Hit north fork before daylight on sat. Fish were there but it was one of those days. Landed 2 keepers and a short but dropped 3 at the hole, broke off a 5 +, and prob missed 8 or 10. Prob still could have limited but had to leave at 1030 to go do family stuff. Left em biting   Back out on Sunday early. Went to the same place but they had moved on. Caught 2 shorts and very few marks. Went over to long island and caught panfish for a couple hours, then back after eyes. Got on em right away and had a hell of an evening. Caught close to a dozen. Kept my 6. All 16 to 19 inches. Vibes, tingler spoons, and pimples all caught fish.
Now for the bad news. Ice is not faring well after the rain fri night and a couple days of above freezing temps.I am not optimistic what is gonna look like after today. Hopefully we save enough that round one isn't over. We will see. Careful if you venture out.

After the trip tonight my eskimo flip was obviously soaked. Didn't want to leave it wet especially if I'm gonna go in the morning. Brought it in the house and then had a brilliant idea. ..set it up in my laundry room and put an electric space heater inside it (obviously making certain the heater was away from the fabric) in a little over an hour it is pretty much dry. Didn't know if anyone else had tried this but figured I'd mention it. My wife is thrilled by the way. There is soaking wet ice gear all over our utility room. Lol

I'm looking to buy a tracker or similar style aluminum boat. If anyone is trying to get rid of one let me know. Must be in fishing condition and I will have to see it run in the water, not just on muffs. No exceptions. Not looking for anything real new. Maybe 3-4000 bucks.

Drove by the lake after work. Most of the lower end by the dam is open but looked like the upper end had ice. Marina is frozen but very thin. One poke with a crowbar went through.

I recently bought a couple jason mitchel 18 ice rods with attached strike indicators. They have a small fiberglass strand wrapped right onto the rod tip with a glow bead and a hoop on the end for your line. Fantastic indicator and a great idea. However I bent one pretty bad in my rod bag and it's splintering. Also id like to put them on some other rods. Think I have everything I need to make them other than the small pieces of fiberglass. Any ideas on what I could use?

Ok I have a question. Bought the eskimo quickflip. I will be pulling it by hand.  Should I get the runner kit for it or is it not necessary? Any cheaper options?

  Had a rough couple weeks at work and with the rain today decided to take the day off. No point wasting it sitting around the house so I ran down to the river before the rain really set in. Had a good day. 3 nice Saugeye, couple channels, a small flattie and prob 10 smallies. One of them was an absolute tank for around here. No scale but he was easily 4lbs+. Gave me the chance to take my first selfie.lol

Ok so last year was my first time on the ice. Was pretty much on my own figuring out what to do. Started out with some cheap rods, a couple jigging raps and some crappie jigs. Caught 3 eyes my first time out and was absolutely hooked after that. Started picking up more stuff here and there as I went when I saw something I liked or was shown by guys I met on the ice that was working for them. I've been buying up stuff over the summer and now am getting quite a collection of ice tackle. So I was wondering what you more experienced guys carry on the ice. I hate being out fishing and they are hitting something I don't have, but also dislike dragging around a bunch of stuff I don't need. What's your go to bait? How much tackle do you guys carry? And also I didn't get started until late Jan so I have never fished early ice. Anything different you guys do early? I mostly fished Indian last year but plan on trying some new water this winter and will definitely try to hit erie.
And I mostly target eyes and crappie.
   Figure this at least gives us something to talk about. Any advice is appreciated.