Why Buy Bait!!!

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature was 12 degrees this morning and it warmed up to the lower 20s. The wind was out of the Southwest at 10 knots which made for a little wind chill and the ice is 22 inches thick! We started fishing on Grosse Ile at Elba Mar Marina. Stayed there for a hour and only caught 3 fish, 1 perch and 2 rock bass. Moved over to a canal by the airport and did not even get a bite. As we were driving by the Trenton Channel we saw a chunk of ice on the shore line and decided to fish it. The only thing that Doug caught there were shiners. Every time I turned around to talk to him, he was pulling up another shiner. I told Doug that we did not need to buy bait any more, I would just take him out shiner fishing. They were the perfect size for perch bait. From there we went to Lake Erie Metro Park. We did not fish here because no one was catching any fish. We then went to a small marina just before Humbug and fished there. We caught our most fish here but we had no keepers. Another long day without bringing home any fish. Seems like everyone that we talked to had the same old story.

Daryl Trying to Feed Dale Some Sushi ???

Fished with Daryl and Dale in Unadilla, same spot as the last post. Temperature was in the middle 20s all day and the wind was clam. The sky was overcast with no sunshine. The ice is over a foot thick. We were all thinking that this was the day the fish would turn on. We fished the same area as the other day and Daryl started catching some nice fish right away. As for myself it was the same old story, very slow. After a hour I packed up and headed for the other canal where we caught some nice fish last year. Fished for 45 minutes with no bites so I went back and joined the guys. We caught some fish but the catch per hour was slow. Daryl made a move further out onto the lake with no success, only small perch. At least we had a nice day to be on the ice and enjoy some good company. We kept 28 Bluegill between the three of us.

Bluegill Fishing Today.

Fished with Daryl. Temp late in the morning was 18 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 20s. The wind was out of the Northwest at 10 knots with an over cast sky. We were fishing later today because there was 6 inches of snow last night and I shoveled walks before I went fishing. Daryl let me know that mid day is not the best time to catch Bluegill, but we gave it our best shot. We fished a good Bluegill lake in Unadilla that he has access to. We started fishing at 11:00 in the morning and the bite was pretty slow. We made one move up the canal to Daryl's hot spot and started to catch a few fish but after a half hour the bite just shut down. We stayed around for 1 more hour and decided to call it a day. Daryl is used to catching fish and he was starting to get bored. I told him that my whole ice fishing season has been like this. We kept 11 Bluegill (I caught 3)between 7 and 8 1/4 inches, enough for us to have for dinner tomorrow.

It Was Colder Than A ?

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was -9 and when we quit fishing it was 3 degrees. The wind was out of the West 10 knots and the wind chill was -25 degrees. Almost too cold for ice fishing. We had a good report that they were catching nice perch at Lake Erie Metro Park so that is where we headed. We fished the old boat ramp on the canal that heads out to Lake Erie and yes, it was COLD today. We set up in Doug's hot spot from previous years of fishing here and caught some small perch and one nice bluegill. Made one more move further towards the lake by the beginning of the seawall. We stayed there about 45 minutes and decided to call it a day. Doug did manage to catch a nice Smallmouth Bass about 1 1/4 inches long. I asked if he wanted it mounted and he did not say too much. I was hoping to get a picture of him and the fish but he put it down the hole before I could get the camera ready. All the other fisherman that were fishing the canal by us had no fish either. On the way back in we talked to a guy right by the boat ramp and he said he had some bluegill and 3 perch. The report is the fish are biting better in the evening.

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Fished Lake St. Clair with Doug S. His friend Kenny, Kenny's son and a friend they call Polock also showed up. The temp this morning was 12 degrees and by the time we quit fishing it was in the middle 20s. The wind was very light and the sun would poke out every once in a while which made for a nice day of fishing. We started out fishing at Harbor Nine. We moved around there a couple of times without any luck. Kenny called and said we should head to the South. So away we went. We went by one marina, up over the land onto a small canal, up the seawall through the reeds and over the land, down the seawall and onto another marina. Across that marina onto a small bay which we crossed and headed into the woods. We came out of the woods onto another small bay, which is where we fished. Whew!! I don't even know the name of the bay. We fished in the center of the bay amongst a small pack of fisherman. We used spikes and shiners today but caught nothing off the shiners. Doug started catching fish right away and I was not having very much luck. I moved around him 3 times but it did not seem to help. He even gave me one of his purple jigs to use, but that did not help either. Doug had eleven keepers and I threw one into his pile. We kept 9 Sunfish,2 Gill's and 1 Crappie. A long walk to catch some fish but at least we had some keepers today. Doug did not want to clean the Sunnies so we gave all the fish to Kenny.

Another Day and The Same Results.

Went fishing on Lake St. Clair with Doug S. and John A. We were not sure where to fish today but we ended up back at Geno's. The temp in the morning was 12 degrees and by the time we quit fishing it was in the upper teens. The wind was less than 10 knots out of the East. The water is still dirty from the runoff and the ice is 8 inches thick. Doug was fishing before us and he started in close and caught a couple of small keepers. We went out to the end of the pack of people and set up. Nothing but small perch for us. When Doug joined up with us we made one more move further out with the same dismal results. John had his underwater camera with him and the visibility was not very good on the bottom but everything that we saw on the screen were small fish. Just another slow day on the lake and it might be the last trip to Geno's for a while. We talked to some other fisherman that were fishing Brandenburg Park and Metro Park and they all had the same results, no fish. We took a ride to South River Rd. to check out Candle's and the ice by the parking lot is just starting to freeze again, that may be our next trip.

Nothing but small fish.

Went fishing by myself, could not find any one who wanted to go. Temp was in the middle 20s with a slight breeze out of the east. Around 9:00 AM the sun came out and it was just a perfect day for fishing. Thought I would try some where different so I headed to South River Road to fish in front of Candles. When I got to the parking lot there was no one fishing and I did not want to be the first one out so I headed back to where we fished last week, the Metro Park. The ice had blew out of the area that we fished last week and the only place they were fishing was by the Day Sail Ramp. I started to fish there but as I look around no one was catching any fish. I watched for about 15 minutes and decided to head to Geno's and fish there. The parking lot was jammed at Geno's and I got one of the last spots left. I fished in front of Geno's and down by the willow trees with out any luck. Every one I talked to was fish less and most of the people were just standing around. I pulled out the binoculars and finally found someone catching some fish, so that is where I headed. I set up and started to catch some fish but all that I caught were small perch. I watched the guy next to me and every so often he would catch a keeper. I went and talked to him and he was using wigglers on a small pink jig, the bait that I did not have. I went back to fishing but all that I could catch was small perch. I had no keepers for the day. On the walk back in everyone that I talked to had no fish. The ice is 6 inches thick.