Tibble Fork 3/9/19

[joatmon]

Hit Tibble Fork Saturday afternoon. First ice fishing trip and only second time ever fishing there. Only a few other ice fisherman on the lake, but lots of other people out sledding, snowshoeing, etc. Ice was all of 3’ thick, with about 1’ of snow on top, which was a little slushy in spots. Fished in 18 fow, and caught a few planter rainbows at about 8-10’ deep. All were caught on a green Ratfinkee tipped with a wax worm. The highlight of my day was when a couple of young sledders came over and asked many questions. They saw me catch a couple of fish and were pretty excited.

I marked several fish on the bottom and tried lots of different jigs, baits, presentations, etc. Finally hooked one on a small pink teardrop tungsten jig tipped with a small shiner. Evidently two smalls don’t equal a good hook set and the fish was off before I ever made visual contact. Tried using a little larger jig with a shiner but no interest.

Not a bad afternoon and was home in less than 40 minutes. Good to have a closer option for those days when you have less time.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like fun, was your auger long enough. It gets tough to drill that deep of hole. Thanks for sharing the trip. Later J
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[joatmon]

Yeah, just barely long enough. I bought an Eskimo propane powered auger this year. I got it stuck in the second hole as I was intent on punching through and forgot the ice won’t clear above the auger flighting. I needed to have raised it a few times to “ream” the hole. Had to use my scoop to clear ice around the auger shaft. So glad I have a power auger!
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[Mooseman75]

That’s great you took the time and patience with the young shedders. That may have been their highlight of the day as well. Your a good man, many would have brushed them off. But who knows what it will do for their future enthusiasm. Glad you got out if only for a bit.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Yup power augers are a great blessing this time of year. Later J
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[Piscophilic]

3' ! that is a lot of ice. I'm glad it was worth the trip and that your prize auger made it home with you[]

Thanks for the report and keep up the great work!
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