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Holy cow! It's been about 3 weeks since the 40 and 50 degree days disappeared here in Northeast PA. Already, there's ice everywhere I look and 32 degrees sounds awfully warm.
When the ice does finally come off, I'm sure we'll all be ready. Last season, the ice-off pre spawn was all about shaky head worming and small jigs/grubs. What are you guys going to be throwing this Spring?
I ordered a new spinning rod for cold weather fishing... a 7'7" Medium/Light that will throw 1/16 and 1/8 oz lead heads and small plastics. I'm going to toss a new Stradic CI4 on it and some 6# fluoro. March and 40 degrees, here I come, LOL!
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I'm sticking with what worked last year, 3/8 oz. jigs with a Hyper Worm trailer. It didn't produce alot of fish but the ones I did catch were very nice. Unfortunately, that was mid-late April, that seems like years from now...
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Usually, in the spring during the first warm up Bass get aggressive.... I love to use crankbaits during this time....
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Tell me about it!! So far the PA winter has been brutal! i had to plow my driveway out everyday for the past week. running out of places to put it, damn lake effect snow from Erie is killing me [mad].
Anyway in the early spring right at ice off i am usually fishing for pike but i also toss around for some bass. I really like to use a weighted tube bait that i bounce and twitch slowly on the bottom. My best color last year was white, dont know why but it just seemed to produce more fish than the other more natural colors. Think it may have been a holly crap im hungry reaction strike lol.
I think im gonna take a trip to the Raystown Dam spillway this month if the temp ever gets back up into the 30's. I heard it is really good down there in the winter. It never freezes over due to the moving water. So that will be my cabin fever cure this year.
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LAKE ERIE FISHING: Alright you PA guys I'm going to be going up North supposedly next month to do some Lake Erie fishing for Walleye, perch or basically anything that bites my hook.... The way you all talk the lake would be froze over.... I never thought Lake Erie would freeze over in the winter. No one has ever suggested it to me or told me....It sure is cold up North so I'm wondering does it ever freeze over????
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I honestly don't know, but I'm leaning towards thinking it has to ice over. I'm sure BigPikeGuy can shed some light.
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Yes it does freeze over. not the whole thing though. the center does not freeze that often. Just last year in Ohio 60 or so fisherman got stranded on a big chunk of ice a few hundred yards wide that broke off and started to drift out to the center of the lake. there were trucks quads snowmobiles and all that fun stuff left on the ice lol. they only rescued the fishermen and left their equipment. the fishermen had to hire recovery teams to get there stuff back. that being said, these people were asking for it. they were laying planks across a 12inch crack in the ice to get over with there vehicles. well the ice broke off and there they went lol. they did not realize it until they tried to get back.
If you come up and would like to go ice fishing on lake erie the safest place to go would be Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. it is a huge bay that is completely surrounded by land except for a shipping channel. It is a great place to fish for perch in the winter i hear. pike walleye and steelhead are not uncommon also. just stop at ABC bait shop at the entrance to the park, it will be on you right. The guy there will tell u exactly where to go and what biting. i personally never fished it in the winter but it is my fave place to go in the summer for bass. i cant wait for the smallmouth movement. Need any other info please feel free to ask. im very familiar with the area and the hotels.
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WOW!!!! THAT IS AMAZING!!! I couldn't imagine being stranded on ice and have to be rescued.... That is almost like Antartica style....I live in Tennessee and this is the coldest winter we've had in long time.... Most of the ponds and creeks are froze over, if it keeps up we'll be ice fishing down here.... The float N Fly bite is on, it will only get better with the water temperture dropping.... We mostly catch Largemouth, Smallmouth and trout all winter long down here.... My best friend lives in Toledo Ohio and fishes Lake Erie all the time.... He is trying to get me to come up in March and fish Maumee River during the Walleye run with him.... But the Smallmouth Bass bite is so great down here it is almost impossible for me to adventure up North....
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lol, every year some body floats away from that spot.. they go out and dont check the weather reprots for wind.
They went out in the morn and by noon the wind kicked in and blew a couple selves off. There was a film crew caught on the notheren split filming walleye bite, they went out on one of them sled boats, they stayed out for a couple hours after they floated off, thier gap was about a hundred yards before the helicopter flew over and told them they had to go to shore.
they all packed up when over to solid ice and the sled boat had to play rescue for the rest of the day.
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HELICOPTERS & RESCUE BOATS:
What does this mean? Trapped fisherman that are in the need of help.... All you ice fisherman, I must say you are very brave to dare on the ice for the adventures of fish.... My buddy ice fishes up in Minesota a few times a year and is begging me to come up there with him... He lives in Chicago, so it is a lot easier to reach the destination from there....
A trapper will set his trap, but a Big Grizzly will ALWAYS walk out of it....
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