mjschijf
01-25-2010, 04:17 PM
It had been seemingly forever since the last time I hit the water. I decided that needed to end this weekend. I had only been ice fishing twice before, and both were brutally cold and windy days at Panguitch which resulted in getting skunked. I tried to put that to an end on Saturday at Minersville.
I wanted to get off to an early start but the snowstorm on Friday night left road conditions pretty bad in the the morning. I met up with my dad for an early lunch, then we left for the lake.
We arrived at Minersville around noon. The weather had cleared up nicely, and would have been perfect if it wasn't for a cold (but bearable) wind. When arriving, we noticed slush around the edges of the lake but there were people fishing so I assumed conditions were safe. While trying to step past the slush, I didn't step far enough and the ice gave way, submerging my leg in about a foot and a half of water.
Great way to start the day. :frustrated:
We were eventually able to get past the slush and drilled a hole to find the ice about 10 inches thick. I lowered my jig and started getting bites immediately. After a few minutes I had a fish on. My first ever through the ice!
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020540.jpg
We fished until after 5:00. We landed 8 fish total (6 for me, 2 for my dad) and missed several other bites. All fish caught were rainbows, and unfortunately nothing was of size. I think my first one was probably the biggest of the day. 10 to 12 inches was the norm. It was still fun to get my hands on some fish for the first time in a while, especially since they were both of our firsts through the ice. It was also the first time in a while that I've gotten to hang out with my dad, so fishing aside, it was still a good day.
Most of the fish were caught on white curly-tailed jigs and Maribous. In the last hour I tied on a Gitzit rainbow trout swimbait to jig and twitch at hopes of enticing a larger fish to bite. I missed a bite that felt like a larger fish (but who knows), then later caught one of the run-of-the-mill 10 inch rainbows. :ne_nau:
Most fish were biting near the surface, no more than 3 or 4 feet down.
I won't post all of my pics, but here are a few more, just in case any of you have never seen a foot-long rainbow trout. :haha:
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020549.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020553.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020563.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020577.jpg
On our way out, we stopped to take some pics of a cool sunset. There was some sweet color on the opposite end of the sky too.
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0885.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0895.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0888.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0897.jpg
I wanted to get off to an early start but the snowstorm on Friday night left road conditions pretty bad in the the morning. I met up with my dad for an early lunch, then we left for the lake.
We arrived at Minersville around noon. The weather had cleared up nicely, and would have been perfect if it wasn't for a cold (but bearable) wind. When arriving, we noticed slush around the edges of the lake but there were people fishing so I assumed conditions were safe. While trying to step past the slush, I didn't step far enough and the ice gave way, submerging my leg in about a foot and a half of water.
Great way to start the day. :frustrated:
We were eventually able to get past the slush and drilled a hole to find the ice about 10 inches thick. I lowered my jig and started getting bites immediately. After a few minutes I had a fish on. My first ever through the ice!
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020540.jpg
We fished until after 5:00. We landed 8 fish total (6 for me, 2 for my dad) and missed several other bites. All fish caught were rainbows, and unfortunately nothing was of size. I think my first one was probably the biggest of the day. 10 to 12 inches was the norm. It was still fun to get my hands on some fish for the first time in a while, especially since they were both of our firsts through the ice. It was also the first time in a while that I've gotten to hang out with my dad, so fishing aside, it was still a good day.
Most of the fish were caught on white curly-tailed jigs and Maribous. In the last hour I tied on a Gitzit rainbow trout swimbait to jig and twitch at hopes of enticing a larger fish to bite. I missed a bite that felt like a larger fish (but who knows), then later caught one of the run-of-the-mill 10 inch rainbows. :ne_nau:
Most fish were biting near the surface, no more than 3 or 4 feet down.
I won't post all of my pics, but here are a few more, just in case any of you have never seen a foot-long rainbow trout. :haha:
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020549.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020553.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020563.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/P1020577.jpg
On our way out, we stopped to take some pics of a cool sunset. There was some sweet color on the opposite end of the sky too.
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0885.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0895.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0888.jpg
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x109/mschijf/IMG_0897.jpg