First time on the ice

December 24th was the first day on the ice for me.  I made it to two different public lakes with friend Chad.  We had a plan to start out and just check the ice to see if it was going to be a fishing day...or a day wishing we were fishing. 

My first "ice fish" of the year, a smaller bass.

The cooler nights and no wind, made perfect ice.  We stopped at a small pond in Marshalltown first, and found about 4 inches of ice...PERFECT and clear.  We popped a few holes and started catching a few fish. 

A nice crappie from the "town pond".

My first one on the ice was a bass, after that a bluegill, and then a crappie.  Chad picked up his first fish of the year too, a bass.  After I caught the bluegill, making a grand slam for the lake (those are the only 3 species in the lake) I suggested we pack up and look at another lake.

We quickly moved south of Marshalltown to another public lake. 
We started out in the deepest basin of the lake, but nothing, not a light on the Vexilars.  We continued to drill holes (finding 3-5 inches of ice each time) until we made our way to some structure.  This was the key, as our time expired we kind of found the sweet spot for the day.  A channel that bent towards some structure.    For the day we caught about 10 fish at this pond.  Next time we will continue to look around this lake and catch more gills. 

Christmas came a day early...as I have been itching to get on the ice, and WALK ON SOME WATER!