many other groups came out on the ice. Despite trying different holes and depths, and mixing up my bait/jig combinations, by about 10am I only had one bite and saw about 3 fish on sonar. Nobody around me was catching either. At this point, realizing I had a few hours left, I decided to try my luck at Deer Creek to see if I could get the skunk off me.
I arrived at Deer Creek shortly after noon to a surreal and beautiful sight. At first it looked like open water, but upon noticing a couple other lone fishermen, I realized it was ice as smooth and clear as glass.
Deer Creek Glassy Ice #1
[inline "Deer Creek Glass 1.JPG"]
Deer Creek Glassy Ice #2
[inline "Deer Creek Glass 2.JPG"]
I was hesitant at first, but it looked safe enough. I ventured out just a little bit and drilled a test hole and checked depth with my sonar. I measured it at 4-5" thick. Still, it creaked and groaned, reverberating across the reservoir. It sounded kinda like whales to me, which was funny.
[inline "Checking Ice Thickness and Depth.JPG"]
Confident, I shuffled carefully out a little further, trying not to slip, and towards the "island" a bit more. This area typically has produced well for me in the past, both in summer and winter.
I picked out my spot and drilled some holes (only took a matter of seconds). Sonar showed me fishing at 20 feet. At first, it seemed as if I was going to get skunked here too. Eventually the fish alarm went off on my finder, and I saw a fish approach my rat finky tipped with a piece of mealworm and a salmon egg. I waited for a bite - nothing. I switched to a piece of a worm, dropped down again, and set up a second rod with a berkely gulp minnow on a jighead, and a piece of worm as well. Shortly thereafter I landed a small-but-fiesty planter male spreading his milt all over.
[inline "1st fish of day.JPG"]
The bite went dead again until about 1:30, nearing the time that I had to leave. However, a sudden flurry of action had me landing a few more fish. At one point, I was getting hits every time I dropped down. They were hitting both the little rat finky and the larger jig.
The strangest part of the whole experience was watching the fish as I was reeling them up underneath me through the glassy ice. I released one and got some cool video of it swimming around under the ice. Check this short video out to see what I mean at [url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKlK-8H_0&feature=youtu.be"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKlK-8H_0&feature=youtu.be
[/url]
Here are a couple more pics, including the 3 fish I took home.
Gear
[inline "The gear.JPG"]
The take home fish. Included in the pic are what I used.
[inline "Take home fish.JPG"]
[signature]
