If the ice holds up on the little trout pond in Clinton state park I'll probably be punching holes there this weekend. The ice was safe on Monday, I almost went home to drop the boat off and come back with my ice gear.

Had plans to fish Wolf with Keith on Sunday, but now it looks like the winds have changed their mind on which day it wants to be more annoying. Might have to go Saturday instead.

7 minutes ago, Ondrejka said:

Had plans to fish Wolf with Keith on Sunday, but now it looks like the winds have changed their mind on which day it wants to be more annoying. Might have to go Saturday instead.

Lol, Gotta have that 16mph South wind to push that warm air up. 49 for the high on Sunday... figures the wind would be stupid. 

1 minute ago, gardnerjigman said:

Lol, Gotta have that 16mph South wind to push that warm air up. 49 for the high on Sunday... figures the wind would be stupid. 

When Keith and I made plans it was calling for 9 on Saturday and 10-20 on Sunday. Now it's basically reversed. I JUST WANT TO CATCH A BASS MKAY.

Worst case scenario all the wind breaks up and blows the ice on Clinton around and I can continue doing my winter crappie thing. But I've got all this new gear that's yelling at me to use it.

I hear ya. I haven't been since before Christmas. I cleaned and organized everything and have put up storage hooks, shelves and racks in the garage so everything is nice and tidy. Losing my mind! MLF and FLW isn't cutting it anymore... I NEED MORE!! 

1 minute ago, gardnerjigman said:

I hear ya. I haven't been since before Christmas. I cleaned and organized everything and have put up storage hooks, shelves and racks in the garage so everything is nice and tidy. Losing my mind! MLF and FLW isn't cutting it anymore... I NEED MORE!! 

It's a ways off still but February 13th is looking promising. I have my yearly training the following week so I have that whole weekend off. 

Just now, gardnerjigman said:

I hear ya. I haven't been since before Christmas. I cleaned and organized everything and have put up storage hooks, shelves and racks in the garage so everything is nice and tidy. Losing my mind! MLF and FLW isn't cutting it anymore... I NEED MORE!! 

I'm thankful I still get the boat wet fairly regularly, but I would really like a green fish trip. I'll make it to WC either way this weekend.

8 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's a ways off still but February 13th is looking promising. I have my yearly training the following week so I have that whole weekend off. 

Oh man... valentine's Saturday. I could probably pulpit off as long as I was home around 3ish. Have reservations at 6:30. I'll check with the warden. 

Might be able to do a weekday trip if you can do that. 

On a sidenote:

Is anyone interested in an inflatable life vest? I ended up with 2 of them this winter and can't imagine needing both of them. 1 is a Scheels Manual Camo vest and the other is a Onyx Automatic/Manual Camo vest. Not sure which one I want to get rid of yet, but let me know if you are interested. 

25 minutes ago, gardnerjigman said:

Oh man... valentine's Saturday. I could probably pulpit off as long as I was home around 3ish. Have reservations at 6:30. I'll check with the warden. 

Might be able to do a weekday trip if you can do that. 

Weekdays are always easier for me. Now that Friday is my fishing day you can get a 3 day weekend out of the deal too. 

Just now, Bluebasser86 said:

Weekdays are always easier for me. Now that Friday is my fishing day you can get a 3 day weekend out of the deal too. 

My thoughts exactly. I predict a case of strep throat coming in feb 

21 minutes ago, gardnerjigman said:

On a sidenote:

Is anyone interested in an inflatable life vest? I ended up with 2 of them this winter and can't imagine needing both of them. 1 is a Scheels Manual Camo vest and the other is a Onyx Automatic/Manual Camo vest. Not sure which one I want to get rid of yet, but let me know if you are interested. 

YES PLEASE. Text me.

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Going to be awfully cold Friday it looks like, with a brisk little wind to boot. I've gone in worse weather, but I'm not promising anything other than numb fingers and regret. 

Yeah it's gonna be less than ideal... . Running out of time to catch a green fish in January. Might be all in on that last weekend before February.

With all this fishing talk and frozen water, one gets their stuff sorted and I have a situation. I bought too many bags of plastics this winter. I'm just needing some fish. Anyone know of shore-accessible bass right now?

3 hours ago, Drew03cmc said:

With all this fishing talk and frozen water, one gets their stuff sorted and I have a situation. I bought too many bags of plastics this winter. I'm just needing some fish. Anyone know of shore-accessible bass right now?

Everything is locked up, literally. I suppose you could fish from shore somewhere at LaCygne or Wolf. Not sure that it would be worth the drive.

That was my thought too. Oh well, I can wait a little while. 

Stuff should start breaking free Sunday and next week. 

Would anyone be interested in my new Powell Inferno 7'0 ML spinning rod? I bought it and just can't get over the added length. I'd be willing to sell for $60 face to face or trade for a used low profile bait caster. Let me know. I'm offering it locally since I don't want to ship it. It has never seen water but has had a reel mounted to it. 

6 hours ago, Drew03cmc said:

Would anyone be interested in my new Powell Inferno 7'0 ML spinning rod? I bought it and just can't get over the added length. I'd be willing to sell for $60 face to face or trade for a used low profile bait caster. Let me know. I'm offering it locally since I don't want to ship it. It has never seen water but has had a reel mounted to it. 

PM Sent

Mine!

Thursday and Friday are both looking good. Since I didn't go last week, there's a chance I might go both days. If anyone is feeling sick, you know where to find me. 

I was hoping that you guys could help me out a little bit. There is a pond that I fish that had open water on it last friday. With this little warm stretch we are getting ready to have I am guessing there will be plenty of open water to actually fish this up coming weekend. I have only fished it a couple of times this last fall and I just used top water and caught a couple small ones. Then caught my first ever jerkbait bass in december. Since I have only fished it a couple of times I have not had a lot of time to really get a good lay out of it yet. I was just wondering if there is open water. What should I start throwing? I know I need to fish as slow as I can but just dont know where to start. I have never fished for winter bass before. Would dead sticking a jerkbait work or should I go with something a little more subtle like a jig or t-rig plastic. Any help is appreciated. 

1 hour ago, aj88kc said:

I was hoping that you guys could help me out a little bit. There is a pond that I fish that had open water on it last friday. With this little warm stretch we are getting ready to have I am guessing there will be plenty of open water to actually fish this up coming weekend. I have only fished it a couple of times this last fall and I just used top water and caught a couple small ones. Then caught my first ever jerkbait bass in december. Since I have only fished it a couple of times I have not had a lot of time to really get a good lay out of it yet. I was just wondering if there is open water. What should I start throwing? I know I need to fish as slow as I can but just dont know where to start. I have never fished for winter bass before. Would dead sticking a jerkbait work or should I go with something a little more subtle like a jig or t-rig plastic. Any help is appreciated. 

Fishing ponds right after ice out, a suspending jerkbait is about the only thing I fish. Most of them will have too much snot moss and leaves on the bottom to fish any bottom contact baits, so it's your only real option a lot of the time. Just fish it as slow as you can stand with very soft twitches. Nothing that lives in the water is moving fast when it's that cold. 

23 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Thursday and Friday are both looking good. Since I didn't go last week, there's a chance I might go both days. If anyone is feeling sick, you know where to find me. 

whoa. can't wait for a review on those.

Did someone bust thru or just fall at the beginning? 

4 hours ago, Ondrejka said:

Sunday I decided to fish some hard water, which was a blast. Probably caught between 25-30 through the ice. Here's a fun little video from yesterday.

You are crazy for going out on ice that thin.  I'd love to go but there is no way I'm going with a sketchy 2 inches.  Are there ever any bigger trout in that place?