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- Oct 3, 2015
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- 1,698
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- Vanderbilt, MI
- Tractor
- Gravely Pro 16 walk behind, Kubota BX2230, Kubota B26TLB
About 25 years ago my father in-law and I went ice fishing on a local lake that had frozen completely clear. It's the strangest thing. You get nervous. Why? Because you can't tell how thick the ice is. But you can't tell that on opaque ice, either. So what's the difference? The difference is in your head.
Once you start drilling a hole in the clear ice, it turns white like shaved ice in a snow cone. Then we realized it was 8-10" thick.
The downside of the clear is was that this was a shallow lake, about 4-5' average depth. You could see the fish. And they could see you. So every time you moved, they'd move about 3' from the hole. The only way you could hope to catch anything is to set the pole down and walk away and hope the fish hooked themselves.
A friend of mine was out there and he did that. A bass took his bait and his pole! So he got another pole and put a weighted treble hook on it in hopes of snagging the line, then went out and found his pole. Every time he started drilling a hole, the bass would move off and he'd have to chase after it again. Finally after a couple hours and a few dozen holes, he managed to snag the line, bring up his pole, and bring up the bass as well. It was a keeper, but he let it go. Figured it earned it.
After an hour or so of my father in-law and I not being able too get close enough to the fish, I spotted a place at the end of the lake where lily pads had stuck through the clear ice, and stopped some drifts of snow. We drilled there, found only 2' of water, but caught about 2 dozen 11" perch in just a few minutes. By then, the -22F temps had gotten the best of us, and we went back to the cabin we'd rented at the state park and had a fish fry.
One of many good times I had with my father in-law.
Have you ever been out on the "freezing" lake when it starts to make noise? I was ice boating one time (sailing on ice) and the temperature was dropping. This was early in the season and the ice was getting thicker and cracking and making these strange noises. Was freaked out about it. And the ice was clear. JonAbout 25 years ago my father in-law and I went ice fishing on a local lake that had frozen completely clear. It's the strangest thing. You get nervous. Why? Because you can't tell how thick the ice is. But you can't tell that on opaque ice, either. So what's the difference? The difference is in your head.
Once you start drilling a hole in the clear ice, it turns white like shaved ice in a snow cone. Then we realized it was 8-10" thick.
The downside of the clear is was that this was a shallow lake, about 4-5' average depth. You could see the fish. And they could see you. So every time you moved, they'd move about 3' from the hole. The only way you could hope to catch anything is to set the pole down and walk away and hope the fish hooked themselves.
A friend of mine was out there and he did that. A bass took his bait and his pole! So he got another pole and put a weighted treble hook on it in hopes of snagging the line, then went out and found his pole. Every time he started drilling a hole, the bass would move off and he'd have to chase after it again. Finally after a couple hours and a few dozen holes, he managed to snag the line, bring up his pole, and bring up the bass as well. It was a keeper, but he let it go. Figured it earned it.
After an hour or so of my father in-law and I not being able too get close enough to the fish, I spotted a place at the end of the lake where lily pads had stuck through the clear ice, and stopped some drifts of snow. We drilled there, found only 2' of water, but caught about 2 dozen 11" perch in just a few minutes. By then, the -22F temps had gotten the best of us, and we went back to the cabin we'd rented at the state park and had a fish fry.
One of many good times I had with my father in-law.
I just remember Mama making him strip down in the garage. She wasn’t happy either.
