Ice Fishing and the "F" Word

Now, just which "F" word am I speaking of? Fish? Freezing? Firetruck? Nope, none of those. The "F" word that comes to mind when I take a trip on the ice is F-U-N. There is nothing like it in fishing, and for hardcore hardwater fanatics like me, it's my favorite way to fish. This past weekend, I took a trip up to Erie, PA to Presque Isle Bay State Park. I went with my son Nick and my good buddy Gene. The fishing was pretty slow, but we still had a GREAT time. It just amazes me that I can walk out on the ice, drill a couple holes, and start catching fish. Presque Isle Bay is the premeier place to experience ice fishing heaven.

As is getting to be the case the more I take him fishing, Nick was on the board first with a 7 inch pumkinseed. Presque is LOADED with big, hungry panfish, and it's not uncommon to catch hundreds of those hungry gills. On a good day, you can drop your bait in water and before you can count to ten, you're hooked up. Great place to take a kid fishing, as they will be busy hauling in fish after fish, of quality size and beautiful color. There is a limit of 50 on panfish (bluegills and crappies mixed) but perch are another story. Late February is per-spawn for some of the biggest perch I have ever seen caught. If you can find them, they will amaze you. We lucked into a couple up there last week.

There's Nick with a nice jumbo. My buddy Gene, who went up two weeks ago while I was in Columbus, pulled in one that measured 16 inches. YES! He has photos of it as well. The baits we use are small ice jigs in assorted colors from chartruse, orange, white, red, purple, silver, just about any color at all. Experiment to see what works best for you. Some anglers jig small Swedish Pimple spoons tipped with maggots to get the perch interested. It's not only panfish that swim in these waters though. Every once in a while, a roaming steelhead will hammer your jig, and the fight is on. Have those drags set on your reels becuase once the feel the hook, they go nuts! You can also catch some quality largemouth bass and pike through the ice using minnows.

We only brought home 25 fish between the three of us, but fishing is about more than catching. It's sharing time with friends. It's spending some real quality time with your kids, teaching them what wonders exist in the world around them, and how they fit into the system. And, if you go it alone sometime, it's a great way to relax and let all the worries of the day melt away. And, you'll build a great memory that all revolves around that one, little "F" word. Fun.

I'm Carl "Big Daddy" Bachtel and thanks for stopping by.

Questions or comments? Drop Carl a line at cbachtel@wkyc.com and he'll get back to you.