@ol'crickety this video is more suited to the ice fishing crowd here.

 

 

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life.  There is a whole nother world of fishing and outdoors that I have never experienced being down here in Texas.  So jealous of you guys. 

3 minutes ago, MAN said:

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life. 

Poor, deprived southern boy...

 

64 years here and I've never spent a winter out of the snow/ice belt...an occasional Yule in Florida, but that's 1 week out of the winter.

On 11/26/2023 at 8:56 AM, Smokinal said:

Yup...pretty much done here too. I went last Sunday; caught 44 between my neighbor and I (bass and black crappie). Water was 45 degrees, which I was surprised it was that warm. But we had a cold week. Gonna be skimmed over here any day now.  

Yesterday, I got out for few hours in the Augusta area. I had to go with plan B because plan A (small 75 acre pond) was iced in. Ended up with 5 smallies & 2 largemouth. 6 on the blade bait & 1 on a tube

16 minutes ago, MAN said:

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life. 

Lol you aren't missing much to be honest.  The novelty of having snow for 4 months out of the year wears off after you go from a kid to an adult.  Its awesome when your a kid.  You get snow days, sledding, ice skating, snowball fights, etc.  There's all kinds of fun.

 

When your an adult, all you do is move it around so you can access roads and your driveway.

 

I've never lived outside the snow belt either.  So I've never experienced 4 months of searing, humid, intolerable heat like the southern portion of the country often has.  And honestly, I don't care to either.

 

I often wondered why people left the north in December to head south for 4 months, and then came back north in March or April.  Well, that's pretty obvious now.

 

Yeah, the novelty of snow and ice wears off fast, lol. 

 

Summers, though, in the upper midwest are glorious and highly recommended.

 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ok Katie , if you moved to Maine because it was warmer than somewhere else…… you might have half done it 

 

Truly, our winters are okay. We'll have 60-degree days in November and December highs usually reach the forties. January and February are cold, but still a far ways from North Dakota cold. And our summers are perfect: low humidity and rarely too hot. 

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

And our summers are perfect: low humidity and rarely too hot. 

Plus ample rain!

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Plus ample rain!

 

You bet. We had several 4" rainfalls in 2023. After one, there was so much water roaring out of a pond that the bass stacked to feed there, up to four pounds. Here's hoping for big rain in 2024! 

 

Speaking of rain, I bought REI Gore-Tex rain pants and a matching jacket at Ebay for $30. They both look never to rarely worn. I'm thrilled because I love to fish in the rain and my old Gore-Tex gear is 40 years old and looks it. 

2 hours ago, MAN said:

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life.  There is a whole nother world of fishing and outdoors that I have never experienced being down here in Texas.  So jealous of you guys. 

 Come up to the in-laws with me next month and you’ll get your fill of frozen water haha. Not only do the lakes freeze but the entire maumee river does too

3 hours ago, MAN said:

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life.  There is a whole nother world of fishing and outdoors that I have never experienced being down here in Texas.  So jealous of you guys. 

Don’t be. You’re only missing out when snow first falls & is pristine - that can be a "pretty" sight under the right circumstances and/or location. Once you’ve seen it, meh. Turns into a mess, idiots passing through have no clue how to drive in it & ice fishing used to be using a manual auger, pulling your equipment on the ice on foot & sitting on upside down buckets waiting for a bite.

 

Once you’ve worn yourself out getting dressed, pulling on boots & all the work getting to the fish & drilling 30 holes, slipping on the ice, both feet going above your head & landing flat in your back, knocking the wind out of yourself & in the process of that display of dexterity, squeezing each bluegill you’re holding to the point they’ve soiled both of your half frozen hands & you’ve left 4 clear holes in the fillets makes it all completely not worth it.

 

Ask me how I know….🤣🤣🤣

Went from So CA to Great Falls, MT for the service.  I remember defrosting aircraft engines @ 38 below.  No thank you.  Now I go to FL when the weather in GA gets into the 40s.

35 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

Don’t be. You’re only missing out when snow first falls & is pristine - that can be a "pretty" sight under the right circumstances and/or location. Once you’ve seen it, meh. Turns into a mess, idiots passing through have no clue how to drive in it & ice fishing used to be using a manual auger, pulling your equipment on the ice on foot & sitting on upside down buckets waiting for a bite.

 

Once you’ve worn yourself out getting dressed, pulling on boots & all the work getting to the fish & drilling 30 holes, slipping on the ice, both feet going above your head & landing flat in your back, knocking the wind out of yourself & in the process of that display of dexterity, squeezing each bluegill you’re holding to the point they’ve soiled both of your half frozen hands & you’ve left 4 clear holes in the fillets makes it all completely not worth it.

 

Ask me how it know….🤣🤣🤣

I actually ice fished out of the back door of my Dodge station wagon on the upper end of Monroe in '78. The ice was a foot thick. Game warden still didn't like it and chased a bunch of us off saying we weren't on a "designated road" in the Hoosier National Forest. Another time I wore myself out spudding a hole at the end of a long dock on Geist reservoir. Break through chop got me a hole full of muddy water. It was only a foot and a half deep. No more ice fishing in my old age now.

I'd go ice fishing, but it would have to be as a special guest or contest winner on an In-Fisherman tv show. 

27 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I actually ice fished out of the back door of my Dodge station wagon on the upper end of Monroe in '78. The ice was a foot thick. Game warden still didn't like it and chased a bunch of us off saying we weren't on a "designated road" in the Hoosier National Forest. Another time I wore myself out spudding a hole at the end of a long dock on Geist reservoir. Break through chop got me a hole full of muddy water. It was only a foot and a half deep. No more ice fishing in my old age now.

If you ever lived in Bloomington you may know some folks my dad knows. ‘78 was the blizzard year, was it not? I know it was 77 or 78 - I was in grade school when it hit. Lived north of town off old SR-37 in a don’t blink or you’ll miss it burg called Dolan, not too far from Unionville & Lake Lemon.

23 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

If you ever lived in Bloomington you may know some folks my dad knows. ‘78 was the blizzard year, was it not? I know it was 77 or 78 - I was in grade school when it hit. Lived north of town off old SR-37 in a don’t blink or you’ll miss it burg called Dolan, not too far from Unionville & Lake Lemon.

I was a west side Indy resident. Grew up at 30th and Georgetown. You could see turn 4 from our kitchen window.

@The Bassman I will PM you sometime if you don’t mind. Maybe we can hook up (see what I did there) if logistics are do-able?

8 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

@The Bassman I will PM you sometime if you don’t mind. Maybe we can hook up (see what I did there) if logistics are do-able?

Would love to check out some strip pits. Haven't been southwest for many years. My fishing is all on foot and exclusively neighborhood lakes. Used to wade for smallmouth but a bad ankle has put an end to that.

Ugh I can't wait for some fishable ice.  I can't believe next weekend is December and I'm thinking about getting the kayak on the river to chase some muskies..

5 hours ago, Riley-Maine said:

Yesterday, I got out for few hours in the Augusta area. I had to go with plan B because plan A (small 75 acre pond) was iced in. Ended up with 5 smallies & 2 largemouth. 6 on the blade bait & 1 on a tube

Nice!  I was looking at the week and it looks like rain Friday evening...I'm out Saturday!!

Can't wait. Will also go in the Augusta area. I plan on fishing blades and small swimbaits.

We should get together and fish sometime! Lets take @ol'crickety with us!!

1 hour ago, Standard said:

I can't believe next weekend is December and I'm thinking about getting the kayak on the river to chase some muskies..

Uhhh, you know muskie season closes on Dec 1, right?  Friday is your last day to legally target them here.

There isnt much I miss about snow and winter in middle NY but I have never experienced the peace and the dead quiet like there is when you hike into the woods with snow on the ground while its snowing.

 

If I didnt freeze to death I could set up a chair in the middle of the woods and sit for hours in conditions like that. 

22 hours ago, MAN said:

I am 42 years old and have never seen a frozen lake or physical real snow in my life.  There is a whole nother world of fishing and outdoors that I have never experienced being down here in Texas.  So jealous of you guys. 

How?? I lived in Mexico for a few years (2.5hrs from the TX border)  and even there I had snow some winters. 

^ What altitude were you at...that has an effect. Heck, even Kilimanjaro has snow on it's peak and it's barely below the equator.

All the ponds were frozen this morning. The lake by the house was still open but I'm guessing another night in the teens tonight covers it up.