When I was a kid I could always remember cool wet springs, hot calm summers, warm falls that slowly turn into cold, cold winters with a lot of snow. Never was there a green Christmas to talk about or how nice the 40 degree winter day was. Now it seems like abnormal temps and high winds are the norm. This winter of course a green Christmas it was not a lot of snow to even make me nervous on a drive. Ice is in high demand because there is not much to find on local lakes. A trip up north is in order to find any bit of ice to drive on with a truck. That’s what led us to the Big Pond for a weekend with Perch and Walleyes on our minds. What we didn’t expect to find was a great wind blowing across the lake.
That’s what we found. We made the journey up on Friday night and were eager to hear what the reports were. Last time we were up we found lots of fish more than willing to bite. This time was a little different. Reports were neutral at best. Looking at the wind forecast we would see very high winds the whole weekend and some cold air too. We made the plan to go to the same spot as last weekend. We got there started to drill out the area to find the holes were freezing up right away. So we would be forced to sit in the fish houses for the weekend. It was just imposable to get outside and try to hole hop. The cold and wind would not allow it.
The fishing would also be totally different each day. On Saturday we would find a lot of fish more than willing to bite. I bet all day we did not see more than 10 fish that did not want to bite. Only one walleye would be found but a bucket full of perch would be had. Sunday would turn out to be totally different. We found little to no fish moving and only a hand full would make the ice. The weather was the same each day but the fishing was not.
A good weekend was had with difficult weather conditions thrown at us. We pushed through it and were able to catch some fish and be productive. As always remember that no ice is ever safe and always take caution when venturing out. Be safe and I will see you on the ice.
Chris Barlage