So I have taken up ice fishing…which I suppose was inevitable. I have gone ice fishing at least a dozen or so times with my father-in-law the past few years, and I caught a few things here and there, but I decided I needed to give it a go myself. Of course, since receiving new ice fishing equipment for Christmas, we’ve had what seems like a string of record warmth…and no ice.
Finally(!), over the past couple weeks, the waterways in northern Illinois have safe ice (a few days of -20º F will do that), and I have been able to get out fishing a few times.
In talking with other fisherman out on the ice, they tell me the bite has been slow. Really slow. But I’m also learning what the hell I’m doing out there, so it could just be that I suck at this ice fishing thing right now. Regardless, fish have been few and far between.
However, on Sunday, I managed to stumble upon some yellow perch hanging out in about 15 feet of water. They lit up my fish finder, and my bobber started jumping. I quickly hooked a pair of perch on a Keeper Lures Tear Jig tipped with a waxworm.
Obviously, they weren’t keepers, or anything to write home about. But, they were the first fish I have caught on my own through the ice. So dinks or not, it was exciting.
