Cutting Teeth

It’s hard to know exactly when the last day of ice season will be. You can tell when it’s getting close, but the thought of sneaking in one more trip is always there. When it’s finally over, after the auger and tip-ups have been tucked away, it’s good to look back on how things transpired. This past season I was fortunate to get on the ice nine times with friends, old and new, and witness some memorable catches. The highlight, though, was introducing my daughter to the pastime that consumes me each winter.

Cora is no stranger to fishing. She’s been joining me on open water trips for panfish, trout, and snapper blues since she could walk. Ice fishing is a different ballgame though—conditions are harsher, drives are longer, trips start earlier. Cora had been inquiring about hardwater for a while. Now six years old, it seemed like the right time. The season is brief in Connecticut, and circumstances don’t often allow a youngster to tag along, but it happened this winter—twice—and I’m grateful.  

There was a learning curve for both of us. More planning and preparation involved than a normal outing. Each of our patience was tested. It takes time to get set up on the ice before you’re actually fishing. Then there’s no guarantee the fish cooperate. A few things helped keep Cora interested—the first was going with other kids her own age. A friend brought his two boys and they had a ball exploring while us dads put lines in the water. Another way we kept them engaged was assigning tasks to help with. It turns out that keeping ice holes clean of slush with a ladle is a perfect job for six-year-olds.

Keeping busy.

Lucky for us it got cold enough this past winter to lock up a tidal cove of a large river close to home. The cove is deep and full of fish, nothing I would dare ever eat, but there’s always potential for lots of action and the occasional surprise trophy. Flags started popping immediately as yellow perch zeroed in on our live shiners. A couple of the perch were pretty large and all of them were fun for the kids to pull up by hand and proudly display.

Cora hoisting an eater-size yellow perch (that we can't eat due to PCBs).

A Hali jig tipped with a wax worm will catch almost anything through the ice

We didn’t know it then, but the next time the kids came out with us turned out to be the last trip of our ice season. It was a cold start that morning with temps in the 20s, but never once did Cora complain of the cold. Her first pair of merino wool base layers helped, as did the hand and toe warmers. I also busted out the trusty pop-up shelter where she enjoyed a hot oatmeal breakfast, which made it worth the effort.

A big mistake I made was not buying ice grippers to strap under Cora’s small boots. We lucked out with crunchy snow on the ice for her first trip, but the surface was super slick for her second outing and she was falling all over the place, to the point I was worried about her getting hurt. Thankfully our host that day brought an inner tube to lug his gear out and I gladly towed Cora around in it, including to a few fish flags.

Enjoying breakfast in a warm, albeit worn, shelter.

Cora with her first black crappie.

The highlight of the day, in fact the highlight of my ice season, came just before 9 a.m. that morning when the flag of our farthest tip-up went up and, like a sled dog, I hauled Cora a few hundred yards over the frozen terrain. The spool was spinning at a steady clip—I pulled the trap, set the hook, then proudly watched my daughter fight, hand-over-hand, a heavy smallmouth bass. It was the first smallie I had seen from this spot more known for northern pike, so it was a welcomed surprise and a moment to celebrate, one neither of us will soon forget. Cora’s fingers went numb from handling the cold, wet Dacron, but her grin stretched from ear to ear, and so did mine.

A fine fish and proud moment.

Hells Bells

Our limit of 12 lines was set under the ice before the sun lifted over the trees. Despite only having a half day to fish, hopes were high as we drilled the first holes on this waterbody of the season. There was a layer of gray ice on top of a thinner layer of black ice; enough to feel comfortable, but an approaching storm bringing warm air and heavy rain meant a total reset was imminent.  

It’s funny how two anglers in the same area using the same thing can have completely different results, but that’s precisely how our day started. We had a mix of tip-ups and jigging rods spread over a familiar spot. They were baited with medium shiners that Buddy was able to secure on short notice. For the first two hours, my partner’s flags popped left and right resulting in more than a dozen yellow perch to my none. When one of Buddy’s perch came topside, it puked up dragon fly larvae and gave us a neat glimpse at what some of the fish were eating below.    

Out in deeper water, I hopped around and jigged the extra holes we drilled at first light. There weren’t many targets showing on my sonar, but I eventually coaxed a bluegill into eating a Hali jig. If not familiar, this little lure has a gold drop-chain hook and I tipped it with a piece of fish meat. The flash and action of the jig call fish in, but the freebie on the hook is what seals the deal. The dark bluegill was a modest first fish of my ice season, but I was happy to be on the board.  

The calmness was soon broken up by a jingling sound behind me. Bells clipped to a jigging rod bouncing violently set me in motion like a fire alarm. The drag on my reel had been loosened, but apparently not enough as the rod managed to free from its holder and inched closer to the hole in the ice. I grabbed the sliding rod and, all in one motion, cupped the spool and reared back to set the hook. 

By the weight on the other end, I knew straight away this wasn’t a panfish. I tightened the drag, yet left it loose enough to protect the light line for what turned into a lengthy back and forth. As the fish tired, it flashed under the hole a few times revealing the telltale markings of a northern pike. After a quick photograph it was sent back down to keep on growing. Still, it was a solid pike, especially on the rod and reel.

Once the excitement settled down, I set out for one last jigging mission. Every so often I picked my head up from staring at the fish finder to scan our spread. After one such check, I looked back down at the screen to see a large mark merge with the small mark of my jig. The hit and hookset were simultaneous and the rod immediately bowed over. It was on the lightest rod and reel combo on the ice that day and, while it was a smaller pike than the first, the battle was just as spirited. Thankfully the Hali’s tiny hook perfectly pierced the outer skin of the fish’s top jaw or else there was no chance of landing it. Catching those fish back-to-back further cemented just how much I enjoy fighting pike through the ice on jigging rods.

While my time was up, Buddy stayed through the afternoon and returned for a few hours the next day with another pike and more yellow perch to show for it. Unfortunately, after that, the integrity of the little ice we had came into question. The warmup and rain on Christmas Eve were the death blow for this spot and a handful of other places in Connecticut that had fishable ice. It was a tease by any definition, but I was grateful to have been on ice at all. As I type this in early January, I’m holding out hope for an extended cold spell and the semblance of a real hardwater season, yet the days are getting longer and sun is getting stronger so it had better happen soon!

False Starts

Connecticut’s ice fishing season has been a series of false starts so far. With our current weather pattern, it’s been a case of one step forward, two steps back. The first holes drilled in the state this fall were around November 17^th on the usual small, shallow ponds in the northwest corner of the state. But, in what seems like a yearly occurrence now, it warmed up before the ice really took hold. This temperature tug-of-war didn’t change in December. It got could enough for more ponds, coves, and even some larger lakes to lock up, but not could enough to build a solid base of ice to survive the next warm spell and bouts of rain.

All that said, if you really wanted to fish hardwater in Connecticut right now you still can. There are a handful of water bodies tucked away in higher elevations of either corner of the state where fishable ice endured.  However, they have been pressured hard and, at least to me, aren’t worth using up the few free passes I’ll be given this winter. With the predicted long-term forecast, it’s going to be a while before anything exciting freezes over again. We could use an extended blast of cold air. I just don’t see it yet.

The first hole drilled of ice season

While watching the forecast and plotting my next move, I’ve been reliving the two times I was fortunate to get out this floundering ice season. Two weeks ago, my friend Jeff and I were the first ones to put holes on popular northern pike fishery, which had us brimming with confidence. We were treated to an incredible sunrise and three inches of gorgeous, black ice, but the pike bite never materialized, at least for us. Another group did quite a bit of flag chasing and landed their share of hammer handles using small live shiners. We were fine ruling out smaller fish that day in hopes of finding one large pike, but our dead baits sat mostly untouched. Fish or no fish, it was an awesome return to hardwater. I hadn’t laughed that hard or fished on ice that nice in some time.  

Into the black

The most important tool in ice fishing

Tecumseh at first light

Frozen in time

Oatmeal in the shelter

About a week later, a couple days after Christmas, we were lucky to get out again, this time on a different body of water with a few more friends. I’d fished there once before and knew it was in our best interest to ditch the dead baits for live shiners. Collectively for the group, it was a day on the ice to remember with both quality and quantity. The morning action was scorching hot; multiple times there were two or three flags up at once. The best part of my day, a moment now seared in my brain, came during a phone call home.

It was FaceTime call with my girls who were enjoying a lazy morning during Christmas break. I was jigging over a hole in the ice with a phone in one hand and a rod in my other. I had tied on a Hali tipped with a piece of smelt flesh, hoping to entice some keeper yellow perch or calico bass. There were a few marks on my electronics, but I was caught off-guard when my rod doubled over. This was no panfish and the kids could sense my excitement. When Jeff walked over, I passed the phone so he could give my wife and kids a live look at my first fish of the ice season, and what turned out to be my first-ever northern pike caught while jigging. A pretty cool moment for those on the couch and on the ice. 

A FaceTime pike on the jig!

It was that kind of day where things just went right. We were surprised to even be on fishable ice. There was about two inches of soft, grey ice on top and almost four inches of black ice underneath, but with temps in the high 40s, we lost ice throughout the day. That turned out to be the last day this spot was fished in 2019. Even cooler was that all five of us caught our first fish of the ice season that day, which would have been the highlight if it wasn’t for two brutes that capped off the trip.

Our host Mark hooked the first a little after 10 a.m. He’s not an avid angler and doesn’t own ice gear (yet), but his brother Frank insisted that he take a few of his flags that outing. Mark chose the right one to take and latched into a hell of a fish on light line and fought it very well. When it finally came topside, the pike measured about three feet in length and was thick all around; by far the best fish of Mark’s life. It was the high point of the day for sure until Buddy topped it no more than 20 minutes later with another girthy pike that went about a half inch longer. Both pike were released in incredible shape. With good genes and appetites, those fish are well on their way to becoming trophies. 

Mark with the best fish of his life

Buddy with best fish of the day.

Between the group we landed about 20 pike that trip, perhaps the most I’ve seen in one outing, with a crappie and smattering of perch mixed in. The majority of the pike were smaller in size, but all well-fed and growing, which leads me to believe this area is a healthy nursery for northern pike. It’s nice to know that there is always the prospect of very respectable fish moving through too. The two December ice trips were a great way to close out a year in angling. Now it’s a waiting game for the next ice trip, but there are plenty of open water opportunities to keep anglers busy until then. All the best to you and yours in 2020—tight lines!

Bye bye ice.

Last fish of 2019!

First fish of 2020!

First on the Last

Partly sunny and above freezing from the start, it was a full-on beach day when the wind wasn’t blowing. The ice was still about 10-inches thick of varying quality—not bad for March in Connecticut, especially considering the strange 2018-2019 winter we had. In the back of mind, I knew it was my last trip of the season, so I tried to keep that in perspective throughout the day.

A 7 a.m. arrival was later than I’m used to, but how can one complain when getting the red carpet treatment? I was the guest of a friend of a friend that lives in a homeowner’s association with private access. Even better, it was to a location I had never laid eyes on before. Opportunities like this don’t come my way often and I was pumped up to check out new water.

The conditions looked good on paper. Wedged between two snow events, I had high hopes for a moving barometer and feeding fish. Northern pike were the target and in this particular waterbody, the predators seem to prefer their food alive and well. So, with that in mind, I mixed in a few big live shiners on jigging rods along with my usual dead baits under tip-ups.

One of the rod and reel combos was a conventional set-up that I placed in a Nor’Easter—a contraption handmade by a mom-and-pop operation called Indian Hill. Like a traditional tip-up, it gives the visual aid of a tripped flag when your bait is taken. Unlike a tip-up, it allows the angler to fight the fish on a rod instead of by hand. Fighting a pike through the ice on a jigging rod has always appealed to me, but I never had any luck in the dozen or so outings I have tried this thing out.

I saved the Nor’Easter for the last hole I drilled in about 11-feet of water halfway into a large cove. With my host at my side, I sent down a lively Arkansas shiner and placed the line in the line holder that acts as the trigger. It’s a clever design, but it can be a little temperamental and trip false flags once in a while. Sure enough, after setting it, we got no more than five paces away and it pops. I joked that the wooden trap would end up as kindling if it kept this up all day. To my pleasant surprise, the braided line was off to the side just a hair when we got back to it. I literally must have dropped the baitfish right on top of a pike lying in wait.

Crouched next to the hole, I picked up the rod, engaged the reel, and slowly came tight to some weight that began swimming away. It lasted only a minute or two, but it was a really cool experience battling my first pike on a jigger. A respectable fish, not huge by any means, but healthy, full of fight, and quickly released. I wish I could say that started a chain reaction of flags popping all over our spread, but it was not to be. We did, however, have a blast just soaking in the sun and enjoying the prospect of a huge fish moving in at any moment to feed.

What lacked in flags was made up in jigging for panfish. It’s not worth the effort in most places that I fish for pike, but this spot had good depth and the bottom was paved in yellow perch. A bonus was reeling in a big fallfish. Awesome pike baits in their own right, I immediately airlifted it to one of my tip-ups and put it to work. I also missed a mystery fish that doubled over my rod to its cork handle. I am guessing it was a pike that zeroed in on the school of perch, but in that body of water the options of what it could have been are numerous. Regardless, it was enjoyable showing my fishing partners the clear benefit of having electronics when jigging on the ice. Even the basic model fish finder that I have can be a game changer.

By early afternoon, dad life was calling and it was time to start a slow pick-up in hopes for one final flag before hitting the road. Naturally, I let the Nor’Easter soak for as long as possible, but no more luck for me. Buddy saved his luck for late in the day. When I got home, he texted a photo of a pike he landed similar in size to mine. Two pike over 30-inches and a pile of panfish, all in all, that's a pretty good day. I met some new friends, fished new water, and checked a new box—northern pike on the jigging stick. A neat ice fishing first on the last day of the season. 

The End

It doesn't feel right to be putting away hardwater gear in February, but here we are. For all the ice we built up in January, it withered away rather abruptly over the last two weeks. Not realizing it was my final trip of the season at the time, I have since found solace that it happened on a lake I hadn't fished in three years, spent with a classic crew catching quality fish. 

The entire day was overcast and never fell below freezing. After a slow start, there were spurts of flags throughout the morning and afternoon. The best wave of action came just before 11:00 a.m., when we had a number of nice fish come topside within a span of a few minutes. By days end we caught and released some hefty smallies and took home a pile of fat yellow perch for the skillet. A steady rain chased us off a little earlier than we would have liked, but it was a hell of a trip and a great way to close out the ice season.

A big reason why I love ice fishing is the unknown. I know that I'll be able to fish my favorite streams and beaches come spring, summer and fall, but it's far from a guarantee that I'll walk on water each winter at my favorite lakes and ponds. This ice season started out cold enough that I thought it could go until April and now I'm dusting off the fly gear. You play the hand you're dealt...

Gray Day, Big Lake

This past Saturday was one of the most fun days I've had on the ice in a quite a while. Above all, it was the first time in six years that I ice fished with the man that got me hooked on hardwater, my Uncle Derrick. Good friends rounded out the rest of the crew, and comfortable temps and a decent bass and perch bite put the icing on the cake. With the up and down weather lately, who knows what the rest of the winter holds, but I'll savor this trip for some time. 

Sayonara Winter

Another ice season is in the books. I didn't get out nearly as much as I did in years past, but each outing was an adventure. The peak of my season was a road trip to Lake George with some of the best ice I've ever stepped foot on. I love ice fishing as much as the next guy, but it's hard not to be looking forward to open water and warmer weather. Here are a few photos to remember this winter by.