Ice Fishing New England

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 2 2009

Finally, finally there is some ice in the region and is welcomed with open arms as we kick off our 08-09 season, actually 09 since 08 didn’t produce ice. We weren’t able to fish Massachusetts quite yet and had to make a road trip to New Hampshire to find some good ice. Conditions were nice with 20 degree weather a light breeze and little snow on top of the ice. Ice conditions are 7-8 inches thick with the first couple of inches white ice and black the rest of it.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html




Have I mentioned that we love the ice

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 6 2009

Ice fishing in Massachusetts has finally gotten underway in many areas but also you still need to keep track of the ice conditions as they have been changing all the time. Went to a favorite pond today and being it was Tuesday there wasn’t another sole out there and when that happens, I make sure that everything with the ice is good so that I don’t put myself into a bad situation. With spud bar in hand I started venturing towards my first spot and as I went I would drill holes and measure the ice. What I had found was there was quite a variation from 4 inches in areas to 7.5 inches in other areas. There was some snow on a good portion of the ice but the areas that didn’t have the snow the slush was frozen but soft enough that you would break the crust of an inch or two. I usually stayed on the snow as the thicker ice was there as opposed to the slushy areas.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOX46X5aG8g

[Big D]

Looks like a good time in the NortEast

[Kevin Dahlke]

Ice is finally here and it is time to catch up from what was missed waiting for the ice

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 9 2009

Been a couple of days since the last ice trip out and really had to get out and wet a line as the ice fishing bug has bitten and the fever is running wild. Cold temps and high winds were in store as I departed for the lake. Wanted to go and try a different pond but being I only had a couple of hours to fish decided to go back to the pond I was at last time.

Since the last trip out we have had some snow with a day of rain as well and the ice surface conditions were very slick and flat. One good thing about that is we are gaining more ice and this is definitely helping as there is now 5 inches of frozen snow and a few inches of clear black ice. The ice uniformity is getting better and all of the holes that I had drilled were fairly close in thickness between all of them.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAV-68JqNC4

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 13 2009

Cold has finally come to the New England area and the ice is forming quickly and definitely will be having very good ice by the weekend in many areas. The ice on this particular lake was 9-10 inches thick and little frozen slush on the surface and mainly solid clear ice all the way down. This is a great sign as many New England anglers have been waiting and waiting for this ice season to get underway.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPOEPmG5MA

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 20 2009

With the cold weather finally settling in my favorite big crappie pond is ready and decided to give it a try today. Of course over the weekend we had about a foot of snow that came down and no wind so that is piled up on top of the ice. Now we have the extra weight on the ice and what this is doing is starting to weigh down the ice and anywhere that the water can come through, there is slush forming under the snow. Good pair of boots that are waterproof are going to be a must otherwise you will be having wet feet fairly quickly. This is going to be the norm for a while as there is a warming trend coming and going to produce more water as the snow settles.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlm8Mo00eAU

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 22 2009

This is the day that I have been waiting for a long time to try and have never committed myself to doing it. I wanted to go out ice fishing and target bass once and see how I could do out there and if I could actually find them. Took off early in the morning for my favorite New Hampshire bass lake in hopes of finding some large and smallmouth bass. What was going to transpire was beyond what I could have ever imagined.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLtrTAqkaPo

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 27 2009

Cooler temps have taken over New England once again and with an approaching major snow/ice storm coming, decided to head off to my favorite crappie pond. Had a number of things that needed to be taken care of before heading to the ice and only had a couple of hours of fishing time left when I arrived. This particular pond fishes better in the morning or later afternoon versus mid day for crappies.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

[Kevin Dahlke]

January 30 2009

Since my plan last week worked fairly well in targeting bass through the ice I had decided that I will venture back up to New Hampshire and give it another try. Decided that I wanted to try a few of my other summer spots and see if they will produce as well as last weeks trip did. So the plan for today was to visit the opposite end of the lake and try a few areas.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEcQkCxcRPg

[CrappieKeith]

That's a whole bunch of fishing in a short time.Glad to see your ice firmed up!!!!!
I just love your pics!

[Kevin Dahlke]

February 1 2009

Finally found some time that the kids weren’t doing something with any of their activities or other family obligations and my son was more than ready to hit the ice. When taking my son ice fishing I generally stay somewhat close to home so that if things aren’t working out or he is ready to leave it won’t take long to get home. So we headed to a pond that we frequent often that has an abundance of crappies, sunfish and perch but the sizes are generally not huge but fish can be caught frequently.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mlD8SRuUHs

[Michael Thompson]

wow, that little catcher is really sticking it to those slabs! great pics Kevin!

[Kevin Dahlke]

February 2 2009

After having great day ice fishing with my on Sunday I wanted to go and scout some other waters and get a feel for his next trip out. Went to a pond that we frequent a lot and harbors some very nice fish as well with crappies above average in size and sunfish that are bigger as well.

Generally we fish this pond mainly in the afternoon and that is the better time that the crappies start moving around while they are feeding. Unfortunately I have not been able to get to this pond in the afternoon yet and this is my second trip there in the morning. Last year never fished it in the morning so covering waters that I generally fish in the afternoon searching for the bigger crappie that swim in this pond.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

[Kevin Dahlke]

February 6 2009

Seems lately one trip is for panfish and then the next trip will be for bass and this has been giving me some nice variety of fish being caught this winter. So this trip was back to New Hampshire in search of bass again and decided to work the last area a little more looking for that big bass once again.

Wanted to spend the day working more of the last area and once again was rewarded with numbers of fish but size definitely was down. Numbers were still there for the amount of time that I spent there, but an angler is always looking for that big fish to bite. The conditions were definitely a little different as a cold front took over New England and it was in the single digits as well as very windy.

Rest of the report:
http://www.backwoodssportsman.com/OutDoor_Reports.html

Video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBTAFhDMyAk