CATCH OF THE DAY

[NorthernWinos]

Well, it's that time of the year again....

The neighborhood ponds are freezing over, the bigger lakes still have open water in the middle....

The 'Natives' are restless....
All the guys are venturing out checking the ice depth of the lakes and putting out small portable fishing and spearing houses....

Guess the average depth now is 6-8" of good clear ice.

Jim and the neighbor have been out scouting and put up the portable fish spearing shelter yesterday...They saw a few but didn't bring any home....

So, today I gave orders that I am hungry for fresh fish.....Jim brought home this one...4# 12oz....Not bad....But he did a 'clean miss' on a larger one.

I'm going out with Jim tomorrow.....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Wade E]

NICE!

 

[vcasey]

My ever curious son wants to know what kind of fish? And what time is dinner well that was until he saw Northern Minnesota. A tad bit to cold for us Floridians. I did have 6 inches of ice today but it was in my ice tea. We whine when the temps drop below 60.
VPC

 

[Wade E]

I would say that is a Northern Pike.

 

[smikes]

How do you deal with those bones?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Yes, it's a Northern Pike...aka...Slough Shark...Snake Pickerel...etc.

Jim has a knack of getting all the bones out....pretty neat trick.

http://www.northern-ontario.com/How-to-remove-the-Y-bone.php

http://www.boois.com/y-bones.htm

The fish is yummy and no pesky bones.....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

I saw a show on a while back where they were spearing fish in Minnesota. I actually saw what spear they use. It looked like a Trident Spear. Is that what you guys use? It would make it easier to hit those slippery "suckers" so to speak.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Appleman....I couldn't find a good photo of spears....Here they are infront of our 'lake-home' late in the season last year....

 

[NorthernWinos]

The spears make short work of the fish if you connect right....Sometimes it's a struggle to get them off the spear.

My spear has a bit more radical barbs.

It's a fun sport....

First you drill, chip and pull the ice blocks out of the lake in the size of the hole in the floor of your spear house...Set the house over the hole....

Then you sit and stare into the hole looking at the bottom of the lake...
You hang down a decoy to lure the fish in to look at it....

Then a fish appears and your heart starts pounding...

Then you trust your spear into the fish...and hope he stays on....

The house out on the lake now is a small collapsible portable house...only 4'X6' [cosy] with a very small hole.

Better luck tomorrow...

 

[NorthernWinos]

*HINT:
Norther Pike are not at all slimy if you wrap them in newspaper as soon as you catch them...The paper sops up the slime and they are much easier to clean that way.

 

[Wade E]

Very nice slide show NW!

 

[grapeman]

Do you ever put hooks on the decoy and catch with fish line? I bet a 10 pounder would put up a struggle! I'll have to check and see if we can spear them. Some nice big ones in King's Bay by the border with Canada.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Starting last year we could angle with a hook and line in the same hole as the decoy....I fished for Sunnies and Crappies....It was fun because you could see them and move your bait over to the bigger ones.

I think I scared the Northerns off.
When you'd catch a Pan Fish they'd get all tangled in the decoy string....so it was a mess.....Fun tho!!!!

 

[hannabarn]

Congratulations, NW! I just noticed you finally got an avitar!!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Our day at the lake was very 'refreshing'...

Thought it would warm up, but left the house at +6°F...the windchill was brutal!!!

We had about ¼" of snow last night...just enough to hide the slick ice....Luckily we wear 'Ice Creepers' [Ice Cleats] on out boots.

Was only a skiff on ice over the spear hole...
This is Jim's 'red neck ice scoop' [fashioned from an old hard hat....

Not much action, so we decided to move the house across the lake....
We ventured over there and Jim chipped and sawed a hole..then he pulled the house across...The wind actually blew it past him a few times....I was just lucky to stay on my feet.

Saw a few pesky little guys....They just kept hanging around wanting to die...But we spared them...

So, now the house is on the other side of the lake ready for tomorrow. The wind blew the small amount of snow we had off the lake and you could ice skate if you were so inclined.

Got to a blistering +13°F today but with the wind it was rather blustery out there. Glad I put up the outside Christmas Decorations yesterday when it was above freezing....

Tomorrow, Jim's buddy is going with him...Think I'll stay home, have some Cappuccino and put up the Christmas tree...
I'll let Jim bring home the 'bacon'.

Life is Good!!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Was a cold one today...got to a blistering +3°F....dropping fast...Going to be a cold one tonight.

Jim brought home another nice fish....6.1#....

Good eating size...Might put this one in the freezer.
I might go out tomorrow morning with Jim, tho, it is going to be really cold....Will consider it anyway.....

Have about 2 inches of snow now and expecting more tomorrow PM....so the fish might be moving with the weather change....

Life is Good!!!!

 

[grapeman]

Seems like it was just summer.Where did the warm temps go Nice size pike. That one should be easy cleaning and give a nice few meals for you two.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Where did the summer and warm temps go is a good question......?

-9°F [-22°C]....suppose to cloud over and warm up a tad during the night.

Next week the days start getting longer...That's a pleasant thought.

 

[Wade E]

Just started snowing here!

 

[jobe05]

Went to the City of King Christmas Parade yesterday. Just as the parade was ending it started snowing a little bit...............

Lasted 10 minutes and then nothing......................... sigh..........

That fish looks great NW! I do miss ice fishing once in a while. We use to have a 10 x 16 yellow tent (like the ones the utility company uses) hat set up in a few minutes and we heated it with a Kerosene heater for the day. It was the only time of year I liked to eat Perch for some reason, they taste better when they come from cold water.