Ice Fishing the Soft Water

Indiana - February 12, 2010

More Photos:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/02122010.htm

Frozen Solid

There was a glimmer of light in the eastern sky as I began driving east on I-80 toward Indiana. The outside temperature was 13 but the forecast high was for 26. They later revised that about 5 degrees higher after the forecast clouds failed to materialize.

No Room to Fish

By the time I parked the car at my destination, the thermometer was showing 8 degrees outside. I knew I was going to be in for a rough time with the rod guides freezing up. The creek was frozen all the way across in a couple of spots, but where there was a little more current there was open water.

Frozen Bobber and Line

The first couple of spots I wanted to fish were not fishable due to the thin ice going out so far. Where I was able to fish I still had to contend with chunks of ice constantly floating by.

Fishing in the Floating Ice

All I could do was toss the bait out into the ice and hope for the best. The ice was moving faster than my bait was drifting so I had to constantly pop the bobber loose from the ice that would over take it.

First Steelhead of the Day Comes Out of the Water

Luckily on my second drift, the bobber failed to pop back up. I clicked the bail shut and began reeling up the slack and sure enough I had my first fish on. The fish swam under the ice that had frozen out from the opposite bank. I lowered the rod to my side and was able to get him out of there. Next he swam under the ice that had frozen out from the bank on either side of the spot I was standing in. At that point I let him go where he wanted but when he went back out in the current I was able to horse him to my feet without the line breaking due to the ice that kept hitting it.

"The water isn't much warmer."

I picked up the fish, set him in the snow and unhooked him before taking a few photos. He was released no worse for the wear.

Lots of Ice Behind Me

After several more drifts I gave up on that spot and moved down stream. It took a little longer, but another Steelhead took the bobber down.

More Ice Floats By

This fish felt bigger as it pulled drag out. Then for some unknown reason it turned and swam upstream right towards me. I reeled as fast as I could until the fish stopped and started fighting in circles right in front of me.

Circling for Another Run

I was going to have to somehow get the fish up onto the thin ice that was frozen a foot or more out over the water in front of me. I chose that spot because the ice was out even further on both sides up stream and down.

Diving Under the Ice

The fish swam under the ice in front of me and broke a big chunk off. As it floated out I realized he had done me a favor because I now had more room to land him.

Steelhead Swims Toward the Bank Under the Skim Ice

At this point I got a real good look at one of the biggest Steelhead I had ever had on the end of my line. It took off again for open water and wanted to fight a little more. When I got it close again it swam under the thin ice just above where I was standing. I don't know what it was thinking because it hit the sand under the ice and kept trying to swim right up onto the bank. I got a hand under it and lifted it up and quickly set it down in a huge snow bank that had drifted out from the creek embankment.

Just enough room to get him out of the water

The fish was still hooked so I quickly got the line untangled from the ice just in case the fish decided it was going to flop around and try to get back to the water. Sure enough, it did. I stopped it once as I snapped a few pictures. The fish nearly took my rod with it into the water as it tried to get away again. This time I picked up the rod and let the fish wiggle his way out onto the ice which quickly broke under his weight. He made a few powerful splashes as he took off for deeper water.

Big Steelhead in the Snow

I drifted that spot for a while longer without any other bites. The sun was getting higher in the sky and there was less and less ice drifting by. I could still hear the ice out over the creek moan and groan as the sun warmed it. I decided to move but as I approached the spot I wanted to fish, I noticed the area was frozen to the point where there was no place I'd be able to fish so I headed back.

Through the Skim Ice to Freedom

I stopped at the spot where a nice fish had broken my rod during the previous trip. By this time I didn't need gloves anymore and there was no more ice floating by. The ice around the shoreline was minimal in this spot due to the current but all I was able to do was snag twice.

A Scenic Spot

An older gentleman I hadn't seen before stopped to ask how and I did and then went to a spot about 50 or 60 yards down. A short time later he landed a nice fish and released it. I threw the spinner a couple times then decided to hit the road.

A Nice Steelhead about to be Landed

It turned into a really nice day. It warmed into the mid 30s by the time I got home and Bear was happy to have some play time in the snow.

Bear is Happy to Play Ball in the Snow

Bear Goes Fishing

By William D. Anderson

Book Preview

The Dog who thought he could Walk on Water

My wife and I took the dog to the Des Plaines River for a late afternoon ride. The plan was for her to relax and for me to fish a little bit.

We went to the first spot and saw a sunken boat. It was a small aluminum row boat that was heavily damaged and and had a least one hole in the hull that we could see where it was sticking out above the water line. I didn't catch a thing there even though we saw plenty of shad around.

Sunken boat floating in an eddy

We went to the next spot and I had a couple of good hits pretty quick, but no hook ups. I spotted a bird sitting on a branch right above the water line and asked my wife to take a couple pictures of it. As she picked up the camera, the bird jumped into the water and ran about halfway across before it stopped and started swimming.

The Bird that could walk (or run )on water

At this point the dog saw it too. He was intrigued that it could run across the top of the water and he thought if the bird could do it, so could he. He jumped over the side and disappeared out of sight under the water. It was the longest three seconds of our lives. It seemed like forever but he came up and started swimming along side the boat. He swam to the back of the boat where my wife was calling him to the swim platform and we were able to get him out of the water fairly quickly. Bear is a very good swimmer and loves to swim in the pool at home. Good thing!

The Dog who thought he could walk on water

The air temperature was in the mid 60s and falling so the poor wet dog was getting cold and started to shiver so we dried him as best we could and my wife put my jacket on him. He was fine then. After we got home my wife gave him a good bath.

And did I mention all I caught was an 8 inch Smallmouth and 3 inch Shad?

Bear goes Fishing, Again!

Photos from this trip:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/07272009.htm

After a couple of trips back to the Monee reservoir that didn’t leave me with much to write about, I decided that my next trip would be to new water. On Monday July 27, 2009, my wife and I took that trip. We took the boat to Starved Rock State Park and launched in the Illinois River.

The last time I was at Starved Rock, they had a dock there which made it fairly easy to put a boat in the water. No dock this time. I had to pick the dog up and put him in the boat while it was still on the trailer. After my wife climbed up into the boat, I backed it down the ramp and into the water. The plan was for my wife to drive the boat off of the trailer and then I’d climb into it over the front after parking the vehicle and trailer.

As soon as I got out of the car I noticed water being spit out thanks to the bilge pump. Yep, Rookie move. I forgot the drain plug. Good thing that one of the first things I did after I got the boat was to install a float switch and replace the bilge pump with the biggest one I could make fit. That kept the water from sinking the boat, not to mention my wife, the dog, my cameras, and all my other gear. Despite the wind and strong current, my wife got the boat on the trailer on her first attempt and after I put the plug where it belonged, we were off.

As we were heading down river, we spotted a critter along the river bank. My wife grabbed the camera, took aim, and all of a sudden a young Bald Eagle swooped down on the critter. It was either an otter or possibly a mink. My wife took several awesome photos of the bird before it took off and she handed to camera to me. I got a few shots of it flying off before it was gone over the trees.

Better Picture:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/eagle26.htm

For more Bald Eagle photos, check out:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/eagles.htm

We continued our journey down river looking for spots that I would return to fish in the future. I noted several as I kept an eye on the locator and side scan sonar unit. After traveling well past the town of Peru, we decided to turn around and head back since there was a slight chance of storms later on.

On the return trip I decided to stop and take a couple casts at what I thought was a fishy looking spot. Bear was really happy I was going to do some fishing. He was probably thinking about his last fishing trip. Sure enough, it took less than a minute and I had a small Sauger in the boat.

A few casts later and I had a small White Bass in the boat. We turned to make another pass over the spot and I hooked a monster fish. It ran towards me before turning and heading off to one side. I pulled back and the fish changed directions again heading away from the boat. A couple seconds later and the line went limp – fish gone. It fought like a Striper but was more likely a large bighead carp.

Rather than spend more time there, Bear was looking like he was getting too warm in the sun so we poured a bottle of water into the bowl we brought for him, then headed back after he took a drink. We stopped at one spot I had fished before and I hooked a nice Sauger but lost it at the boat. We spent less than 2 minutes there.

Getting the boat out of the water was a challenge without the use of a dock. My wife nosed the boat up to the ramp and I jumped off the front. She backed away until I had the trailer in the water and then she did another perfect job of driving onto the trailer.

My last trip to Starved Rock resulted in my falling out of a friend’s boat into the water below the dam. I was fishing from the rear casting deck when his trolling motor suddenly struck a rock stopping the boat on a dime and sending me over the side. My cell phone was the only casualty. Luckily this trip went a lot better despite my forgetting to check the most important thing before putting the boat in the water.

Bear Goes Fishing

More photos from this trip:

http://www.catchphotorelease.com/06302009.htm

My wife and I decided to take the dog out on the boat on the Des Plaines River for a couple hours this evening. He always wants to get in the boat when I'm working on it in the yard but it's up too high on the trailer for him. Today he got his chance to go for a ride. I've seen a lot of dogs in boats before and one thing that always bothers me about it is when guys keep the dogs out there all day long. That's not good for a dog so we decided we'd try a couple of my normal spots then head back. We didn't know what to expect since this was a first for us too.


When we got the boat in the water and the dog in the boat, the first order of business was to put a life jacket on the dog. He's a great swimmer and loves to swim in the pool so the main reason for the life jacket was in case he did jump in the water, I'd have a handle that I could use to easily grab and lift him back in the boat.

At first he seemed like he didn't know what to make of being out on the water. He stayed next to my wife (who did a awesome job taking pictures - I didn't take any for once) until we got to our first spot. As soon as I started casting, he knew I was up to something that was going to be good so he came up front and waited. I hooked a big fish almost right away and as the two guys on a nearby barge were cheering me on, the fish got away. The dog was wondering what that was all about at this point. I lost a couple more fish and he let me know he was going to get bored with this real quick if I didn't come up with something interesting.



We moved on to another spot and I hooked and lost another fish. Even my wife was wondering what was going on with me because before long it was fish 7 and Bill ZERO.


We moved again and I switched lures. This time when I hooked a fish, it stayed hooked. The first one was a small Largemouth and the dog was very curious about it. It was his first fish. I've seen guys put the fish on the floor of their boats for the dogs to play with, but we decided we'd teach Bear how to be a good fisherdog and treat the fish properly. He sniffed at them and even licked a couple, but he was not allowed to bite or hurt them in any way.

The first time I threw one back, we thought he was going in after it. He was really curious about the fact that there were living creatures in the water. Now he was having fun. He waited patiently by my side as I cast the lure hoping the next cast would produce another fish.


Before long I had a Drum in the boat......

Then a nice Largemouth......

By this time he was really into what I was doing. Both my wife and I were amazed at how he had taken to the boat and fishing so well. I kept checking my locator and before I knew it, the dog was using it to find fish too.

Another few minutes passed and I had another fish in the boat. Bear wasn't as interested in the Smallmouth. "Too small" is what we were sure he was thinking.
Since I caught the first fish, Bear spent almost the entire time right by my side encouraging me to catch another.
Lucky for me I was able to catch a lot of fish in a short period of time.


"Now that's more like it".

We moved back to first spot where I had lost my first big fish. The guys from the barge said "back for that fish, huh" as I moved past them and into position. Bear took his position right next to me once again. He waited patiently as I cast around the area.


And then it happened. I had a good solid strike from what I knew was a good fish. I pulled back on the rod and Bear got excited. I asked my wife to get the net because I knew there was going to be no hoisting this fish up into the boat. She got the net out and by this time I had the fish to the side of the boat. Bear was looking over the side trying to get a look at what was going to be coming to the boat this time. He saw the fish and just looked at me. I know he was thinking "Finally, a big one".

I maneuvered the fish towards my wife and she scooped it up like a pro. I was impressed considering that was the first time she'd ever had to do that and it's not as easy as it looks. Both the dog and I walked around the console and I took the net with the fish in it. It turned out to be a real nice Hybrid Striped Bass.

Bear came back up to supervise. Once the fish was removed from the net, Bear inspected it and gave me a look of approval before the fish was released.

Once the fish was back in the water, I packed up the three rods I was using and we started heading back. My wife spotted several deer and some other wildlife along the banks as we made our way back to the boat ramps.

The water temperature ranged from the upper 70s to 90 at one of the discharges we went by. It was cloudy the entire time and we felt a drop or two of rain, but the sprinkles held off until we got home.

Today was a real treat for me being able to have both my wife and dog join me on the water for a little while. My wife did a great job taking the photos and it was nice for me because I didn't have to worry about handling a fish and a camera at the same time. I'm glad the fishing was so good because maybe the dog will be excited to go with me again in the future.