My First Ice Fishing Trip Was A Success!!

     Today we were finally able to go on my first ice fishing trip and our first fishing trip of 2014! One of the best parts of living where we do is, it isn't very far to all sorts of different types of outdoor fun. We have several different options for ice fishing and they are all take only about an hour or two to get to. So, the first thing we did was drive to an area with some snow and colder temperatures and it only took us about 40 minutes to find snow.

There's some snow!!

      The next step was to find a frozen lake which only took about 30 more minutes.

There's a frozen lake!!!

Then we had to find a good spot that wasn't too close to people that were already there fishing. We found a good spot not too far from the shore which was perfect for my first spot. I know and understand the ice was safe to walk on and it was supposed to have the cracks and make the noises, but being close to the shore for my first time put me at ease because if I got too nervous or uneasy, I could get to shore pretty quick.

Our fishing neighbors were way over there.

     Since we have just recently started ice fishing and we weren't sure if I was going to like it or not, we decided a hand powered auger was fine. My husband made it look easy to make a couple of holes for us.

Making some holes.

     It took a little while but my husband caught the first fish. He had several bumps and a couple bites at his bait, but only had the one take his bait. I was amazed that our holes weren't very far apart, but my hole had no activity at all and his hole had quit a bit of activity. He traded me holes and almost right away I started getting some activity. I wasn't prepared for how light the fish were biting at the bait, so I missed several opportunities to catch some fish. But I wasn't upset because I was learning what it felt like when I needed to set the hook.

Fish #1

     I was not cold at first. I had enough layers on that there was no cold air getting to my skin. Putting that many layers on took a lot of energy and doing most of the layers in my warm house made me want to turn the A/C on.

Nice and toasty.

     Three large groups of people all of a sudden were nearby us so we decided to move. I still didn't like the noises the ice was making, but I was ready to go to the middle of the lake. My husband drilled the first new hole and I started the second new hole. Apparently my arms are a little too short to make the auger run smoothly so my husband with his longer arms finished the second hole.

Attempting to drill a hole.

See this nice hole? I didn't drill any part of this one. The one I drilled was at an angle and not straight up and down...not pretty at all.

A nice fishing hole.

      We weren't there for very long and I got some bumps and then A FISH!!! Because of all of my layers and my adrenalin running high, I couldn't get out of my chair so my awesome husband caught my flopping fish on my fish grabber and brought it to me. My Candy Apple ice fishing rod and reel have been broke in!! I knew that cute rod and reel would catch something because it's RED!

My first ice fishing catch!

      My husband caught another fish through the "unique" hole. I tried to explain my diagonal hole helped him reel in his fish easier because it was more like a "fish shoot."  He didn't agree that it was a helpful design so I was officially fired from hole duty.

His 2nd fish for the day.

     We released his 2 fish back into the lake and my fish released itself and took my jig head along with it.

The final release.

     I really liked my first ice fishing trip and can't wait for the next one. I was surprised I didn't get really cold until the last hour. The noises of the ice don't bother me as much as they did at the beginning of the day, but I'm still a little jumpy during some of the loud noises. Eventually a sled and a shelter will be nice to have  and maybe some day we'll get an electric auger, but the set up we had today worked pretty well. I do need to change my monofilament line for some braided line for ice fishing because I kept getting it knotted up. I also need to get some Schadeycreek ice fishing lures for the next trip, too.

     During this trip I also started getting excited about getting out on the boat this spring. I don't know if it was because we were "on the lake" or if it was because we didn't do much fishing last year, but whatever the reason was, I'm excited for the 2014 season!