SAFETY ON THE ICE----IT NEEDS TO COME FIRST!

ALWAYS, ALWAYS know the ice conditions. ALWAYS CHECK the ice conditions OFTEN. Drill test holes OFTEN and KNOW the ice conditions.
NEVER, NEVER drive over a pressure crack.
Need that be repeated or said any other way?
This picture was taken today, 2/8/2010 from the tip of Mills Point, Malletts Bay:

Be Safe!!!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

SAFETY ON THE ICE----IT NEEDS TO COME FIRST!

Super Bowl Weekend Perch on Lake Champlain

I thought I'd be far to busy to hit the ice this weekend but somehow I managed two short trips.
Friday evening I hit the ice for a quick 2 hour perch pulling session.  Came home with 21 keeper perch and threw back just as many small ones. (I hope to meet up with them in a few more years!)

Friday's Catch

This morning (Super Bowl Sunday) I figured I'd sneak out while everyone else was still asleep and see what I could do.   Cold and windy on the ice is what I faced.  No shack, no protection, no worries.  I only had about a two hour window.

Again, 21 nice keeper perch.  Just enough for Cathy and I to have for dinner some night.  This morning the perch were nicer.  I only threw back 4 small ones.  Maybe the larger ones had come in out of deeper water for the night?

Sunday's Catch

Yours Truly, a little cold, headed in.

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Super Bowl Weekend Perch on Lake Champlain

BOWFISHING

I've recently decided to take up the sport of bow-fishing...
Fishing, with a bow and arrow. 
It sounds like a real challenge, one that I believe I'm up to.
However,,,
I'm in somewhat of a slump.
My trainer, Joy Tolookat, (pictured below) says I have a difficult time concentrating on my target.

Fish on, fish H8 me

BOWFISHING

EXTREME LAKE CHAMPLAIN ICE FISHING

or should I say...
from one extreme to the other!

Saturday was good, not great.  We cleaned 53 keeper perch from the west side of St. Albans Bay.
Nothing over ten inches but a couple of good meals.

Sunday was almost a bust, almost a skunk,,,
at least as far as good perch thru the ice goes.

Sunday was in Mallets Bay, wanting to pull yellow perch through the Lake Champlain ice.
First fish on....
This laker, must of been an eight pounder, maybe more.  A great 15 minute battle on 4 pound test Berkley FireLine  Fused Micro Ice Crystal (the best stuff on an ice jigging rod!)

Caught within 2 minutes of fishing, and released for someone else to enjoy.

A couple more small perch, too small to keep including this trophy!

From one extreme to the other.

Just another fun, enjoyable weekend on the ice of Lake Champlain!

Sorry it had to end!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

EXTREME LAKE CHAMPLAIN ICE FISHING

VERMONT FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT LOOKING FOR PIKE AGE INFORMATION

By Shawn Good, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist.

"I'd like to remind all you pike hunters out there that I'm still looking for help in collecting information I need to understand the age structure and growth rates of Vermont's northern pike populations. I hope people who harvest pike will take the time (very easy to do, and only about a minute per fish) to remove the cleithral bone, record the information (length, date and water), bag it in a sandwich baggie, and stick it in the freezer. This data is very important to us, and will allow us to understand the needs for northern pike management in Vermont.

I would like to ask pike anglers to visit this web page I have set up http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/pike.cfm that provides photo and video instructions on how anglers can collect, record, and submit this data from northern pike they harvest. It is a very simple process that would only take a minute or two at the most per fish you catch and keep.

I greatly appreciate your interest and help, if you are able to. If anyone has any questions on this, feel free to get in touch with me at shawn.good@state.vt.us.  Thanks again."



Fish on, fish H8 me.

VERMONT FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT LOOKING FOR PIKE AGE INFORMATION

FIVE POUND SALMON ICED

Reported by Mike of Dockside Outdoors.

A fisherman (name unknown) recently showed up at Dockside with a beautiful 5.2 pound Landlocked Atlantic Salmon he caught while ice fishing at the cowbanks.
Evidently, he'd been fishing for perch near the bottom when he decided to switch gears and try his hand at Salmon.  He switched baits to a larger Swedish Pimple and fished suspended, 15 feet or so off the bottom when this beautiful Silver fell for his offerings.


Fish on, fish H8 me.

FIVE POUND SALMON ICED

Buzz Hoerr: We are the biggest threat to Lake Champlain

Click to read a great article:
Buzz Hoerr: We are the biggest threat to Lake Champlain

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Buzz Hoerr: We are the biggest threat to Lake Champlain

TREBLE HOOKS SUCK

Just the other day while hanging out at Dockside, my favorite hang-out, bait and tackle supplier, I showed Mike a picture of a "Swedish Pimple" I'd been using while perch fishing through the ice.

"Why did you remove the treble and replace it with the single hook?" he asked

"I hate them" I replied, "they make it too difficult to remove the hook from the fish, and tear up the fish that we want to release..."

Then there's this:

Not Good!

Treble Hooks suck!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

TREBLE HOOKS SUCK

LAKE CHAMPLAIN YELLOW PERCH

Saturday at the Cow-banks was a slower day fishing than we would have liked.  The fish weren't very active and the quality definitely wasn't there either.

Sunday we moved north, to an area we've only fished in March, when the ice is readily deteriorating and the yellow perch are headed towards spawning grounds, waiting for the water to warm.

Still...
it wasn't real hot action, but we found some nicer fish.
We punched holes, waited, and nothing happened.  We moved out deeper, punched holes again and waited.  Then a fish hit...Okay, we'll set up "camp" here.

Schools of fish would come and go.  We'd get steady hits, put a few of them into the bucket, and then wait for the next school of perch to come by.  Sometimes the wait would be a few minutes, sometimes as long as 15 or so.

But...that's okay.  The fishing included catching.  And,,, it included quality time with my wife.  Quiet, except for the radio playing quietly in the background.  Quiet, without anyone else around.  There wasn't another fisherman within a mile of us. 
Nice and quiet.

Cathy did it again...set a new personal best Lake Champlain Yellow Perch record. 

In fact...since we've been together, and keeping  "record" of our catch, she's been on the leader-board, hands down when it comes to pulling big perch thru the ice.

This nice fatty went a solid 12-1/2 inches with a nice plump belly.  I can only imagine what this fish would look like in another couple of months, just prior to spawning.

We stopped fishing with our "limit" of what we're comfortable with to clean.  If we have too many to clean, it becomes a chore and can have a negative effect on the entire experience.  We packed our fish in vacuum bags to be enjoyed another day.  Yummy Lake Champlain Yellow Perch.

Fish on, fish H8 me.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN YELLOW PERCH

LAKE CHAMPLAIN BURBOT/CUSK WANTED!!!

To anyone out there ice fishing... ECHO is looking for a Burbot to exhibit along with Lake trout and Atlantic Landlocked salmon. If you land a burbot, no bigger than 18" or so, or, if you'd like more information, please give them a call at 802-864-1848 x128.
Thanks and good, safe fishing!
 

Fish on, fish H8 me.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN BURBOT/CUSK WANTED!!!