I just saw our water rescue team was sent to Indian Lake tonight to get someone out of the water. They found the person and he was okay and refused transport to the hospital. I don’t know any more details and glad this person is okay. Sometimes you have to realize when it’s raining, 48 degrees out and the ice isn’t that great, it may be time to put the gear up and wait another day. I’ve fell through in 9’ of water and touched bottom, looking up through a hole is a life altering experience, lucky for me I was able to pull myself out of the ice but by the time I got out and walked to my truck that was less than 20 feet away my ice suit zipper was froze up, my hair was a solid mass of ice, boot laces were ice chunks and every muscle in my body was burning and cramping, you start to get tunnel vision and my body was shaking violently. I was in the water about 3 minutes but it felt like a life time.  We had 13” of ice on the main lake in St. Mary’s but it had rained the day before, the day I went through the temps had dropped to 15 degrees and I assumed all was good because I could see 20 or so guys a half mile or so away on the main lake perch fishing. When I stepped on the ice at the sail boat club, the edges had rotted up and I didn’t even look down because I was in a hurry to get out there , whoosh the ice broke, I fell through, touched bottom and was lucky enough to be right there by the wall where they lower the boats in, but trying to climb out expelled all my energy but I kept telling myself I couldn’t die this way , my finger tips were bloody where I was scraping the asphalt trying to grip anything and was screaming for help on deaf ears as no one could hear me or let alone see me from the road because the wall blocked their view. So yes I take ice safety seriously and won’t venture out on less than good ice, everyone is different and some will say we all gotta die some how, might as well die doing what I love, that sound like a ballsy statement and a John Wayne style to go out, until you’re in that situation. Stay safe fellas, there is always next season or we hope.

I drove around the lake today with intentions of going out on the ice after work, I did see 5 guys out on the ice but I also saw open water in some channels to very grey ice in others. From the roadside view I deemed it unsafe for me to venture out on the ice, for others it may be safe but I chose not to take the risk. On a positive note I did see a guy pull in a nice eye from the open water that looked like it was in the 2-3lb class and again, this was my view from my Jeep. I’ve decided to unload my ice gear for the season and grab my open water gear and go out tomorrow, it may be too soon for some to toss in the season but I’m ready for the spring season, too much waiting on cold weather and safer ice and getting my hopes up only to look at the forecast and see 40 degree temps looming around the corner. See ya on the ice next season or maybe at the fishing expo if the ice storm doesn’t hit us too bad tonight

I've drilled several small holes in my worm holders to see if the bait will last longer, I'll let you know later this week. I bought the bait on Sunday and won't be able to go until this Friday weather permitting, I hope it works

I bought a Lowrance elite 4 years ago and every year I take it out once and leave the vex at home, I've tried everything I know about this machine to make it work for me, I've seen other people use it and it seems to track their baits in real time, my set up I use seems like the thing is in a "dial-up mode" it lags bad, I've kept it because I like some of the features it has like waypoints and maps of the lakes with their depths, but I don't care for its fishing functions, the vex is sooo much easier to use, drop it into the hole, make a few minor adjustments from time to time(gain) and you're on your way. I wish I could hook up with another person who has the same machine and they can walk my butt through a set-up I like.

My favorite method of cooking wings, it's a process but the outcome is great and the wings are very crispy. Here is the recipe, 4 tablespoons of baking powder, 2 tbsp kosher salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 3 lbs of wings. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl, coat wings and let them rest for at least 1hr, here is the process, I use a dutch oven and my grill, for the oven I use briquettes to heat the oven and my favorite wing sauce ( can't share that recipe) to a slight boil, in the meantime I cook the wings on medium direct heat flipping quite often so they don't stick, when they brown and turn crispy I put them in my dutch oven for 20 minutes covered, then return them to the grill on direct medium heat turning often so the wings won't stick (sugar based sauces burn easily) or burn, do this until the sauce is baked in. This past summer I cooked 50lbs, yes 50lbs of wings on my grill, I started at 11 am and cooked until 6 pm, I kept the wings in the warming drawer of the oven, I cooked 3 different flavors, barbequed, buffalo mild and sweet hot mustard. The baking powder has a chemical reaction to the fat and causes it to become crisp without deep frying.

I started using braided line several years ago on my saugeye/ walleye rig ups, some say it is too visible to the fish, they build up with ice too fast, the list of cons goes on, the pros, very sensitive to the bite, more powerful hook sets and no line breaks due to getting cut on the ice. This is what I've learned from using braided line, 1st and foremost you have to put monofilament line on 1st, enough to cover the entire spool, this will prevent line slippage when the braided line gets cold, if you do not put it on 1st, it acts like the drag is not working and it will just slip and you will not be able to fish with it during cold temps, 2nd use reel spray on the line to help prevent ice build up if you are fishing outside your hut. I use a palomar knot to tie on my clips, very strong knot.
knot. Good luck on the ice fishing, taking a few days off, pulling the sled around every day for 5 days in a row has me feeling old today.

I have a video to show how sensitive these are but the site will not let me upload it