Dark Skies salutes the great Sunday ice fishermen!!!

[DarkSkies]

While everybody was tucked away from fishing because it was too cold, this young 5 year old fisherman and his Dad were out today on a lake in Pennsylvania. :fishing:

I heard it was 15 degrees, very very cold. :scared:

I heard you got some nice fat :bigeyes: yellow perch!!! :clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:

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I'll let your Dad tell the story when he gets a chance.

For now, GREAT JOB and CONGRATULATIONS!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

This is what a yellow perch looks like swimming under the water:
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Some more pictures

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Yellow perch ice fishing on youtube:

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Lindner media
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Pasqua lake, sasketchawan
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How to clean a perch in 10 seconds

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[DarkSkies]

http://fishing.about.com/od/icefishing/a/ice_panfish.htm

Late Ice Panfishing

Catching Late Ice Panfish

From Bob Jensen (http://fishing.about.com/od/basicfishinginstruction/a/bob_jensen.htm)

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In some states throughout the Midwest, the ice-fishing season for walleyes and northern pike is coming to a close, or has, in fact, already closed. If you live in one of those areas, now is not the time to hang up the ice-rods and put the shelter and auger in storage. There are still some very good opportunities for ice-fishing action. Some of the best perch, crappie, and bluegill ice action is still to come.

Here’s how you can get in on it.

Perch can be in different places in different bodies of water, but most of my perch catching late in the season has been in deep water, sometimes down to thirty feet.

In other lakes they’ll be shallower, but when they’re shallow, that’s usually because there is no deep water in that lake.

Crappies can be kind of strange. In some lakes they’ll hang close to the bottom just like a walleye, in other lakes they’ll suspend. In my past few ice-fishing trips we’ve taken crappies that looked just like walleyes on the sonar because they were hugging the bottom, and we’ve taken crappies that were six feet off the bottom in twelve feet of water.

Not relating to panfish but still kind of on the topic of fish location, on an ice-fishing trip for walleyes two years ago on Lake of the Woods, the walleyes were running twelve feet down over twenty five feet of water. They were biters, but you had to bring the bait up to where they were.

Back on the topic of panfish location under late ice; Expect to find bluegills along weedbeds or around brush piles. They might be over the tops of the weeds or suspended along the deep edge of the weeds, but if you find good cabbage weeds, you’re probably close to some ‘gills.

These panfish can be very active, but you still need to present the bait correctly. For ‘gills, go with two pound test Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon. It’s invisible underwater, and sometimes that’s what it takes to put finicky bluegills on the ice. Go with a 1/64th ounce Fire-Fly jig for gills. Lots of anglers like black, as they feel it best copies the tiny bugs that are in the water.

Crappies and perch both like Forage Minnow spoons tipped with a piece of minnow or a couple of Berkley Gulp! Maggots. A lot of colors will work, but Super-Glo Perch is a real winner day-in and day-out.
For perch, drop the spoon to the bottom, let it rest a second or two, then give it a couple of good snaps. That attracts the perch. Let it sit still for a few seconds, then snap it again. Keep a close eye on your sonar to see how the fish are reacting to the snapping-resting action.

A more subtle action is usually best for crappies. Put the spoon just a bit above the crappies, then quiver it. If they want it, they’ll eat it. Keep a close eye on the ice conditions, but if it’s safe, get out there for some late season panfish action. I’ve always found that late ice panfish are a great way to start the new open water season.

[c4charlie]

Yesterday, my son and I went ice fishing for the first time ever. Since he is only five; my wife and I debated a whole day whether he should go and if he would be able to handle the cold for an entire day.

So glad I made the decision to take him because he did excellent. 5.5 hours of fishing on the ice plus two hour trip there and then back with not even one complaint. I am very proud of him! I went with a good friend that has been ice fishing for many years. Tip-ups and jigging were the methods used.

So much fun running to the tip ups and keeping an eye on those flags. Then we got into some jigging and my little guy stole the show. Jigged up a bunch from a couple different holes including the biggest perch caught. All by himself of course. His methods are text book, feels the bite, lowers the rod just a bit and then bam, solid hookup. Both of us enjoyed the jigging a lot. Next time, i am taking the video camera.

We caught approx 25-30 fish, mainly perch with some sunfish and a couple crappie mixed in. Here are some pics.

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[albiealert]

Nice story and pictures. Looks like you both had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[VSdreams]

Cool story, the smile says it all.:cool:

[seamonkey]

Nice catches guys!

[crosseyedbass]

That's a huge perch, almost as big as a lmb. wtg :clapping::clapping:


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9212&thumb=1&d=1263224657 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9212&d=1263224657)

[clamchucker]

Very nice story. It looks like you and your boy had the best of times.

[basshunter]

:thumbsup: nice report c4charlie, thanks for posting it.

[bababooey]

So how cold was cold? :D Great story.:clapping:

[c4charlie]

Thanks Guys. It was about 15 degrees. Wind was light at about 5mph. It did pick up for a bit for an hour and then back to light. Got colder as the sun was coming down.
Consistent action makes it feel like 15 degrees warmer if not more.

Here are a couple more pics, one with even a bigger smile and also one of the running to the tip-ups. I was lucky go with a good friend who knew the area very well having lived on the lake for 15 years growing up and does ice fishing a lot. We did some pretend tackling/racing to tip ups. Some pretend slips on the ice. Some fish fighting funnies. We had the little guy cracking up. It can be a lot more entertaining when you got a little one around and it definitely was for us. The catching was a bonus! I am certain, I will be going back within the next couple weeks.

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[DarkSkies]

Great story C4. When he looks at the pics tell him how proud I am of him. That first pic you posted, that perch he caught is FAT! :clapping::clapping:

It's an incredibly big perch for an angler his age to catch. He should be proud. I know you are. :thumbsup::thumbsup: I wish I had a trophy to give him because he deserves it. Glad you guys had such a great time.

He deserves a few

:clapping::clapping::clapping: :thumbsup::thumbsup: :fishing: :lookhappy: :bigeyes: :bigeyes: :thumbsup::thumbsup: :HappyWave::wheeeee::lookhappy: :cool: :clapping::clapping: :fishing:

[gjb1969]

cool pics but it too cold for me but as long as he was happy u have to love it:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[7deadlyplugs]

:clapping:Great smiles great times.

[bluesdude71]

Those smiles say it all. Great story it was nice of you to share it.