Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Breaking Ice for Trout!
12/30/09 I was clientless this morning so I eased out just after daybreak by myself to try a spot I haven't hit in a while. The air temp was 27 degrees and the water temp in my spot was in the... well... the transducer wasn't reading well due to the skim ice across the bay (check out the photo). I eased up to the spot, put the power pole down and couldn't think about fishing an artificial bait unless the fish were willing to break the ice and hit the bait as it was dragged across the ice. So, I tossed a heavy float cork over the spot several times... broke the skim ice up a little... put a mud minnow on the hook... and tossed in the slushy hole... within 30 minutes I pulled these three trout (2.8lb, 3lb, 3.1lb) tossed several small trout back along with a few puppydrum, and had a solid 6lber to the side of the boat which broke the leader while attempting to grab the fish by the neck... (left the net in the back of the truck). It was upsetting but we catch quite a few 5 to 6lbers each year... if it had been an 8+lber I would've been crushed.
-Capt. Jeff Cronk
FISH'N4LIFE CHARTERS
252-764-2174
336-558-5697
JCRONK@EC.RR.COM
