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Topics - Downthehole
16
« on: January 25, 2018, 11:10:12 AM »
I’ve been out of town for the last couple of days and expected to return to significant ice melt but that’s not the case. Just looking out of my back porch I see that that a channel that starts to the left of the house (on the opposite side of the island from Froggies) is still locked up. skim ice has quickly formed up to my dock due to a neighbor turning his agitator off. The main ice sheet over the lily pad field has not receded any since I left and further up the point, towards the main lake, the ice is still up to the docks.
I took a drive around the lake, here’s what I saw:
- Long Island 1st pull off - locked, 1 guy out at Pony Island (wow!) - 1st Pic
- Long Island 2nd pull off - locked - 2nd pic
- Long Island 3rd pull off (O’Connors side) - no access lots of open water - 3rd Pic
- Long Island 3rd pull off (Pony Island side) - locked, some open water close to bank
- North Fork - Channel is open
- Longview - open towards mouth
- Moundwood - Open from mouth right back down the channel
- Cranberry - mostly locked - 1 guy out fishing (wow!) - 4th Pic
- Paradise Point - locked
I can’t comment on ice thickness anywhere as I did not check it. There are more exposed lily pad trunks visible and I estimate at least 3” of melt off the top of the ice. We could get another opportunity with the ice holding as it is. 50F is forecasted tomorrow but then the temps fall again.
As ever this is a summary of what I saw and in no way am I stating the ice is safe. Always, check the ice If you go out and use all precautions possible.
Andy
17
« on: January 23, 2018, 07:47:05 AM »
I’m planning on fishing Alum Creek docks this weekend (probably Saturday). Just a heads up if anyone wants to come along....
18
« on: January 22, 2018, 05:48:28 AM »
Instead of doing the usual end of season song I though I’d post one that sums up my season: https://youtu.be/hqW4qLcRD3wIt’s been great seeing folks on the ice, the fishing had been slow, but everything has been way better than the last 2 Years.... Andy PS: Hope the song drives you as nuts as the fishing did me this year! 
19
« on: January 21, 2018, 04:54:52 PM »
Fished a couples of spots around on the South side (no fish). I finished at the Pony Inland side of Long Island and met up with Bobby (Quackpot). Caught a few dink gills. Fished on 9” of ice over 3.9’ of water. The water was stained at Long iIsland but clear at the South side of the lake. The ice had started to deteriorate at the edges but was safe at the points I used to get on the lake. There’s lots of standing water on the surface of the lake. At Paradise Point I didn’t have to drill holes. Holes drilled last night we’re still open. The mouth of Mound-wood is opening up making it dodgy to use to get around to Dunn’s pond.
I’ll keep an eye on the ice this week and post conditions....
Andy
20
« on: January 21, 2018, 08:17:31 AM »
It’s looking like a very sad and sorry state out there today. We woke to a lot of snow melt overnight and thick fog. I’ve attached a pic of the view from my back deck. I’m hoping the edges are holding up...
Andy
21
« on: January 18, 2018, 12:17:30 PM »
Hi All,
Does anyone have any neat tricks for stopping treble hooks on rattle spoons, pimples and vibes getting tangled up with your line when jigging?
Andy
22
« on: January 18, 2018, 09:49:28 AM »
Wondering if anyon3 is fishing Indian tomorrow? I’m planning on going out early but not sure where yet.....
23
« on: January 18, 2018, 05:52:59 AM »
Fishing Indian Lake yesterday from 7:00am to 6:00pm. Ice and weather conditions were good. I fished North Fork until noon and moved 3 times trying to find fish. The water had a little stain but not much. I had 3 marks all morning. Moved to Longview at noon and got a few more marks but, nothing spectacular. Caught a 10” crappie on a silver tungsten and small pink curly tail at 3:30. Thinking that was the start of an evening bite I stayed but didn’t mark much afterwards.....
I talked to a few folks and they had had the same day I had. Seems like the high pressure had moved the fish away....hopefully th3 warm up that’s coming will yield more fish...
Andy
24
« on: January 16, 2018, 05:09:39 PM »
Is anyone going fishing on Indian Lake tomorrow?
Andy
25
« on: January 15, 2018, 07:05:00 AM »
Has anyone had any lessons learned/tried new things, got additional needed gear so as a result of being out on the ice. They don’t necessarily need to be inventions, just things to make the ice fishing experience easier. I have a few:
Rubber Mat - getting s small rubber door mat helped keep my feet off the ice and keep them warmer.
Battery Charger - I fished 5 days straight earlier and found that my bait bucket air pump used a few D size batteries. At $4.00 a set the cost of batteries can start to add up so, I got a battery charger and rechargeable batteries. This should will cut the cost of keeping the air pump running.
Air Pump Insulation - The bait bucket I have (Frabill) had pipe runn8ng from the air pump into the bucket. There is a section of pipe exposed which would freeze from time to time. To try and stop this Inhave some polystyrene around it to insulate and prevent freezing. I’ll be testing this later this week.
Does anyone else have anything they have done differently this year?
Andy
26
« on: January 14, 2018, 05:02:05 PM »
All,
Fished the Pony Island side of Long Island today between 2:00pm and 4:00pm. Ambient was 17F so I didn’t bother taking my shanty out and fished on 8” of ice over 4’ of water. Caught around 15 gills in the 2hrs I was out. I drilled 4 holes and hopped between them. I don’t keep gills so I’m not that bothered about their size. I would say the bigger ones were about the size of my hand. It was good to be out fishing again instead of writing reports on when we may get out ice fishing.
Andy
27
« on: January 14, 2018, 10:04:45 AM »
All,
I checked Long Island just before the bridge at 9:00am Here’s what I found:
- Ambient was 10F with 2 mph winds from the South
- There has been a lot of ice build overnight.
- I spudded out 25’ From the bank with my chisel not going through after 3 hits.
- The Ice is very slippery - I recommend cleats if you decide to go out today
- There was -20folks fishing on the Pony Island side more spread out then yesterday
- There was 1 guy on the O’Connors side
- No more snow overnight and more of the light dusting has blown off the ice.
The lake level continues to fall based upon looking at the level at my dock.
I would say that we are close to the same conditions that got us on the ice a couple weeks ago. Again, I’m reporting what I see, please use caution if you decide to go out today.
I don’t think there’s a need for more updates at this point however; if you need info please feel free to reach out and I’ll do what I can to help...
Andy
28
« on: January 13, 2018, 05:51:32 PM »
All,
I checked Long Island just before the bridge at 5:00pm Here’s what I found:
- Ambient was 15F with 3 mph winds from the North West
- The new one ce thickness has increased and is now ~2-2-1/2”
- I spudded out 6! From the bank then my chisel started going through after 3 hits.
- There was -5 folks fishing on the Pony Island side about 75 yards from the bank
- No more snow today and dome of the light dusting has blown off the ice.
The lake level is up around 6-8” but it had fallen by about an inch since this morning. I drove past the dam earlier and there”s quite a run on it.
I think it may be possible to get out tomorrow if not in the morning, later in the day. If anyone decides to try in the morning please use extreme caution. The conditions are still very dodgy. I will check again in the morning and post what I find....
Andy
29
« on: January 13, 2018, 08:44:21 AM »
All,
I checked Long Island at 2nd pull-off and just before the bridge at 8:00am this morning. Here’s what I found:
- Ambient was 10F with 12 mph winds from the North
- As predicted there was more melt over Thursday evening thru Friday afternoon
- The edges of the lake are locked in both locations
- The new ice thickness is 1-1/2” and the ice quality is not very good (cloudy/honeycombed)
- The new Ice meets the existing ice around 6’-8’ from the bank
- Safe Ice could be 4-6’ beyond where the new ice meets existing ice
- Only a light dusting of snow on the ice (We only got 2” overnight) most has blown off
So, things are happening as expected. The lack of snow is a relief as it will help the ice grow today. One thing that is a little concerning is that the lake level is up around 6-8” I’m going to take a look at the dam later to see what flow we have at the south end of the lake.
Getting on the ice at Long Island will be difficult, if not impossible, today. Sunday will be the earliest I think. I’m going to check conditions tonight around 5:00pm and will write another report.
Andy
30
« on: January 11, 2018, 07:40:02 PM »
All,
I stopped off at Long Island after work to check out ice conditions. I stopped off at 1st & 2nd pull-off and just before the bridge. Here’s what I found:
- Ambient was 52F
- Lots of standing water at the ice
- 1-4’ from the bank my spud bar went straight through
- 4-5’ from the bank it took 2 hits to go through
- Lots of mist on the lake
I estimate that safe ice could be anywhere from 8’ - 12’ from the bank. Overnight we’ll have warm temps until 2am and rain from 1am onwards This will cause more melt. From 9am tomorrw onwards we’ll see freezing rain which will turn to snow at 1pm. They are forecasting 4-6” of snow at the moment which will cool any standing water and water at the edges of the lake. The cooldown will then continue into Saturday and beyond.
At this point I think getting on the ice at Long Island will be difficult on Saturday. Sunday will be the earliest I think. I’m going to check conditions again on Friday evening and on Saturday evening.....I’ll let you know what I find...
Andy
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