12-31-2008, 05:41 AM
I went there today (Tues) at 9AM and I was surprised by the number of folk there that may have been as anxious as I to get the ice season started. I wouldn't call it an "ant hill" but there were groups in most areas. We entered from the center, and I thought it was curious that I didn't see anyone near the dam all day.
The roads were dry, and the snow was very reasonable, even melted in many areas in fact. The water was a soft a bit at the edges, but firm after that.
There were some areas with surface water and slush for a couple inches, but everywhere I drilled a hole was at least 5" underneath. WHEW! [
] But the ice wasn't clear except for the lowest 2". It was so warm that I didn't even wear a coat, and some slush developed mid day, but it got colder with the wind and firmed up by the time we left at about 4 pm.
At first, I went to a spot that was good for me EVERY trip last year and met up with a buddy that had done likewise. He'd arrived early and wasn't doing a lot of catching... After only a few hours of me being there, most of the groups had left.
I threw everything I had at them. (Even some home made favorites.) We caught 3 nice trout, and perch were interspersed, but they were really small. (Fortunately, I was just glad to be outside on a nice day.) I moved around for a good half mile area or more, and I'd catch one 4" perch at first, then nothing... Then at 3pm we found a spot that produced about 15 in half hour, but we took morbid pleasure in the fact that all but a couple were so small that the could barely bend our wire bite detectors! [
] If it wasn't for the trout, we'd have had pizza for dinner! []
Hope that helps.
Anyway... I was glad I went, but I'll be looking forward if anyone catches any keeper perch there. Maybe it's just me, but there are many places I can reliably catch trout, and I'm counting on you guys to let me know where the panfish can be had this year! [cool]
[signature]
The roads were dry, and the snow was very reasonable, even melted in many areas in fact. The water was a soft a bit at the edges, but firm after that.
There were some areas with surface water and slush for a couple inches, but everywhere I drilled a hole was at least 5" underneath. WHEW! [
] But the ice wasn't clear except for the lowest 2". It was so warm that I didn't even wear a coat, and some slush developed mid day, but it got colder with the wind and firmed up by the time we left at about 4 pm. At first, I went to a spot that was good for me EVERY trip last year and met up with a buddy that had done likewise. He'd arrived early and wasn't doing a lot of catching... After only a few hours of me being there, most of the groups had left.
I threw everything I had at them. (Even some home made favorites.) We caught 3 nice trout, and perch were interspersed, but they were really small. (Fortunately, I was just glad to be outside on a nice day.) I moved around for a good half mile area or more, and I'd catch one 4" perch at first, then nothing... Then at 3pm we found a spot that produced about 15 in half hour, but we took morbid pleasure in the fact that all but a couple were so small that the could barely bend our wire bite detectors! [
] If it wasn't for the trout, we'd have had pizza for dinner! []Hope that helps.
Anyway... I was glad I went, but I'll be looking forward if anyone catches any keeper perch there. Maybe it's just me, but there are many places I can reliably catch trout, and I'm counting on you guys to let me know where the panfish can be had this year! [cool]
[signature]