MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
Keep drillin Bro. Rumor on the street is they're gonna be starvin shortly 
hit the pond again a bit later this afternoon , got there set up, few hits on the jig stick and then a flag one pickerel , fished some more , some guys left the area i wanted to fish so i moved over fished a bit longer another flag this time another pickerel. was getting late about 3 i started jigging pretty good, got nice small trout prob 12" and then a kid and his dad showed up to fish they set up just off shore but had auger problems so i drilled some holes for them , told them pimples tipped with worms was working good with in 15 min the dad had 2 - 14" rainbows on the Ice and the kid landed one after having me drill yet another hole next to his dad they didn't have another pimple so i donated one for the kid and he was happy , and it seemed to work, was nice few hours out on the pond the weather was great just stopped snowing when i got there , wind stayed down and the fishing was ok ... hoping to spend the day up there monday see how i do .... gotta get to some other places around here as well too many good spots but this place has been pretty good so why change it 
Well got a call from theron this morn inviting me to do some fishing , well of course i had little to do before the big game so i packed up and we went we had quite a few flags but no fish to show for it my one of many skunks to come i left theron there and he hopes to last until dark i am sure hes bound to get one or two and i am waiting for the text with pics ..... i will be at it agin tomorrow at some point....
I think T Bone is hooked on the ice fishing 
Where'd you leave him in case we have to do a rescue mission later in the day ?
You never know when a huge fish is gonna try and suck em down the hole 
Well earlier in the day we had a couple flags, me and Zig. They were Houdini fish however and managed to get the bait and spit the hook. I think I learned that I was too gingerly attaching minnow to hooks. Salmon eggs I also learned can be picked clean with out tripping a flag.
At one point I moved a tip up and set it in a fresh hole and I'll he damned, I didn't make it three steps away and the tip up mechanism jammed, something was trying to pull the tip up through the ice! I was a little too excited and set the hook with a motion similar to starting a chainsaw.... OOOOPS! One gets away. Most likely a trout with fresh salmon eggs for bait.
Right after Brandon left I had one hole get a flag three times in 40 minutes. The prick kept stealing my bait. So I jigged the hole between re-baiting the set ups, and nothing.... I moved tip ups around and kept checking to find the bait gone on most and flags still untripped. The little bastards were too clever that day.
I pulled up one with out bait, and dropped a jig around there and bam! Fish on Finally! It was a nice rainbow probably around 12" and it thrashed so hard coming up through the hole that it broke free and I was again left with no fish. I was getting a little frustrated, but the increase in action had me hungry for more, so I jigged every hole that was not currently occupied by a tip up and had a couple single strong hits but none ever hooked. Salmon eggs and orange Berkley power bait were the specials of the day.
I did manage to use up about 15 shiners though through out the day and towards evening they developed a taste for them.
So before I left I realized I had way more action in the afternoon and early evening than I had had all day with Zig, and I even managed to actually catch a pickerel about the size of the one in the picture from the previous outing there with Zig.
We got there around 930 am and I left at dark, around 5pm. So it was a long enough day and there was some action, so not a bad a day, but not an exceptional one either.
Off to the local pond this week for some more crappie, perch and pickerel.
Yes Koda.... It seems anything outdoorsman like has got a solid hold on me. I just can't shake the hook, and I'm not sure I want to.
Theron
yep T-Bone had a feeling if you stayed a little longer it would have picked up some , storm comming in and afternoon bite seems to be good there as i have noticed over the 3-4 times i have been there. today gonna get my stuff ready and head there again today with some jigs and worms maybe a few salmon eggs and the 3 shinners T left behind.
On the Ice with the action you had was a great day Ice fishing i have gone 12 hours without a flag or even a sniff at a jig ..... the oppurtunities where there and gave you a great chance to sharpen your skills they may have kicked your ass yesterday but you learned a whole bunch that you can attack them with on the next outting. You will catch plenty of fish , mostly just takes the effort to get out , you showed your willing to put in the time , its just a matter of time you have the fish doing the ice dance .... had a GREAT TIME..... Fish or No fish was great day to spend with another OutDoorsman sharing stories and trying to fool some trout ....
PS Rainbow trout are the hardest fish to catch threw the Ice in my opinion(one reason i target them ) . you did a great job..... People think this stuff is easy ... well i think you saw diffrent yesterday .... keep at it you will catch many fish ....
well while sitting out fishing the other day i figured at some point i would make up my own creation for trying to fool a couple of Trout. i have had some dumbell eyes that i wanted to try to incorporate into a fly/jig so i made this one up this morning for a try this afternoon for the afternoon bite (or so i hope) . i just went with colors i know have worked for rainbows in the past.... See how it goes and check back shortly to see if it panned out
whats the worst that can happen? i may catch a fish
T Bone
Sounds like you need to mind your hooks. IMHO, no hook ever made is sharp as it comes from the package. Be it ice hooks, fly hooks, or bait hooks.
If I had to favor one hook as superior to all others it would be the hooks made by Owner.
A fish even breathes on your bait he's hooked. You have to experience the difference to believe it.
Lacking Owner hooks, file and stone the hooks so they draw into skin at a touch. You'll hook a lot more fish, I guarantee it
Zig
The trout may do a WTF when they see that jig and just smash it ! That Gulp and Berkly power bait stuff is really killin the fish. I've seen it out do the real bait. Do em dirty Brother
Well today once theron got out of work we hit the Ice for some fishing , we tried for some rainbow trout but seems only hungry fish were the pickerel caught 3 of them in all and then at the end i eneded up wit a small but nice rainbow was about 12" was a great time with some good company looking forward to doing it again soon.
Was a good trip had some fun caught a few fish and got to chat some ..... next time the fish will be hungry ... hopefully .......
+Hunting and Fishing "Thats What I Do"