Lots of Ice

     The last few seasons saw little to no ice here in Connecticut, however, the amount of ice on the lakes right now more than makes up for it.  The hardest part about fishing this year is deciding where to go since every body of water is locked up.  Wednesday, after a long day at work I was on the computer and learned the State of Connecticut stocked a few lakes with a bunch of trout.  The information was critical in my decision, and I made plans to hit a lake which received 1100 trout 7 days prior.
 

The Jeep Cherokee Loaded up with ice gear.

      The next day I woke and was in no rush.  I walked my dog, made coffee, cooked some bacon and eggs, and watched some TV.  I swung by Jan D's house and we loaded the Jeep.  We arrived at the spot around 9am and loaded up the sled.  We had to traverse high snow banks to get to the lake.  Luckily once we got over the snow mountain there was a nice packed trail going right to the lake.  I started drilling a hole with my Lazer and noticed a lot of ice.  I would say there was about 15 inches or more of ice, 1 foot of it being good clear lake ice.  My Vexilar flash was light up right away.  The fish had no problem swimming into the jig but would not hit.  Changing jigs or bait did not matter.  I find when the fish are not hitting the jig you are into pumpkin seeds, and not fish predatory fish.  When they turn on they feed hard but they go into lock jaw other wise.  It took us a while but we did get into the trout.  The trout seemed to be holding in 8-12 feet of water.  They were cruising about 3 feet off the bottom and were more than happy to hit my jig.  We got several trout and a few perch before we packed it in.
   The weather was so nice.  No wind and about 45 degrees.  I did not wear a coat or my gloves the whole trip.  The foot or so of snow on top of the ice was melting and getting very slushy, but we had no problem with it.  At one point I had to apply sun screen since it was so bright.  It was by far a very nice day to get out and catch some fish.  Most of the fish were caught using a Swedish Pimple tipped with spikes.  The trout were all rainbows and on the small side, but still fun to catch.

Stocked Trout during release.