I just had to share...

[number]

Ahhhhh, finally got on the ice. All the elements of a fun outing fell into place. Work was left early. Auger started on 2nd pull. We had current. An early Christmas present got put to good use. The dosage of libation was just enough to feel it and not drive illegally. Laughed until my core muscles hurt. Got home early enough so as to not torque off the significant other. Alltogether a blog worthy experience.

[number]

payback time. 35mph wind. Broke my glasses. Forgot my lighter. (that was monday) Last nite not as windy but still very cold. Is there a tougher way to catch fish?

[Jay Hanson]

yrs ago i ice fished 2 to 3 days/week......came to the conclusion, its too much work and cannot cover enough water like i would like to (to many variable like ice thickness, safety, wind) so i quit and fish in the boat twice as much.

[number]

Yea, there is a fine line between work and play at times. When the conditions are right for boat fishing,ie spring/summer, I need to be making a buck. Christmas day, the weather broke and we had 25f temp.... no wind to speak of either. It was nice to just take a hand auger and sit on a bucket. I went out last nite (26th) with the shack. wind picked up and had to anchor down. not too bad to work with.

[number]

12/29/08 se wind 5-10. tried new boots 1200 gram thinsulate. Not too bulky and my feet didn't freeze. Definately need cleats or at least get the whole shack and tip ups on the snow.

[number]

12/30 & 12/31 good times on the river continue. 15-18' fish. not much current. broke thru 1 foot or so of water to get back on shore.

[number]

i'm just blogging to keep track. tried a different spot (cedar shore) tons of current. no bite. nice weather. no bite. moved to calmer water. no bite. bound to happen.

[reddog]

Is/was that you in Pontoon bay?

[Dakota Iceman]

I been fishing south of the above mentioned places and doing well but the bite seemed to die last night. I will be out tomorrow before the weather hits...should be good for the bite.

[Dakota Iceman]

I will be curious to hear how number did tonight 01-02-09. I think I have seen this Wildman fishing out of a green otter.

[number]

I haven't been on pontoon bay until last nite. wind out of the e,se. Lots of people out(for our area anyway). Lots of small fish. A couple of 16's. The rest were barely 15. Didn't come off of the ice till 8pm.

[Dakota Iceman]

For the blogs sake here goes: tried a lake out west yesterday with out much success, hit the river on the way home and we ended up 3 short of our limit. Nice fish16-17". There was current and fished in 13' of water. We should have plenty of info to plot charts next year. Iceman out>

[Dakota Iceman]

Another post for next year's notes:

Pontoon bay 01-10-09

Lots of shacks out this afternoon and into early evening. the bite was slow and the water was down. Did manage a few fish of which one was a keeper. Talked to some guy's set-up 250 yards to the east. They had a better bite. It's time to push out farther than the monkey's and hit some different bottom structure and see what result's come of that. One keen observation noted: More Booze = less fish. Iceman out>

[AugieAngler1010]

Any of you guys getting up to West Bend? Any action out west around Reliance, Kennebec, Pierre or Presho? I went to college in Sioux Falls and used to make several trips to the river and west every winter. Is it worth a trip this winter from the twin cities?

[reddog]

Another post for next year's notes:

Pontoon bay 01-10-09

Lots of shacks out this afternoon and into early evening. the bite was slow and the water was down. Did manage a few fish of which one was a keeper. Talked to some guy's set-up 250 yards to the east. They had a better bite. It's time to push out farther than the monkey's and hit some different bottom structure and see what result's come of that. One keen observation noted: More Booze = less fish. Iceman out>

DI

How much ice is there in like Pontoon bay.

How far are they venturing out towards the main channel?

I was out shortly after Christmas and was surprised at how thick the ice was then, and im sure its thicker now. We were on 15 inches of ice, where traditionally, there is only 4 or 5.

[Dakota Iceman]

There was anywhere from 14-18" where we fished. I was one of the farther ones out closer towards the channel maybe 150 yards from main channel? They had trucks out in pontoon bay but I can't bring myself to do that on the river unless there is 2' plus and even then I'm just not a fan of it... why spend all the $ FOR PORTABLES AND 4-WHEELERS and heaters if your just going to drive a 30,000 dollar rig out there and sit in the front seat with the defrost on:). After this next little cold snap we are going through right now, I don't believe I would have any issues driving my atv/shack straight across the river at most any given point. With that said...alot more areas are going to be accessible now and the brave will find the big fish that are not prone to the high traffic areas on Francis Case. I am heading north up on sharp the end of this week to try some deep water wally's. Iceman out>

[Dakota Iceman]

The river has been consistently good fishing all season so far. Take that for what its worth, whenever I listen to someone and go check it out i typically hear "yea, the bite just shut down like two days ago" A day late and a dollar short but I will say so far this has been my best season in quite a few years. Iceman out>

[Dakota Iceman]

01-16-09: Fished by pillar 15 on the Railroad bridge we managed 4 nice fish in 12' of water. The ice was 18" but it did not appear to be "good Ice" cloudy and honeycombed all the way through. Red Dog....where is your report? Iceman out>

[reddog]

DI, Actually, we were still hunting birds when we were out in Dec, and only fished for a couple hours each morning. I think we (2) kept 3 fish on Fri, and 4 on Sat.... just enough for sandwiches. Released a nice 21 incher on Friday, though.

Hope to make it this week, sometime.

Headed to the Big Boy Toy Show and then to Brookings to the hockey game 2day.

Sounds like they shut down the Scarlett girls in the "Man Cave" at the BBTS. hehehe

[number]

Fishing basically slowed to a crawl and the blog hit a wall. I've heard some things about platte area, but it's all old news. I see people out but no stories. It has been two weeks since I caught a keeper. I finally won a buck from Iceman - what a hoot!

[number]

So much more fun to post when fish have been caught. Fished an area that had 6" of ice. It came as quite a shock as I was used to 16" plus. I am not sure if that ice will hold over the weekend given the warmer temps. I guess we'll see.

[number]

ok. Big news of this post is that Dakota Iceman is out with a season ending injury. He broke thru the ice with his atv. It is a good thing he was out with a couple of other guys. It took all three to get the atv out. Somehow while trying to pull it out, he slipped and tore his knee out. Last I talked to him he was sedating himself, while waiting to see a specialist in Soo Foo. I did good again last week at the spillway, lost of boats too. I am somewhat hesistant to see how the ice held up after the warm weekend.