gunrod
02-14-2003, 10:59 PM
I went to Airport Bay again today with Tattoo Mike. We looked like a bunch of amateurs at this ice fishing thing today.
I picked Mike up and hooked his trailer and snowmobile up to the truck. We stopped for bait and cappucino for the thermos with some bagels. When turning around in the (tight) parking lot the trailer jackknife a little but no problem. When we got to the Wonder Well we found that the tongue of the trailer was twisted some. It turns out the tongue sits a little lower than my bumper and when it jackknifed it went under the bumper and twisted. It still pulls fine and Mike said he can fix it (I hope so).
We made it on the ice and had a pike come in while Mike was scouting. I wanted to throw the spear but he was close to the limit. When I stuck my head out to call for Mike to help me gauge the size it swam off. Later we saw a smaller one.
We started hooking a few decent perch and Mike set two out on a live bait rig to use for decoys. We found the perch saw them as a skool and came in easier. The smaller pike also came to them.
One of the perch on the rig started swimming around and got caught in my lines just as a decent perch went after my minnow. This perch wanted the minnow bad as he began chasing the minnow while the perch dragged it around. The one chasing gave up and went after my wiggler just as the decoy perch hooked that line. The perch chased the wiggler and I was able to grab all three lines to set the hook. I landed a perch for the ice and a mess. We laughed a little and got back to fishing.
Mike then gets a chance to throw the spear. He missed but the knot gave on the spear and dropped to the bottom of the bay.:eek: We stuck the spud down there and it was too short. We dropped a spoon down on 10lb line but couldn't hook it. Mike found some metal wire, put it on the line, laid on the ice, nearly fell in (and the hole was big enough to fit both of us) and used the spud to put the wire on the spear. I started to pull it up when the spear began to slip from the metal wire. Mike grabbed the auger and hooked it in the spear when it started to fall again at the hole. I buried my arm in the hole and fished it out. But now both of us have to warm our numb arms.
Next it was my turn to screw up. I hooked the best perch thus far. A fat 10"er. I was so proud of that thing I held it up to talk some smack to Mike when it spit the hook and fell back in the hole. Now I really felt like an ***** but another good laugh for quite awhile.
The shanty owner showed up and we moved to another shanty. We should have been there from the beginning. There were huge gills that wouldn't take and tons of perch. Mike landed some jumbos and we both went home with a few (probably 20 altogether). We saw two more pike (one pretty big at 7+ lbs) but this shanty had a thin gray tarp over it that let too much light in. When Mike moved for the spear it cast a shadow and spooked the pike. We both spooked some good perch the same way.
We stayed longer than we should have but had tons of fun. It's always great fishing with Mike and the laughs keep coming. The fishing could have been slightly better but good enough for us. We also saw tons of huge shad and some large carp. Not what we want to mess with but cool to see in 4' of water in a 2' X 8' hole. It's like watching TV.
Thanks for the ride on the sled Mike. I don't know if I would fish the bay too much if I had to walk it all the time. Sorry so long, feel free to move this to the comedy forum.:D
I picked Mike up and hooked his trailer and snowmobile up to the truck. We stopped for bait and cappucino for the thermos with some bagels. When turning around in the (tight) parking lot the trailer jackknife a little but no problem. When we got to the Wonder Well we found that the tongue of the trailer was twisted some. It turns out the tongue sits a little lower than my bumper and when it jackknifed it went under the bumper and twisted. It still pulls fine and Mike said he can fix it (I hope so).
We made it on the ice and had a pike come in while Mike was scouting. I wanted to throw the spear but he was close to the limit. When I stuck my head out to call for Mike to help me gauge the size it swam off. Later we saw a smaller one.
We started hooking a few decent perch and Mike set two out on a live bait rig to use for decoys. We found the perch saw them as a skool and came in easier. The smaller pike also came to them.
One of the perch on the rig started swimming around and got caught in my lines just as a decent perch went after my minnow. This perch wanted the minnow bad as he began chasing the minnow while the perch dragged it around. The one chasing gave up and went after my wiggler just as the decoy perch hooked that line. The perch chased the wiggler and I was able to grab all three lines to set the hook. I landed a perch for the ice and a mess. We laughed a little and got back to fishing.
Mike then gets a chance to throw the spear. He missed but the knot gave on the spear and dropped to the bottom of the bay.:eek: We stuck the spud down there and it was too short. We dropped a spoon down on 10lb line but couldn't hook it. Mike found some metal wire, put it on the line, laid on the ice, nearly fell in (and the hole was big enough to fit both of us) and used the spud to put the wire on the spear. I started to pull it up when the spear began to slip from the metal wire. Mike grabbed the auger and hooked it in the spear when it started to fall again at the hole. I buried my arm in the hole and fished it out. But now both of us have to warm our numb arms.
Next it was my turn to screw up. I hooked the best perch thus far. A fat 10"er. I was so proud of that thing I held it up to talk some smack to Mike when it spit the hook and fell back in the hole. Now I really felt like an ***** but another good laugh for quite awhile.
The shanty owner showed up and we moved to another shanty. We should have been there from the beginning. There were huge gills that wouldn't take and tons of perch. Mike landed some jumbos and we both went home with a few (probably 20 altogether). We saw two more pike (one pretty big at 7+ lbs) but this shanty had a thin gray tarp over it that let too much light in. When Mike moved for the spear it cast a shadow and spooked the pike. We both spooked some good perch the same way.
We stayed longer than we should have but had tons of fun. It's always great fishing with Mike and the laughs keep coming. The fishing could have been slightly better but good enough for us. We also saw tons of huge shad and some large carp. Not what we want to mess with but cool to see in 4' of water in a 2' X 8' hole. It's like watching TV.
Thanks for the ride on the sled Mike. I don't know if I would fish the bay too much if I had to walk it all the time. Sorry so long, feel free to move this to the comedy forum.:D