Fox River Times 2008 Ice Fishing Guide

Editor's Note: Hello, and thank you all for reading this year's FRT ice fishing guide. In this edition, I hope to give you some inside tips on ice fishing, and also some neat stories that I have experienced in the past few years while ice fishing. Even if you haven't or are not able to ice fish, I'm sure that you will find some itch to do so after reading this. So, enjoy this issue and have a great winter. As always, tight lines and warm feet.

Sam

The Shack: I'd like to start off by telling you about an adventure that happened in an incredibly awesome ice fishing shanty that two of my dad's friends from work own. Well the Shack as it's commonly referred to, was set up on a small lake that I described to you in an earlier issue, which is called Black Otter. Before me and my dad came to fish there, no fish have ever been caught in the Shack while it was being owned by my dad's friend, John Werner.

Well, we set up the tip-ups for northerns, and then drilled some holes to do some regular fishing in. We started fishing, and it seemed like nobody was getting any bites. I started to have someone nibble on my wax worm, but every time I set the hook, nothing was on the end of my line. We fished for awhile longer, then checked the tip-ups and moved the tip-ups to the other side of the Shack.

Near the end of the trip, I had another guy playing with my line, and this time to my surprise a little bluegill swimming at the end of my line. I got it in, we took some pictures, and I had the first ever fish caught in the Shack! Many thanks to John Werner for letting us spend the trip in his shack.

Prologue: Today the bluegill in the story, now named Shack is currently at home in my fish tank. Many of the people reading this right now have more than likely been able to meet Shack 1 or 2 times. That is the story of Shack.

One of the owners of the Shack, and reader of the FRT, John Werner.

The legendary and well known, Shack.


The place where it all happened, inside John Werner and Chris Satori's ice shanty.


Shack at his new habitat.



Beyer's Cove: This next spot is my favorite place to ice fish, because I practically know it like the back of my hand! I have been ice fishing on Beyer's Cove for two years now, and together our family has caught well over 300 fish on it. For those who have never been there, Beyer's Cove is a small cove that connects on to the massive Big Green Lake. It is a great holding spot for panfish, because there is a lot of weeds and cover in it. Because there are so many panfish, it also makes it a great spot for northern pike and other predators to feed on them.

I would say that the most plentiful panfish on Beyer's Cove at early ice is the yellow perch. We usually catch these perch on wax worms or spikes ( small red larvae), but the best bait for the biggest perch, is small finesse plastics made by Custom Jigs and Spins. I'll go into greater detail about perch on plastics later in the annual.

Another main panfish on the cove is bluegill and sunfish. My family and I have pulled many bull bluegills out of the water, and we also know that ice caught bluegills taste great on the table. Also the best bait for these is spikes over wax worms, because spikes seem to yield the biggest bluegill into biting. I have tried plastics for bluegill, but they always seem to ignore them.

The last species of panfish that we have encountered on Beyer's is the black crappie. Usually the ones that we catch are small 5'', but I had once pulled out a 9''. Crappie also taste great on the table, and for some reason ice caught fish taste better than summer fish because the amount of algae in the water is depleted. Occasionally we catch a few small bass bringing up 5''. Below are photos of ice fishing the cove.

My dad posing with a decent bluegill caught from the cove.



Me unhooking a hand sized bluegill.


My mom and sister with a perch duo.






Baits and Lures: I bet many of you haven't ice fished before, so you're probably wondering, what do you use? The answer is pretty simple, you just have to have one thought in mind. That is that in the winter, fish have less of an appetite and your lures should be smaller than their open water counter parts. By smaller, I mean size 12 or less. There are many companies that supply ice fishing jigs, and I guess that it all just depends on what you're fishing for. For panfish jigs and plastics, I would highly recommend Northland Tackle and Custom Jigs & Spins.



I'm Lost, Where's the Loony bin?: I pinched myself, as I walked onto the 2 and 1 half inch sheet of frozen water. It was the day after Thanksgiving for heaven sakes! I thought we were asking for an ice bath, but it held Dave, so I made my way onto it. As we took a walk through the "bucket town", my dad and I set up camp as Dave walked on. There were already some holes drilled, so my dad, Dave, and I set down our buckets, (Dave had his tent) and started fishing. My dad and I caught a bluegill almost immediately, as Dave was still getting his gear ready and talking to fellow fisherman. At the start, nothing big retreated out of their underwater hideaways, and Dave was convinced "those big northerns" drove them away.


A little later, Dave called me over to his tent, and pointed straight down to an ice hole. I did as he told me, wiggled my jig and waxie combo, and later pulled up a chunky 9" bluegill. The thing ripped off drag from my ultralight! I plopped it into the bottom of my five gallon pail, and added some water. A little later, we added 5 more keepers. Eventually, we had two employees, as a little girl and her dad added yet, more perch and bluegill. Dave opened his tent and said, "It's official, we're having a fish fry tonight!" I asked him how many we needed, and Dave became a calculator! "Well, if we want 4 fish per person, or 8 fillets, and there's 7 people, then we need 28 fish." "Oh, that's easy," I replied.


By the end of the day, we had 35 keepers, and nearly one hundred others still are swimming, as we threw them back. When we got home, Dave used his mad fillet skills and got them done in a snap. Later, my mom deep fried them, and what a dinner we had! I would like to thank my dad and Dave for making this whole trip possible. Below are some pictures of the day after Thanksgiving trip.



Some of the mess of panfish that we had.


The 9" 'gill posed in front of Dave's garage.


When it was all said and done, we were able to have a nice fish fry.

Thanks to field editor Chris Satori, we have some interesting ice fishing facts to tell you about:

Here are some interesting factoids for the FRT 2008-2009 ice-fishing annual…
Excerpts from the In-Fisherman 2009 Ice Fishing Guide as reported from a 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation the US Fish and Wildlife Service (completed every 5 years).
· There are 1.7 million U.S. ice-fisherman(16 and older) annually – this is just 6.8% of the 25.4 million freshwater anglers nationwide
· There are an estimated 720,000 U.S. ice-fisherman that are ages 6 to 15 years old for a grand total of approximately 2.4 million U.S. ice-fisherman (and women)
· Anglers 16 and older spent an estimated 14 million days on the ice
· Approximately 660,000 of the 1.7 million Ice Anglers purchased equipment in 2006
· Minnesota leads the country with 479,000 Ice Anglers (age 16 and older) with a total of 5.1 million days on the ice
· Wisconsin is #2 with 278,457 Ice Anglers and 3.2 million days on the ice
· Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan account for 57% of the Ice Anglers in the U.S.
· Florida reported 16,833 ice-fisherman (snowbirds heading back North for an ice-fishing vacation?)
· No ice-fishing activity was reported in DC, GA, HI, MO, MS, SC, TN, TX and VA

The Fox River Times Vol. 1 No.8

Dear FRT readers, sorry for the dilemma on the frequency of the Fox River Times. School has started, and things have gotten a little more busy. But I have good news, many new species that I have never witnessed before on the Fox are being caught! So I hope you enjoy this Fox River fishing showcase. Sincerely,
Sam

17 lb. 31" smallmouth buffalo that I caught on a minnow.

My cousin Jack with a nice bullhead caught on a crawler at the dam.

My cousin Isabelle with a Fox River bowfin.

My dad with a nice crappie caught with a roadrunner head, tipped with a crawler.

My dad with a smallmouth buffalo that he (snagged) with a roadrunner head. The fish had the same dimensions as the one that I caught in the first picture.

Me posing with my first ever walleye caught on a yellow and orange leadhead jig tipped with a crawler.
My Uncle Dave with a channel cat caught on a red roadrunner head with a crawler.

Black Otter Lake: A small lake next to our town had just recently drained all of the water out of it in an attempt to kill some invasive weeds. Fortunately, all of the fish are now concentrated in a small, very shallow puddle of water that is still fishable! My dad and I decided to go there after work (I had the day off) one day, and were pleasantly surprised with about 30 bluegills, some showing pretty good size! All of them put up a great fight. Quick word of advice for anyone that plans to go there is to watch were you decide to step, one wrong move, and you've just sunk into a foot and a half of mud. The rig that my dad and I were using is just a small #8 sized bait hook or jig, about 6 in. below a bobber. We weren't able to take any pictures, (except for on my dad's phone) because about halfway there, we realized, "Hey, we don't have a camera!" Tight Lines, and Good Fishin'

Photo of the Month:

A beautiful red bellied sunfish that my cousin Ben in Boston caught on a trout stream.

The Fox River Times Sept.15-16 2007 Vol.1 No.1

The Fox River Times: This is the first issue of the Fox River Times! It will be a weekly newspaper that tells you everything that you need to know about fishing the Fox. It will contain informative articles, what's biting and what's not, The Lunker Hall of Fame and much more. So I hope that you enjoy the Fox River Times!

What's Hot, What's Not: Hot: Sheepshead, Catfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, Carp, Suckers

Not: Rock Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, Walleye, Largemouth Bass

Where Did all the Rock Bass Go? Not many rock bass have been caught or recorded since May 2007. Some think that the crayfish supply has decreased. Which is true, because, about a year ago there was a good rock bass run in the spring into the summer. We also found a lot of crayfish in that time. The best baits for rock bass would be minnows or crawlers. Also spinnerbaits and in line spinners have produced in the spring.

Small Mouth, Large Hunger: I'm surprised our river has had a great smallmouth bite this year. A lot of them are concentrated along rocky shorelines, feeding on minnows. Most of the bass are 7-10 inches, but fish up to 13 in. and greater have been caught recently. How do catch river smallies? That's easy, most have been caught using what I call a basic river rig. This includes a bobber, ans Aberdeen bait hook, and a crawler or minnow. But smallmouths have also been caught using a small green rattling Rapala. I also almost landed one on a Powerbait Power Leech. Give smallies a try, they can be fun. Below is a pic. of a river smallmouth.

The Lunker Hall of Fame:

The Lunker Hall of Fame is a system that shows the lunker fish that are caught from the Fox.

Size Limits:

Sheepshead 18"

Longnose Gar 24"

Catfish 24"

Carp 20"

Sucker 18"

Smallmouth Bass 13"

Bluegill 8"

Walleye 22"

Lunkers will be posted next issue!!

I hope you enjoyed the first issue!

Coming next issue... Where do bluegills go for fall?; What's Hot, What's Not; The Lunker Hall of Fame; and much more!!

The Fox River Times July 29- Aug 6 Vol.1 No.7

Changes for the FRT: The FRT has encountered many different changes since Vol.1 No.1. Besides changing to the internet, the FRT has also added many new columns, reports, and widgets (so to speak). If you notice, we have added a poll to the site, which is for what type of fish deserves to be the Fox River Fish of the Month. We started this month's poll very late, and so August's will be the full month. We have added another column titled "From Dave's Dock" written by a good friend of mine from the river. I hope you enjoy this issue, and as always... Tight lines!!

What's Hot, What's Not: Hot: Catfish, Sheepshead, Largemouth Bass, Gar, Walleye, Carp
Not: Bluegill, Rock Bass, Crappie, Smallmouth Bass

"From Dave's Dock": This is what is biting on the Fox. The smaller sheepshead are eating crawlers, but the larger sheepshead are taking crawlers and minnows. Saw a man land what looked like a 24" cat at the dam on stinky bait. My notes say that two years ago at this time we were catching bluegill off the dock, and walleye on crawlers with a white or pink jig. Good Fishin'

Fox River fishing report by: Capt' Dave Resop

Shiner Update: Shiner populations have began to decrease over the last week. Few are being caught by anglers, hopefully this won't affect some fishes feeding. Crayfish populations have also gone down since spring.

Green Lake Fishing Report: Went out 1/2 mile off Dodge County Park straight out past buoys. Marked fish in 18' to 20' of water. We were trolling deep diving reef runners at about 2.4 mph. Had a big hit, then caught 3 northern pike 18" to 21" and 1 largemouth bass 14". Troll big baits deep on Green Lake for summer fun!! Green lake Fishing Report by: Mike Goulet

On the left is a 14" bass caught on a red & white reef runner, and to the right is a 21" pike caught on an olive patterned reef runner.

It's Carp Time: A species overlooked by most anglers is the common carp. Mostly because they can snap your tackle or break your hook faster than you can say thunderpumper!! But why not hook into to one of these giants, they are more than likely one of the hardest fighting fish in most of the Fox River. If you are looking to pursue the species of carp, make sure that you have strong hooks that won't break easily. Also you want a strong rod, preferably long to enable the best hook set. Carp will also more than likely take you to your backing if hooked on a fly rod. Carp eat a wide variety of food including: Algae, insects, minnows, crayfish, worms, and even seeds. Also stuff that is not natural to the common carp like corn and artificial pastes. Below is a picture of a nice 19'' Fox River carp that was caught by Mark Goulet on a crawler and red jig.

Fish Nickname of the Week: Did you know that there are trout on the Fox River?....Green trout, also know as the largemouth bass, are moderately caught on the Fox. Below is pic. of me with Fox River "Green Trout" caught on a Storm Wiggle Wart.

FRT Fish Photo of the Week: It's a BASS-A-PALOOZA!!!!

Grandpa Goulet with a nice bass caught on his "wonderlure"! Titttabawassee River, MI

Cousins Ben and Andrew Goulet with green trout caught on a plastic worm. Highland Lake, NJ


My Uncle Mark with a nice largemouth caught on a homemade spinnerbait. Highland Lake, NJ

Coming Next Issue: The Lift and Drift method; River Gar Update; Fish Photos of the Week; who won the first poll; and much more!! Good Fishin'

The Fox River Times July 20-28 2008 Vol.1 No.6

The FRT goes mobilized!: This is the first edition of the FRT (Fox River Times) on the computer! If this is your first time reading the FRT let me tell you something about us. I started publishing the Fox River Times last Sept., my goal was to help river fisherman become better anglers, by teaching them tactics and tricks that catch fish. Now with the help of field editors, the FRT has extended its reach, to cover lakes and rivers across the country! I hope you enjoy the first computerized issue and continue reading the FRT. Good fishin'

What's Hot, What's Not: Hot: Sheepshead, Catfish, Gar, Carp, Walleye

Not: Bluegill, Rock Bass, Largemouth Bass, Crappie

Lunker Hall of Fame: Mike Goulet, 24", Channel catfish, crawler

Mark Goulet, 19", Carp, crawler

River Gar: How many of you have fished for gar? Many of the answers would probably be,"Heck no, their ugly." I think they're everything but ugly, in fact, they're my favorite fish to catch. If I told you that they jump like a marlin, run like barracuda, and have a mind like a musky, would you fish for them? If that got you excited, you can actually fish for them right on the Fox. The longnose gar is the species that would be available you. Most people catch them by accident, usually walleye fishing, because they mainly eat minnows. Here's how to catch them. 1. Put out a minnow trap and hang it right at the surface, put a slice of bread in it. If you catch minnows, you are in business (If not, buy some) 2. Hook one through the lips of a stinger rig (available for walleyes) and toss it into the middle of the current (bobber is optional). Also nylon rope lures work too, because the rope gets tangled in their many teeth. 3. If you hook one on the live bait rig, let them bite, gar have bony teeth and do not always hook themselves right away. 4. Most of all have fun gar fishing, it always feels good when your able to land one!!! Below is pic. of me with Fox River Gar.

Shiner Time: Shiner minnows have come back into the river for the first time this summer, and have actually been here for a couple of weeks now. The article above covered how to catch them in traps, but I have also tried to catch them on the fly. I tied some bread and algae imitations on very small hooks, grabbed my fly rod and headed down to the river. Schools of shiners will usually get shade and food near dock posts,(wood or metal) this is where you cast to them. Usually your fly will only be in their strike range for a few seconds before the current takes it down river. The shiners will sometimes follow your fly, even peck at it, but will not bite. Since I don't have a picture of the fly that I used, I will put it in next edition along with another shiner update.

Fish Nickname of the Week: Did you know that another name for the Freshwater Drum (commonly called sheepshead) is thunderpumper? Below is pic. of a thunderpumper. (Note very small.)

Fish picture of the week: Starting next issue we will be having the fish picture of the week. This is where readers will be able to post their awesome photos. I will be posting 1 to 3 pics a week, it depends how many I get in. If you want to see your photo along with a story of catch in the FRT, please send it to sgoulet@new.rr.com Tight Lines!!

Coming Next Issue: Shiner Update; It's Carp Time!; Green Lake Fishing Report; Photo of the Week; And Much More!! :-)