The ICE is growing!!!

I had the chance to hit a couple local ponds this past weekend and I made every minute count.  With temperatures hovering around zero, and 25 mph northern winds pushing the real-feel temps to a chilly -20, it was a day not for the weak.  On days like this you really depend on your clothing to enjoy the day.  The average winter coat and bibs are not going to handle the type of weather we had that day.  There are many companies that make great outdoor gear, one that I have chosen for years is the Vexilar Cold-Snap Gear.  The Tundra Bibs and parka coat made it bearable to be out in the elements to search out fish and set up the shack to fish them.  Of course a good pair of boats is key on a day like this too.  While most people will say you get what you pay for, and I too believe that much of the time in life, however not with winter boots.  My $40 Mickey Boots, an Army surplus item that sells on eBay and any Military surplus store have never let me down.  They are 100% waterproof, and they are very warm.  If you are searching for Ice fishing gear to keep you warm, look up Vexilar Cold-Snap Gear and the Mickey boots to get you on the ice to catch fish under the most extreme temperatures.  Without them, I would have never even gone fishing!

On to the fishing... as mentioned a couple farm ponds were on the schedule for this day, as the bigger lakes in the region just aren't made for traveling quite yet for me.  The first pond we hit has multiple brushpiles in it and it didn't take long to find the active fish.  Being there while the sun was hitting the top of the trees sure helps this time of year to find active/feeding fish.  After locating the brush pile with several holes, I studied the readings the Vexilar was giving me in several holes.  I noticed that there were many more fish around, or outside of the brushpile than right in or on top of the pile.  This is often not the case, but for this day it certainly was.  We set up about 10 feet from the heart of the pile and enjoyed catching crappies and gills for several hours.  Multiple color of jigs and plastic baits were working (as long as they had a small profile), as well as spoons for the suspending crappies.  The bite started to fade around noon and we decided to warm up a bit and drive to the next pond.  This pond is absent of any cover, it is an old, featureless pond that doesn't have a large population of fish, but the fish you catch are on the large size.  We were hoping for the "foot-long" crappie or a 10-inch gill, but just fell short on both. We did come very close on several crappies that topped out around 11.5 inches.  Needless to say it was a great day of fishing, but without the right clothing and comfort of a shack to get out of the wind, I would have been stuck at home. 

~~~One last note, on a day where the weather was truly bone-chilling, the ease and power of an electric auger was certainly a treat.  No more pulling on gas engines to get them to start, all it takes is the pull of the trigger of a drill.  Electric drill augers keep impressing me, and that day was no different in that chilling cold air and wind.  I will try to cover more information on electric drills in another segment soon.