I went out yesterday after work,  there were a few guys on the West side spread out from Earls back to the North. I was given a report that Luthman's was the "hot spot " and parking would be difficult.... ha, I got there around 3:30 pm, not only was there ample parking, I was the only sole there, and for the 7-8" of ice.. not hardly, there was some open water off to the North East side of the bridge and under the bridge didn't look very safe to pass under, and for the crowd that could've been there... I saw 6 holes drilled, 2 on the east side and 4 on the west side. I decided to set up on the west side, there was good ice there, 6-7" , drilled 5-7 holes,  nothing on the Vex until 4pm or so and the vex was lit up from 2' to the bottom , so much I had a hard time seeing my jig.. finally got some to bite and they were 2-4" bluegill, one other guy showed up and he caught a small crappie and maybe a few gills. We walked off the ice around 6pm and as I was pulling out, 2 guys were going on the east side to night fish for crappies or eyes I presume. Headed out again today after work, I may make the drive to Indian and fight the crowd..... hopefully the ice hangs on

A rant and a question, I show up at the lake today with about 3hrs of fishing time, I go to my favorite spot and no one is there and no tracks in the snow, so I've got my honey hole to myself... or so I thought. I got my gear out, walked out and a truck pulled up, 3 guys get out of the truck as I start drilling my 1st hole, I always drill about 8-10 holes in a straight line at different depths. I get done with the 8th hole and start cleaning them out, I no sooner get the first 4 holes cleaned out and these 3 guys jump on the first 3 holes I cleaned out, the dude actually walked out there and said to his buddies, hell here's open holes, good place to start, I turned and told them I just cleaned them out, the dude replied quickly and said," thanks" . Rant over... question to all, would you drop in uninvited or drill your own holes. I've been doing this over 40yrs and this was a first for me

I've tried posting on Indian lake tab, can't start a new topic, and very hard to read other posts on the page because it's all scrambled up.... is it on my end or the page?

I won't say the lake because I can't post on it, but I went out today for the 1st time this season, the bite was okay but really couldn't get to where I wanted so I decided just to catch the dinks, check my gear and reflect on years gone by as I stared out the shanty and watch guys and gals of all ages walk out on the ice ( 3-4" at best).  Two of my old reliables have passed, not dwelling on it, just remembering some of our fun or funny days, so, sorry for the long read. George, he was about 80yrs old, we left the house and man was it cold, windy and just plain nasty out, we got on the ice right before sunrise, George didn't like fishing out of a shanty, so even at 5-6 degrees, I roughed it with him, it was one of those days, dropped the vibe in and.. slam, 1 pig on the ice, 5 minutes in, within the hour I was already on 4 eyes and George had 2, I got my 5th and I noticed George was curled up in a ball obviously he wasn't fishing anymore, I walked over and the poor guy had snot running down his nose almost stringing to the ice, shivering like no other, I asked him, " George you ready to go home", he looked me straight in the eyes and said, " hell yes, I thought you'd never ask" I walked him off the ice, started the truck and got him inside, then I gathered up all our gear, tossed it in the back and we headed home. On the way there, George, with this cold wrinkled face, said, " Dan, you can have all my gear, I'm done with this, I can't take the cold anymore"  I tried to give it to him when we got to his house but he had none of it..... I hung his gear up and retired it as well...

I started out on Indian this morning, on the lake by 5 am, drilled 2 holes, got set up and I was sittin in 4" of water before I knew it, not the best conditions when you're on the ice. The wind was blowing but the rain had stopped, unfortunately, the more I sat there, the deeper the water got, some might call it safe ice, but my ass walked off Indy by 5:45 am as I knew I had to cross moving water. I thought about trying other places on Indy but everywhere I went, the top of the ice was slushy so I headed to Loramie, tried Earls Island but it was the same, I drilled 2 holes, dropped the lines in and the water poured out of the holes, ugh, I left and tried fishing off a dock but marked zero fish. I drove to GLSM, drilled some holes at the sailboat club, the water-stained, marked zero fish, moved to Andersons, drilled several holes, marked zero, caught nothing all day. I probably could've done okay at Indy as I was marking fish, but having been on the wrong side of the ice before, I decided to go on the safe side, tuck my tail, and head for safer ice (none really to be found). Stay safe fellas, that bucket of fish really isn't worth risking your life for...

Co- worker is giving up ice fishing and has a few items for sale, Clam 360, $200 firm, never used on the ice,  PM me if interested, I work 12hr shifts so it may be a day or 2 before I respond.

Wednesday was by far the best day for me on panfish, caught 100% of the gills and crappie in less than 4' most were 3.5' all on moon glow, bucket was 3/4 full, no gills kept under 7" with many in the 9" group, crappies, several over 11"  mark, saugeyes for me... all were under 15" but I did see a few people walk off with some nice keepers, nothing spectacular on the eyes. Saturday, fished for eyes in the morning, caught 3, no keepers again, but some guys around me caught a few, eyes in the area I fished just didn't run through like I hoped, switched for panfish and moved back on top of the pads, the sky was bright blue all day and the temps were downright dangerous if not prepared, but the gills and crappie hit all day and I managed close to a half bucket of fish, with only a few crappies, the rest were gills, I made the mistake of moving off fish to find some eyes to catch.. again, all short eyes for me and again, I saw a few nice keepers hit the ice, nothing great from what I saw, (should've stayed on the panfish). I probably could've done better but fishing in the shallows requires a little more quietness to produce all day, as the ice was pretty crowded where I was fishing. Sunday, 3 short eyes again and the bite was quick and they were gone, I did see a few hit the ice but the big run has yet to happen in the area I was fishing, moved to the pads and it seemed like it was going to be a stellar day, the vex lit up for most of the morning but the bite was extremely lite, my plastic spring bobber barely moved and the fish I did get, spit it out at the hole as they waved goodbye, I only managed a few gills and 2 nice crappies, getting old and cold I decided to pack it up early, went home by 3 pm, grabbed a beer out of the frig as I got my gear ready for tomorrow. Just a friendly reminder, if you take it out on the ice..... take it back off with you......

You ever get out on the ice before sunrise,  set up, turn on the Vex, and boom, you drilled on the mother lode of fish, and no one is anywhere to be found or so you thought, in the distance, you can hear the truck doors slam, shanties starting to be pulled your way and then you see them, you try to be discreet and hide your fish but the sound of a fish popping out of the hole is a very distinct noise and is like setting off a siren, "fish, he's on fish" and it starts.... mind you, I'm sittin in 4 FOW and the noise level was zero, until now, " Hey, ya doing any good? "  Nah, not really, small dinks as you look out your porthole" they start drilling within 10' of you, dropping the spud bar( if they use one) tossing the auger blade cover on the ice, drill 5-10 holes all around you, toss the auger on the ice, bang the shanty around, finally set up on a hole and they ask, " Hey you still markin them," Nah... not anymore! ( the sound of a car crash is quieter) Then it happens, they catch a fish, turn the phone to auto-dial and all you hear is, " man I'm on em, Nah, no one is hear but 1 other guy, hurry up, I'll drill you a few holes, yea, tell Jim, I'll call Tom, Dick, and Harry... 30 minutes later you don't need to jig your rod anymore, the ice is bouncing up and down with everyone clanging around ya feel like you're in a boat... fish have left and so has your stellar day.... sound familiar....lol