It was the day after Christmas and there was no ice to be found in the
Chicago area. It was a balmy 50 degrees! Not fishing on such a warm day would
just be wrong.
I managed to catch about 14 fish from 3 out of 4 ponds. A
couple fish were caught on Lake Fork Shads the rest on Little Atom plastics. In
fact Little Atom saved the day. Using these micro plastics on ice jigs got the
finicky fish to bite and were perfect for the small fish. The baits I used
today were the micro Nuggie and the Wedgee. I used weighted Thill floats to get
the long casts I needed to reach the deeper water I would normally be ice
fishing. The fish were small But I was not complaining to be catching when other were still in bed.
It was great to catch some fish with no ice, especially with the crappie being
shut off in a lot of the area. Next time you head out in cold weather or slow
conditions bring Little Atom along to save the day!
Jason and I arrived at a private lake in the darkness just
before dawn.
Jason’s ION electric auger was the perfect choice for a lake
surrounded by house at 5:30 am. We drilled in 5ft, 6ft, and 8. we expected the
fish in the 8 foot hole the only one on the lake. But the fish were in 6 around
the outside of the hole.
DupageAngler.com member Dark Star (Jason) caught a gill in
the 6ft, so we set up shop.
The fish came in waves and we caught fish at a steady pace.
The day started at 3 degrees and ended in 20. Fishing was nice and comfortable
once the sun came out.
We caught the trifecta of this lake, Bluegills all big as
or hand, crappie all 10 inches or better and a couple bass! Changing
presentations was the key for me. Fish were caught on Swedish Pimples, Slender
Spoons, jigs of all sorts, Little Atom Plastics, Aurora Lure Maggies, wax worms
and spikes.
It was a great day until a nice but concerned homeowner came
out to check our permission. We talked everything was fine and discussed fishing
for a while. Another homeowner thought we were out there arguing and called the
cops. Thank god we were talking to the family I know when two cops showed up
thinking were fighting with an home owner were trespassing!! Then we talked
fishing with them as the admired Jason’s equipment
All in all it was a great especially after some great fishing and meeting the local law enforcement!
Bass fishing had been pretty slow in our area. Ted (Soonerbass),
Chunsum (JC Crappies), and I decided that kayaking for crappie might be a better
idea. A cold front passed just an hour before we started and I actually did not
think we were going to do much of anything.
We put in and it was still dark with mist on the water, God
I love that. Ted and a few others have been throwing crappie thunders for
sometime. I have never liked the way they look or their action. These guys
crush fish on them so I have joined the Thunder wagon.
Wal-Mart sells them pretty cheap in about three color
combos. JC made a smart move and bought similar bodies from Strike king.This
way he does not have to keep buying whole baits and can reuse the heads after
the bodies get shredded.
The bite was slow but not terrible. Considering I was
expecting the skunk, I was pretty happy to hook up. All three of us were
hooking bass. I would like to say that bass was our target and in our genius we
decided to use smaller crappie baits, but the truth is we only caught a few
crappies.
I had brought minnows because of the cold front and my low
expectations for the day but they only caught a couple fish. However, one of
them was a beautiful 19 bass!
The crappie thunder out produced live bait even in tough
conditions I was a bit taken back by that. I really thought I would be double
minnowing it and only catching crappie.
I am now a thunder addict and it will be a go to on
most of my crappie trips in the future.
One of our taglines for DuPageAngler.com is Be Part of
Something Special. This is not just a tagline. The members have real
interactions in real life. This weekend was one of those moments.
A fury of emails and calls bounced back and forth and before it was done, over 7 DA members converged on Lake Harrier for some late season ice fishing. There was a line of cars waiting for the ranger to open the gates. The cool part is that the whole line was made up of Dupage Anglers!!! RocknFish, JcCrappies, Brim, Sooner, Aczr711 JTC24 , dbenner, and JTC24's father.
Most of us headed to an area where James(JTC24) and Dylan(dbenner) had got some big walleyes. We all caught fish but the boys were on fire early, besides two huge eyes they rallied up a pile of crappies, bluegills, and perch. The others guys came back with a volley of walleyes, bass, and perch. Rocknfish and I started late out of the gate but we scored huge with a great gill spot and caught 35 between us in short order.
Many of us myself included are quick to point out what our
forest preserve districts do wrong. Harrier is a great example of something
done right. First and foremost the lake is catch and release only for ALL
species!!! This one rule has made it possible for any angler to have very good
chance of catching something on a trip to this lake. The district takes the
catch and release seriously. Every trip I have made here I have been checked
for my license. This catch and release policy combined with a vigilance of
protection from the district will give the county its first true gem. I have
never enjoyed the forest preserves do to the lack of numbers, bucket heads, and
law breaking. But harrier I will return to. This catch and release fishing
could be the road to fantastic fishing for all in Illinois and other pressured areas around
the country.
The variety of species found here made it possible for us to
catch fish all over the lake. bass, gills, crappies, perch, catfish, and
walleye were all caught on this day. Minnows, jigs, spikes, waxies, spoons,
Little Atom micro plastics and tip-ups all tricked fish into battles under the
ice.
Having a large group ice fishing is a blast. Lots of
drilling and electronics everywhere is pretty cool. Everyone is talking and
helping each other out. Some smack talk here and there, yahoos of success, and
the occasional curse of a fish lost. DA members got to put faces with the guys
they talk with online and make some real friends and fishing partners for the
future. This was so much fun and the right way to end the winter.
Every year there are two days that I can count on fishing
for sure; father’s day and my Birthday. For my birthday I always take a day
off. This year thanks to the great friends I have found at DuPage Angler.com I
had partners in crime take off the day as well. Jason (aka Darkstar) and Ted
Yates (soonerbass) both agreed they would join me along with my brother-in-law
Al.
Well the winter weather again this year has been a
disappointment to say the least. Warm weather and unsafe conditions have taken
their toll on the ice angling community. I set my alarm and I was quickly off to
sleep anxious to start fishing in the morning. This morning mind you, I have
planned for weeks and talked my buddies into as well. At 3:30am I wake up to
pouring rain!! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! I pick up my sell and let the guys
know that it’s off, we are done, and we are sleeping in.
I could not sleep, so I look outside and no rain. Well I
figure I should go see the damage on to the ice at my local pond. To my surprise
the pond is not totally destroyed and safe. The shore was wet but that’s it!!
So I quickly make some calls and both Sooner and DS are back in.
Our first two ponds are a disappointment. The first we could
not find fish, the second thin ice, but the third was the gold! Ds made it to
the ice first and crossed the thinner shore ice that was covered with 4 inches
of water and started making Swiss cheese of the lake with his ION auger. I go
to pull my shelter on to the ice and got a shock! I was walking backward and
did not notice this hole in the ice!! Maybe a beaver hole I am not sure but in
a city second my left leg is completely submerged and my ass is on the ice!!
HOLY COLD ICEMAN!! Thinking on my feet, well once I got to my feet I hid in my
minivan and put on the extra pair of snow pants I brought. Then yelled “which
of you is wearing more than one pair of socks?” Thanks Ted for the donation to
the pondboy fell on his ass foundation.
We decided to fish the suspended fish we found in 6.5 foot
of water. The crappie bite was great thanks to Little Atom Wedgees and Nuggies.
The plastics out fished any other presentation. In fact I did not even open my
spikes and waxies! It was a blast everyone was catching fish. The bluegills
were not as easy to get on the line but we managed to trick some of them as
well. Both the full size Nuggies and the micro Nuggies worked. I really love
the red and orange colors.
After fishing a while the guys went and got pizza for my
birthday!! What an awesome meal on the water! Thanks guys.
Well when the guys brought the food on the ice they
discovered the shore ice was getting worse and worse due to the climbing temps
and the sun now beaming down on the lake. We had to either cut our day short or
risk not getting back to shore.
We very carefully got ourselves and our truck load of
equipment off the dying ice and called it a day. Although it was not the all
day fishing marathon I had planned we managed to find some ice and some fish. I
had a great time with friends as well. Not a bad birthday angling
adventure.
The Midwest has been cursed
with weak winter weather. Cold weather woohoo! 50 degrees son-of-a!! This has
made ice fishing a challenge in our local area.
Ted Yates aka Soonerbass of DupageAngler.com Taught me to Kayak last season so I decided I would return the favor and take him ice
fishing. I was extremely excited because I re-connected with a friend from
college on FB, her parents back in the day let me fish their private pond! She
was nice enough to call them and asked if I could fish there again after 12
years and the answer was yes!
We got there as the sun was coming up but walking up we
noticed two big holes of open water in the middle of the lake. I walked out on
the ice drilled a hole and it was only 3 inches. I took a couple more steps and
had cracking. We would not be able to fish this great lake this weekend. We
went to two more ponds and the shores had open water. Man! Really? I call
Steelie Pete another DA member and he says to try a lake not far from his
house.
We get there and 6 inches of solid ice! We are marking a ton of fish but they just
won”t pull the trigger. Then sooner gets his first fish!!! I apologized for the
slow bite and Sooner happily says that he just wanted to drill a hole and catch
a fish so he is all good.
The slow bite was bothering me so I decided to move. BIG
mistake the next 4 ponds or so no safe ice. We finished the day on a small pond
that had just over three inches (most winter state suggest 4 inches) and the
bite was just as slow. We managed to catch one more fish and leave not feeling
secure and not getting hits. We should of never left Pete’s.
Sunday I wanted revenge and Dark Star and I head out to a
pond which is surrounded by buildings and houses hoping that this would protect
it from the warm south winds. Man! I was wrong again! It had the most dangerous
ice I have seen yet. So we cut our losses and head back to Petes neck of the
woods.
The bite was still very slow and it is very cold, BeardHead
cold. Jason (DS ) manages to start picking up crappies suspended in 11 feet of
water using a Lindy Toad. We change spots after Pete told us to move to another
area. In 8 feet of water I am now marking plenty of fish suspended in 4 feet of
water. I started with live bait because it is very slow and my minnow gets
slammed without any time to react my 6lb snaps in a heartbeat. (insert baby
crying noises) I manage to catch some small gills on waxies but they stop. So I
switched to a Little Atom Micro Nuggie and quickly nail another four or five small
gills! Thank you Little Atom.
With the conditions being crappy and not having the
time to travel up north, I was happy to find a pond with good ice and catch
fish. I also had fun with Sooner and DS. The Little Atom Micro Nuggies saved my
bite and the Beard Head saved my face!. Please when temps are up and down be
careful out there. No fish or great lake is worth your life.
Practice proper safety steps, stay warm, talk some smack,
and maybe catch a few small winter panfish.
When my daughter was very young 5 or 6 she would join me
fishing whenever I asked. Now that she is nine her interests are more on
friends and boy bands! (Insert father yuck face). So when she said she was
excited to go ice fishing this year I could not wait to get her out there.
Since we did so very well I knew we would do ok. We left
about 7 in the morning and I wanted to be a bit of a dandy daughter day so I
stopped at McDonalds on the way and even stopped at Dunken Doughnuts for a
snack to eat later!
I took her to a pond in my old stomping grounds that I have
been ice fishing for years. It is not know for size, but numbers are pretty
good. The water is fairly clear and perfect for my Fish-TV. My daughter Rachel
loved seeing the fish on the tv! This unit is the most affordable on the
market, easy to use, and stands up against others in its class.
She caught on to using a spring bobber instead of a small
float very quickly. She caught over a dozen gills and a couple crappies. I
soaked a minnow while I helped her. I could have had more then the few crappies
I caught had I been paying attention.
We laughed, made up songs, and ate doughnuts. After 2.5
hours she was done. We stopped by grandma’s house and stopped for ice cream on
the way home. If you have not taken you
child out fishing yet you should. If they say no, don’t get your feelings hurt.
You have to just keep asking. The memories are worth it.
If you would like to learn how to ice fish, fish, or need
help teaching the kids and you are in DuPage or surrounding counties of
Illinois visit DuPage Fishing Guide Service. We will get out there and get you
on an angling adventure of your own.
