One last time on the ice

March 10th was my last day on the ice for the year.  David Bowles and I made the trip to Hickory Grove Lake, because I knew that was our best chance to find good ice.  The lake had plenty of ice, but the problem was the melting ice, and recent rains had about 20 feet of water surrounding the good ice.  The only place we could get onto the ice was by using a fishing dock that was left in the water through the winter months. 

A few keeper bluegills for a meal

We carefully checked the ice, and to no surprise the further we got away from shore, the better the ice was.  We tried three different brushpiles and found some bluegills on all of them, but the bite was pretty slow.    The water was very dirty, again due to the recent rains...not to mention if was raining on us almost the entire time.  The Vexilars preformed flawlessly on this rainy day, which has come to be normal with this product.  There is simply no better piece of electronics out there. It wasn't a great way to end the year, but always fun to get out with a friend, battle nature, and catch some fish.

The last few holes of the 2012-2013 ice fishing year

The next fish I catch will probably be from shore as I check a few ponds as they will thaw out first.  I love ice fishing...but am ready to get out the long poles and catch them on the "soft-water" once again.  So good-bye ice fishing...and bring on the warmer weather.