All good things MUST come to an end

A sample of what one "hot hole"
can do at Clear Lake when
you have the right bait and
correct jigging motion in just
a few minutes.

The old adage suggests that no matter what we have going for ourselves, the good things must come to an end.  As the month of March marches on the ice season is slowly melting away for us here in Iowa.  The ice has been gone or unsafe in the Independence area for several weeks, so traveling north has been necessary to keep Mother Nature at check.  This past weekend sent me back to Clear Lake to chase down the Yellow Bass, I think I may be addicted to these feisty fish.  They are fun to track down and haul through the ice, I just can't get enough!

This weekend proved to be the latest I have ever ice fished in Iowa, March 17th.  Not only was the ice safe, we were able to utilize the snowmachines once again this weekend to cover a lot of ice on Clear Lake.  I once again was fortunate enough to meet up with other anglers, David Gissell joined me on the trip, and Jim Klever and Mike Lenius joined us on the ice too.  I also got to catch up with with some Central Iowa anglers I only see a couple times a year, Curt Dvorak and Joey highland.  It is always icing on the cake when you can see friends out while catching a few fish. It has been great fishing with these guys this year as well as many other ice enthusiasts.  Typically in March you are walking on pins and needles to get out on the ice, but not this year.  The fishing was fantastic, bouncing from one hole to another dropping the Vexilar FLX-28 down hundreds of holes throughout the day.  The day yielded 5 buckets of fish for our group of 4 anglers, countless laughs and hooksets made the day one to remember.  The fillets will be tasty very soon and serve as a reminder of yet another reason why to sample the ice fishing at Clear Lake.

This was the last go-round on the ice, as the open water bass are calling my name...oh I think that one was a smallmouth, I better wrap this up!

All packed up until the water freezes once again, it was a GREAT 2017-18 ice season!