Sub Zero Ice Fishing in the Suburban Midwest

Sub Zero Ice Fishing in the Suburban Midwest

WOW cold enough for you? Here in the Chicago area we are no strangers to cold weather or winter or really good beef sandwiches.  Jason Darkstar and I both took the day off for fishing. What an awesome plan for a Monday in January right? There was only one problem, it decided to be well below zero with booger freezing wind chills. With schools cancelled and life at a stand still it was decided we would venture out in the afternoon.

I had a ton of layers on as I got out of the van, I was not pleased with the constant 20 mph winds burning my eyes because that was the only thing I had uncovered.  Another DA member Crankin King showed up to fish with us and helped me fight my shelter as I screwed in my new Eskimo ice anchors, which I must say after using some of the earliest designs of anchors, work awesome.

Once DS and I were barricaded in our shelters the fish started coming in at a steady pace. Nice fat gills and bass, some on jigs and Maggies and others on dead sticks with minnows.

Funny things happen in this kind of cold. We Midwest guys are used to cold temps, but in the Chicago area double digit below zero temps and high winds are not the norm. The first thing I noticed was the iron bear claw ice cleats I have had for years have a tendency to loosen and fall off. After drilling my holes I look down at my boots and cleats and they are completely encased in ice! I didn’t have to worry about them falling off!  I had a lantern and a heater running. When I stood up there was no frost from my breath however as I bent down for anything I smoked like a steam engine. My ice holes steamed like mini hot tubs (that’s new I thought). Ice formed on my lines as if I was not even in a shelter. I switched rods and five minutes later went back to the rod I had before, the spikes were frozen solid. As the sun set my propane tank and lantern were starting to ice up on any exposed metal. IT WAS TIME TO GO!!! Pulling my sled back to my van the cold air burned my lungs and I had to stop twice to get my breath and heart rate down when in most cases I would not need to stop to rest and would have gotten to my vehicle in half the time.

Did I catch fish, hell yeah! Should I have been out there, hell no! Will I do it again some day when the feel of the cold has faded in my mind, probably?

Birthday Ice Fishing 2013

Birthday Ice Fishing 2013

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.

LITTLE ATOM LURES

Kids and Ice Fishing What a Great Combo

Chunsum Choi gave me a call and wanted to take his kids Ice fishing for the first time. He had not ice fished since college and wanted the PB’s Angling Adventure crash course to get back up to speed in a short time. Chunsum has two awesome boys, Brendan and Matthew. Since my shelter will only pack three people like sardines I needed some assistance, so I bribed JasonJelinek to lend a helping hand.

I pre-fished the lake a couple nights before hand to check the ice safety and locate fish. Steelie Pete met me and we caught about a dozen night fish between us. 

Jason and I reach the pond at about 8 we wanted to locate fish and have the shelters and equipment ready before Chunsum and the boys arrived at nine. We stepped out and walked a few yards when we had one of the HUGE cracks that shoot by shaking your legs as it travels down the lake. I really hate those. After a few holes Jason and I found fish and Jason even caught a quick couple.

The Choi family shows up, we get the boys settled and it is off to the races!! We each had our cameras set up and fish were every where! Having a underwater camera is great especially for kids. They LOVE seeing those fish down there. The fish started coming in and never stopped the Chois were catching fish sometimes on every drop. Fun and laughter soon followed. The boys took turns fishing with Jason and I. Chunsum got to see two very different setups and how both were effective. We taught the boys what to look for and do. Each person caught at least 20 fish. 75% were gills but everyone had a crappie or two or three.

I could not of asked for a better day or better clients. I could not have been as successful without Jason (aka DarksStar) there to help. Kids and ice fishing go together Like cookies and milk, just a great combo!

If you or your family would like to catch fish in the Dupage county area or surrounding counties please contact me and we will create an angling adventure for you to remember.

www.dupagefishingguide.com 

This weeks Podcast!! Ice Fishing Part 2

This Week's Podcast Basic Ice Fishing

Basic Ice Fishing with DuPageAngler.com

What if our ice season shrinks?

What if our Ice Season Shrinks?

Its December 16^th and there is no sign of ice and gone maybe the years of early ice on Thanksgiving weekend. That used to be the sign it was going to be a great winter. What now? A Dupage Angler member dedfisher put it best, “we may no longer be part of the ice belt with northern Wisconsin reporting only 2-4 inches of ice” What if? What if our ice season shrinks? I say keep fishing. Keep trying new areas and techniques until you can have regular success all year long, ice or no ice!  So we are face with a dilemma, evolve or watch fishing on TV. Those in the Midwest who search, experiment, lake hop, switch species and put their time in will be among the first to enter uncertain winters with the angling knowledge to be the leaders of a possible ice-less age. If winters come back strong, your time is still well spent and the new knowledge you have obtained will make you a better fisherman.

Today Ted Yates(Soonerbass)  & I were out at O’Dark thirty and dressed for war! We had our Beardheads, multiple layers, hand warmer, gloves, hell I even had extra rain gear and shoes in case it really got nasty. We fished four ponds today for crappie. Now our target is crappie but the rigs we use almost always catch bass and gills as well. We went pond to pond fishing hard in a very tough bite. We had hook ups with minnows, crawlers, red-worms, ice-jigs/wax worms, tube jigs, mini mites, and crappie thunders. As you can read by this list we kept switching presentations until we got a bite. When the bite stopped we switched again. When the shallow biters stopped we went deep. When the lake stopped we move and moved again. I believe what we did today shows a micro version of what it will take to be successful in an ice-less winter.  Adapt, adapt, adapt, have a plan A, B, and C, be patient and persistent, and above all have fun.

November 21 Quick Trip Night Crappie

DuPage Founder Martin Rogers aka Wacky Bass and I went for a quick angling adventure for crappies at a local pond. The issue right now is by the time we get of work grab our stuff and meet it is already dark. (sucks right) Crappie do hit at night. There is one pond I know that it does not even turn on until the sun drops. Catching Crappies at night just takes some different equipment. Night bobbers and flash lights are the two must haves. Then the addition of glow products such as jigs and plastics also helps. We managed to catch a few in the short time we had while catching up talking about DupageAngler.com 

The floats we used are for making far casts. Although the wind was minimal and this was a little over kill. This floats are Lindy's Weighted Foam Cigar Floats

There are many night bobbers on the market. One cheap way to accomplish this task is to use Rod and Bobbs night sticks with assorted rubber fittings. This will allow you to use floats you already own!

The Glow Ice jig I used tonight was the Dave Genz Glow Red Ice jig

If you want to make your glow lures really work I suggest using a hand held flash unit like this one!

With just some simple specialize night products. You can find bites at the end of the night fishing tunnel.