Fished Lake Champlain this past weekend for a yearly small pike derby me and a group of guys participate in. No money just a trophy with bragging rights. Either way
Friday was ridiculous, I'm guessing a steady 35-40 mph with higher gusts, tip ups blowing out of holes. A major pain in the ass, however there were a lot of pike caught. Ice was about 15-20 inches thick so we were able to drive the trucks out there which allows a quick place to get out of the weather. It was warm however so it wasn't as miserable as it could have been. I was pushed off of the hot spots because of the amount of guys we had go up, and by the time my driver got his butt in gear everyone else had already picked their positions. I was fishing about 3-8 fow in and out of patches of weeds. Used medium to large shiners, nothing too huge though and I learned a very hard learned lesson. When fishing for pike... use STEEL leaders. I broke off one fish that wasn't too huge, but then I lost him... a monster. One of the ones you don't see but you know where freakin huge. After I lost that one, I hitched a ride back to the tackle shop and switched everything over to steel leaders during the day. It worked out, I didn't notice any lack of flags and no more break offs. I caught about 15 fish that day give or take with the biggest going 9lb 12oz and the winner of our little derby, saweet! I caught that one early afternoon. I might mention it was overcast all day and by early afternoon there was a light rain.
Saturday was a complete 360, it was very cold, I think -13 something like that but with only a light breeze, it was still cold though. Blue bird skies with light cloud coverage. The group still caught quite a few fish, not as many as the day before, and the bite was a little different. I think I ended up with about 8 fish that day, the biggest one being caught mid morning going 8lbs 14oz the biggest fish for that day as well. All in all a good weekend spent with good people and good fishing. Cant ask for anymore than that!
I have leftover bait as well, erhem, those of you with bait tanks give me a call if I don't get around to calling you soon. 15 hours of plowing yesterday, I'm a little beat.
Friday was ridiculous, I'm guessing a steady 35-40 mph with higher gusts, tip ups blowing out of holes. A major pain in the ass, however there were a lot of pike caught. Ice was about 15-20 inches thick so we were able to drive the trucks out there which allows a quick place to get out of the weather. It was warm however so it wasn't as miserable as it could have been. I was pushed off of the hot spots because of the amount of guys we had go up, and by the time my driver got his butt in gear everyone else had already picked their positions. I was fishing about 3-8 fow in and out of patches of weeds. Used medium to large shiners, nothing too huge though and I learned a very hard learned lesson. When fishing for pike... use STEEL leaders. I broke off one fish that wasn't too huge, but then I lost him... a monster. One of the ones you don't see but you know where freakin huge. After I lost that one, I hitched a ride back to the tackle shop and switched everything over to steel leaders during the day. It worked out, I didn't notice any lack of flags and no more break offs. I caught about 15 fish that day give or take with the biggest going 9lb 12oz and the winner of our little derby, saweet! I caught that one early afternoon. I might mention it was overcast all day and by early afternoon there was a light rain.
Saturday was a complete 360, it was very cold, I think -13 something like that but with only a light breeze, it was still cold though. Blue bird skies with light cloud coverage. The group still caught quite a few fish, not as many as the day before, and the bite was a little different. I think I ended up with about 8 fish that day, the biggest one being caught mid morning going 8lbs 14oz the biggest fish for that day as well. All in all a good weekend spent with good people and good fishing. Cant ask for anymore than that!
I have leftover bait as well, erhem, those of you with bait tanks give me a call if I don't get around to calling you soon. 15 hours of plowing yesterday, I'm a little beat.