North Platte WU
Newsletter Editors
7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 5,
Game and Fish Building
Although this is the time of year we get to walk on water, keep in mind that it is not without a great deal of potential hazards. We found some interesting information on the internet along with some of the most unusual videos I have ever seen regarding ice safety. We will try to have a presentation of these videos at our January meeting.
For those unable to see them at the meeting, but have high speed internet connections I highly recommend you click on ice safety videos and watch them. It will be a real eye opener. For those without high speed internet connections, we have a few Cd's with the videos available for either Real Player or Windows Media Player. Contact us and we will send you one no charge..
Annual banquet:
The second annual North Platte Walleye Club All you Can Eat Walleye Banquet is slated for March 5th., 2005 at the Parkway Plaza. Mark your calendars as this one will be bigger and better than our last one.
Our next meeting of the 2005 Banquet committee is 5:30 PM Jan 13 at the Sandbar Lounge. Come on down and help with the heavy lifting. Tickets for the 2005 Banquet will be available at the January club meeting. We will sell 400 tickets for this banquet and we intend to sell out early again this year, so plan ahead.
Guest Speaker will be Mark Martin, World Champion of the first P.W.T - 1990 In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail. Currently 31 top 10 finishes in P.W.T. & M.W.C. Tournaments & Governor Cups! Only person to qualify for the most In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail Championship since its inception in 1990. Noted author and information resource for walleye fishing. For more information on this great walleye fisherman go to to www.markmartins.net.
Goldeneye Project:
This month we will setting out Christmas trees on Goldeneye Reservoir to help augment the habitat for the fishery there. We have tentatively set the date for 9am Saturday, Jan 8 for this project weather permitting. It appears we will have the city trucks delivering some trees for us prior to this date. We already have some 4000 lbs or more of concrete anchors on site. Our goal is for 300 to 400 trees placed this year. We would like to see some volunteers show up for this project. A couple snow machines or ATV's would make placing the trees easier. Should be able to get in some fishing time while there so bring along some gear. Remember that only 2 lines are allowed at Goldeneye. And don't forget your 2005 license. We will check the ice for safety prior to our Jan meeting so you might want to attend to get an update.
News Bits:
Ice fishing has been observed at Elkhorn on Glendo. Not much else is known
Recent reports for Boysen hint that fishing the channel in 20' to 30' is the place to start. Open water still by the dam but those conditions can change fast.
Remember this rule of thumb for ice condition. "Thick and blue, tried and true. Thin and crispy, way too risky."
For those wishing to take their ice fishing to a higher plane and well into the summer they might want to get involved with the IPIFL (Indoor Professional Ice Fishing League). For more info go to http://www.mnticks.com/.
If your going fishing at Boysen, you can't get certified minnows in Casper. If going to Boysen and need minnows, call Tim James 876-2349.
Emergency Hook Removal:
Keep a short (4") piece of 3/8" dowel rod with a 6 to 10 inch loop of heavy test line attached to the center of the rod. The line is tied so that it forms a big loop (both ends are tied to the dowel. Along with this "tool" have some antiseptic and band aids available.
1. When someone has a hook stuck in them remove the line from the eye of the hook.
2. Place the loop of the tool around the shank of the hook and gently pull it snug. Now hold down on the eye of the hook pushing it against the skin. This opens up the wound and (hopefully) relives the barb of the hook, now while still holding down on the eye give a sharp jerk on the tool handle, this should dislodge the hook. Slight bleeding and screaming may occur.
3. Wash the wound out with antiseptic and bandage.
Ice Fishing 101:
Usually, one gets a lot more information by attending the meetings and listening to the presentations than by reading about the presentation in the newsletter. Guess there is always that exception. I gave an Ice Fishing presentation at the meeting last week. I was tired and forgot to explain a lot of the things I was going to talk about so I will try to do a better job in this article.
People, who know me, know that I am a fanatic about walleye fishing especially when it comes to drilling holes in winter's ice. I enjoy the solitude, winters beauty and the excitement of having tip-up flags pop into the air. I compare that excitement to being a kid and watching a bobber disappear from the waters surface. Many folks just can't understand how fishing on a big block of ice could be anything but misery. First, dress in layers. You can always take layers of if you get hot. Second, make an event of it. I like taking a cloth folding chair to relax in and a small barbeque grill for cooking chili, franks, brauts, burgers or an occasional rib eye steak. I also like taking a radio to listen to Wyoming Cowboy and Denver Bronco games, or some good oldies music.
To start with, you have to cut a hole in the ice. An axe, a chopping bar or a hand auger work well when cutting holes in thin ice up to a foot thick. However, if you are at Boysen in February and the ice is 3 feet thick, you will quickly tire of making holes manually, and the investment in a power auger will soon become extremely desirable. If looking for a good auger, you will have a choice 6", 8", 9" or 10" augers. The 6 and 8 inch holes are easier and faster to drill, but what if you want to pull that new state record walleye through a small hole, you might say something like "&^#@%$." Personally, I use a 10" inch auger.
There are many ways to ice fish. You can use rods, hand lines or many versions of tip-ups. To me, it all depends on the lake you are fishing. You are only allowed 2 lines on many lakes but you can use up to 6 lines on some of our major reservoirs. When fishing six lines, I like to jig with a short jigging rod and put out 5 tip-ups nearby. I have tried many jigs but if I had to narrow my selection down to just two jigs, they would be the Rapala jigging minnow and the Swedish Pimple. Jigging appears be more productive at first light and toward dark. I fish live minnows on my 5 out laying tip-ups about 6 inches off the bottom.
As for tip-up fishing, I put 40 pound HT Polar Ice braided fishing line on my tip-up. The reason I use the 40 lb. stuff is because it is thick and won't cut into your hands. Remember, when using tip-up, your arm is your fishing rod and your fingers act as your drag. I also use 10 - 12 lb. fluorocarbon fishing line as leader because it is invisible in the water and has almost no memory. Also, I like using Eagle Claw Laser Sharp octopus hooks in size 6. I used to use small treble hooks but found my hook-sets weren't any better or any more frequent. I also crimp a split shot weight onto the leader about 10 inches above the hook to keep the minnow down close to the bottom. If you put the split shot on too high on the leader, the minnow will swim around and tie knots in your line.
First clear all the slush "out of" and "away from" your hole(s) (so the tip-up will be sitting on the ice, not the slush). To get the right depth, put a heavy snap weight on the hook and let out line until the line goes limp. Then, pull on the line until it is tight. Grab the line at water level and pull approximately 15 more inches of line up. Attach a line marker bobber at that spot. Reel the marker up to the spool. Remember, when you put the tip-up in the hole the spool will be hanging down about 8.5 inches from the top of the ice.
Note: I like to take the slush and make about a 6 inch high berm partially around and about a foot away from the hole. In this way, my tip-up is hidden from view at a distance. I see only snow and ice until a flag pops up.
There are two dominant designs of tip-ups. Those that are open and allow you to look down your ice hole, and those that cover the hole completely thus insulating the hole from freezing over. The problem with using the design that completely covers your hole, is that you can't see what your line is doing. I prefer using HT Polar tip-ups that are open. Many times the flag pops up and the pin quits spinning. If you can see the line then you can determine what the fish is doing. If the line has been pulled off to the side and isn't moving back to center, then the fish still has the minnow in its mouth and is just sitting there. When I see this, I grab the tip-up by the pin and jerk up to set the hook. If the line is centered or drifting back to center, it usually means the fish has let go of the bait. If it is super cold or dark, I slide on HT Polar insulators under the tip-up. They are made of black foam and insulate the hole very well.
Since I fish a lot at night, I add a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of reflective tape to both sides of the flag. I occasional scan the area with a flashlight to see if I have a flag up. You probably won't be able to make out the orange flag real well at a distance but that reflective tape will jump out at you.
It is very dark under the ice at night or when there is a lot of snow covering the ice. I have a friend, Tom Durst, has experimented with glow-in-the-dark spoons, jigs and beads with some success. He believes that a faint glow works better than a bright glow. One day when fishing snow covered Boysen reservoir, I decided to experiment. I added a glow-in-the-dark bead to my leader on 3 tip-ups. I positioned the bead so it was just above the hook and minnow. The other 3 tip-ups were not beaded. It was a very slow day producing only 5 flags. Of those five, four came on tip-ups equipped with the glow-in-the-dark beads.
In years past, "first ice" has always been the most productive (Thanksgiving thru Jan 15). Generally speaking, walleye and sauger can be found relatively shallow during this period (5 to 15 feet), however sauger, ling and large perch can be found in deeper water as well.
Jigging a small spoon such as a Swedish pimple and fishing a live minnow about 8 inches off the bottom are the "tried and true" techniques to use.
Later on, after January 15, fishing usually starts to slow down at the south end of the lake but starts picking up at the north end of the lake. Normally, you will find walleyes in a little deeper water (10 to 20 feet) during this period and you may fish as deep as 40 feet for sauger and large perch. You may also notice a daily migration where you will find fish shallower early in the morning and in the evening and deep at mid-day.
Usually, when I fish a new area, I will run a long string of tip-ups from shallow to deep water. Once I find the fish, I start moving tip-ups. Every once in a while I will get a really hot hole and want to come back to it in a few days. Instead of marking the hole with something obvious to other fishermen, like a rock or stick, I carry red/orange/purple cool-aid in my tackle box. When I am picking up to leave for the day, I spash a little water on the ice around the hole and sprinkle a little cool-aid on the wet ice next to the hole. If it doesn't get covered up by snow, you will easily find that hot hole days later. Now, having said that, if you have a good handheld GPS, use it and leave the cool-aid at home for the kids.
For those who are serious about ice fishing, you need to consider taking a flasher, underwater camera, or Bottom Lines Fishing Buddy. I haven't gone that extreme yet but I did buy a handheld sonar a few years back. It was the best $100.00 I ever spent. This little sonar is the size of a flashlight and fits easily in your pocket or tackle box. It wasn't really made to find fish but it will give you an accurate readout of bottom depth. It will take readings through good clear ice and works very well when inserted in ice holes. I can determine the layout of the bottom (structure) in very short order.
Ice conditions very greatly by reservoir and there is always some danger involved. I try to use common sense, and carry escape picks and a rope for safety. -- Bruce Parker, Ice Fishing 101
On the light side:
As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the highway. Please be careful!" "Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
The doctor was administering a test for memory loss to three old gentlemen. He asked, "What is 3 times 3?". The first old man replied, "One Hundred and Fifty Six." The doctor turned to the second old man. "What's three times three?" The second old man said, "Tuesday." The doctor then asked the same of the third man who answered, "Nine." "And how did you arrive at that answer?", asked the doctor. The third old man answered, "Easy...I just subtracted Tuesday from 156 and I got nine."
Little Harold was practicing the violin in the living room while his father was trying to read in the den. The family dog was lying in the den, and as the screeching sounds of little Harold's violin reached his ears, he began to howl loudly. The father listened to the dog and the violin as long as he could. Then he jumped up, slammed his paper to the floor and yelled above the noise, "For pity's sake, can't you play something the dog doesn't know?"
wyowalleyenewsletter@hotmail.com
Tight Lines -- Woody and Bruce