A Case of Winter Bass Thumb

The good news is-my thumb is nice and roughed up from lipping bass all day yesterday.  The bad news is-my camera finally sucumbed to repeated exposure to below freezing temperatures and wasn't in working order to provide any proof.  I swear on all of my catfish gear that the following events are completely true.

My day didn't actually begin on the ice.  It started at "Daddy Doughnut Day" at Hayden's school.  She's been begging me to sign up to be a Watch Dog at her elementary school, so I finally went to this little event and got signed up.  I'll be spending a day at her school helping in the classrooms and, according to Hayden, squirting hand sanitizer at lunch time.  For now, back to the ice.  With a Krispee Kreme and a cup of juice in my gut, I got to my in-laws' lake at around 10:00.  I set my tip-ups shallow in some of my traditional spots and then got my panfish rod out and tipped a Hali Jig with a couple wax worms.  It took a long time before I got my first bite, mostly because I wasn't motivated to move around and find the fish.  

I finally hooked into my first perch.  Not big, not tiny.  Back he went.  Just about immediately after I dropped my Hali back down the hole, I hooked into a bigger fish.  What I figured to be a nice perch turned out to be a 12-inch bass.  It was a sunny late winter day.  I've seen them go on the feed in similar situations in the past, so maybe this was a good omen.  In the mean time, I had two flags pop.  Both had fish running when I approached, but limp line was waiting for me when I picked up each tip-up.  Bass.

I returned to my panfish hole, but didn't get any more bites for several minutes.  I decided to move shallow.  Turned out to be the right decision.  Pretty quickly after I started jigging in 5 feet of water, my little rod tip slowly bent towards the hole.  I set the hook and line started peeling off of the reel.  With 3 pound test and my little 24-inch light action rod, I immediately felt like I was in over my head.  Wondering if I was going to get spooled, I used my hand on the line to try to slow the fish's run.  It worked and I was able to gain a little ground.  Pretty soon, loose weeds started showing up under the hole.  The big girl was close, but not for long.  Before I could see if it was a bass or a pike, it turned and headed for the nearest pile of weeds.  The fish became stationary and heavy.  With gentle pressure, I coaxed it out of it's hiding spot and started bringing it back towards the hole.  It made a few more short runs, but I finally brought its head into the hole.  It was a monster largemouth.  The sharp little hook was stuck right in the middle of her upper lip.  It practically fell out when I lipped her and pulled her out of the hole.  She measured in at 23 inches.  I'm pretty sure that she is my biggest bass to date.  I've approached this length several times, but I don't think I've ever touched 23 inches.  I really need to get a camera.  This is my second personal best that I wasn't able to get on film (The other being my 25-pound flattie).  It's  making me a little nuts.

Turned out that this big girl was just the beginning.  I followed her up with a 16-incher, a 19-incher, and a 22-incher.  Pretty amazing day.  I'm sure I've never caught that many big bass in one day.  Except for the 23, these big fish all came on tip-ups.  I was also able to catch several scrappers with my jigging rod.  Good times.  Every once in awhile, you find yourself in the middle of a feeding frenzy.  When I do, I usually look to the sky and whisper a little thank you.  Then I indulge in the pure joy of it.  Yesterday was great.  The only way that it might have been better is if I was in a boat on a warm spring day throwing a spinner bait and catching these fish on a spinning rod.  If I had the pictures, I'd probably pull them out today from time to time so that I could marvel at all of those big fish.  Instead, I just get glassy eyed and rub my finger against the roughness of my bass thumb and replay each catch.  The experience and memories are great, but a picture is icing on the cake.  Gotta get a new camera.

Getting Ready for the Big Melt

I've spent a few more days on the ice since my last post.  I dedicated two days to Campau trying for muskies.  The first day got cut short by the 150 snowmobiles that had gathered to drag race down the lake and then by my daughter falling up to her thigh in an ice hole.  The second day was flagless.  I got cold enough that I actually left the ice and watched my tip-ups from my Jeep for about 45 minutes before calling it a day.  I also spent a Saturday with Josh and Elijah trying for pike and gills.  Elijah got a picture with a fat 33-inch pike, and they went home with a nice little mess of gills.  The best part of that day was probably when Mort and my uncle Tim stopped by with hot chili.  Our conversation turned to plans for fishing different parts of the river for catfish and walleye this spring.  I'm starting to realize that I'd trade the last month of ice fishing for an early spring and a flowing river.  With the big warm up that we have coming, I just might get my wish.  Better start getting ready.

In preparing for this fishing season, I've been concentrating on making myself completely water proof.  I bought a pair of water proof hiking boots and I'm waiting for a nice Gore-tex suit to get here from Bass Pro.  I've taken to working an extra shift per week to help pay for this stuff.  That extra shift is usually a 3rd shift, so we'll see how long I can keep this up.  My old camera finally called it quits, so I'm looking at water proof, shock proof cameras.  I think that it would be worth a couple of extra shifts to be able to record my success on camera.  Who's going to believe me when I catch my 30-pounder and don't have a picture?  I still really want a trolling motor for lake fishing and for when I drift and cast on the river.  I probably won't do much more than stare at them in the catalogs.  Probably a next year purchase.  (I said that last year.)  I'm not going to update any rods or reels this year.  Everything is still in good shape.  I'm  set for lures and terminal tackle, as well.  I should just have to pick up mono-filament for my spinning reels and I'll be good to fish.

The preparation is fun.  I look forward to tying my catfish leaders and getting everything organized and ready for my first trip.  I guess it might be a little more fun if money weren't a concern.  There are some pretty incredible fish finders out there that give detailed images of the bottom.  I'm sure that I could up my catch rate if I could see brush piles that are hidden under the water's surface.  A new bilge pump would be a good idea.  The one that came with the boat doesn't have enough power to push the water through the tubing and out the drain hole.  I usually end up scooping the water out with a plastic cup and then sponging the last little bit.  I found a bow light that has a spot light that can be controlled with a remote.  That would be nice for changing spots after dark.  A bubbler for the livewell would save a lot of trouble.  How about those Optima dual-purpose batteries?  Pretty sweet.  And on and on it would go.  I better return to my "Keep it simple" motto.

Last year we had a stretch of weather in the beginning of April when the temperatures rose above 70 degrees.  I caught my first channel cat on April 1.  I could go for another one of those weather patterns.  In the mean time, I'd better put the catalogs away and get the old stuff cleaned, oiled, and organized.  Old Simple is ready to fish.